These days, having a rich life means to live a fulfilling life. How do you fill your days? Do you live a fulfilled life and do what makes you happy on a daily basis? Here is how I live a fulfilling life:
Do what you LOVE what you do.
If you want to have a happy and successful life, you need to be passionate about what you are doing. You cannot have a job you dread or do types of exercises you hate and live a fulfilling life. My “passions” are design, health, fitness and cycling and I managed to incorporate lots of it in my personal and professional life. Oh yeah, and eating. Lots of it. Can eating be a passion?
Do things you’re good at and be good at what you do.
I have a successful career in design because it was my first passion and the thing I discovered I was really good at. If you saw me designing and developing Backstreet Boys websites when I was 9, you would’ve been like whoa! too because I made amazing BSB collage backgrounds and animated GIFs. I followed my passion, went to school to further develop my skills and started a career I wanted. I was about to study business before a very last-minute decision to attend art school and although I could have gotten into the career I have now, it would’ve taken much longer. Or worse, I would be stuck in a corporate job. And this blog would probably not exist. The lesson: if you discover a skill you are truly good at and you love, cultivate it and good things will happen.
Cherish your body because it’s the only one you have.
I say this all the time but health and fitness changes lives. It changed mine. It was the major player in my self-transformation and I credit it to a lot of the things I am so fortunate to have in my life. It helped me rediscover my passion, find new passions, gave me strength and confidence and it brought me happiness. Whether you are smashing PR’s at the gym or out riding your bike with the wind in your hair— being fit and healthy is a key to being happy.
Find the balance.
Work-life balance is crucial to your happiness. I have a full-time job and freelance. I use to take freelance jobs even when I was swamped because I love making money which resulted in constant stress and deadlines but I’ve learned to scale back and live a little. These days, I have much more free time and most importantly, less stress because I’m more selective in the jobs I choose to take but I’m doing better than ever. Stress throws your body off-balance and is terrible for your well-being but balance will make it all better.
To get something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.
Challenges make you grow. It shapes our character, arms you with knowledge to succeed in the future, develops mental toughness, helps you realize your real potential and most importantly, gives you renewed confidence. Confidence can take your life to new heights and gives you the power to be happy. They say live and learn, and it’s true if you want to get better at living.
Be compassionate and serve others.
Relationships are important and this study proved that love is really all that matters. Cultivate your relationships with your significant other, family and friends. Do little things, pay for their dinner or drinks, surprise them with small gifts or actions to show your appreciation, do things even if you will get nothing in return, let go of the little things, always make the most out of your time with them. When I was younger, I use to be really negative, bitchy and suffered from verbal diarrhea, but I’ve grown up …and my life has never been so fulfilling. Well, I admit I still suffer from verbal diarrhea but not as often!
At the same time, don’t give a shit about what others think of you.
You get to choose what makes you happy— no one else. If I gave a shit about what other people think, I wouldn’t have a blog and I would’ve not discovered fitness and it would’ve not changed my life. It’s amazing to think how everything is connected. Over the 14 years I’ve been blogging, I realized that having a blog really pisses people off because bloggers are suppose to be narcissistic and too opinionated. But those are the kinds of people whose opinion really do not matter. And besides, blogging is therapeutic, motivating and changes lives.
Find things to laugh and smile about.
It’s simple; stop complaining, stop being negative and make the most out of every single situation. Be positive, smile lots and laugh lots. One thing I always say to myself if I’m somewhere I really don’t want to be: “you’re already there so why not make the most out of it?”
Be grateful.
My life is still not perfect and I’m not happy every day— life is full of ups and downs and it’s normal to feel a range of motions. If you are happy every single day, you are either in denial or be on a lot of drugs. I live everyday knowing my life can come crashing down at any moment so I do things that make me happy most of the time and am extremely grateful that I have things I am passionate about. It keeps my life fulfilled in so many ways.
