by Saajidah Esat
In the daily rush of our lives, we can forget about the things that seem little, but are actually the big things, that make for a high quality and good life. These things don’t need money, or complex systems and processes to make them work. They just need some awareness, time and the willingness to put in the effort.
1. Gratitude
For the longest time, experts in the field of personal development and psychology have advocated on the importance of a gratitude practice. Simply because they have understood the powerful effects of being grateful on a human being’s overall health and happiness.
Tip: Invest in a gratitude journal and spend just 5 – 10 minutes every day contemplating and writing down a few things that you are grateful for. It may be something as small as, ‘I’m grateful for sunshine’ or ‘I’m grateful for the work that I do.’ Try it out for 7 days to begin with and notice how your levels of happiness improve.
2. Savouring
To savour is to step out of an experience that you are going through to review and appreciate it. Savouring adds to mindfulness and assists you in getting the most of a wonderful experience that you are going through.
Tip: Next time you’re enjoying a hot cup of coffee or taking in the view of a spectacular evening sunset, stop to think about how amazing it is for you to be able to experience it. You can even take a picture or share it with a friend, to add even more enjoyment to the experience.
3. Kindness
It’s the random acts of kindness that count. Happiness research shows that happy people are more motivated to do kind things for other people. They get huge joy and take pride in the fact that they can be a part of another person’s happiness or success. They want to be of value and service to other people, and take advantage of the domino effect of doing one good deed and then another.
Tip: Take time out of your schedule to take part in social/community projects that uplift. Donate to a cause you feel strongly about or simply call a parent or grandparent just to find out how they are doing.
4. Social Connection
True social connection is NOT engaging on social media. True social connection is engaging fully with the people around you, family, friends and colleagues. It is making time to have a conversation with a friend about their dreams and aspirations. It’s lifting your head up from behind your phone or laptop in order to greet the person sitting or standing next to you at the bank or supermarket. It’s being real enough to go deep in your relationships. Building rich social connections is not an easy task but it sure is worth it.
Tip: Improve your social connections by attending one of Lionesses of Africa’s amazing networking events to meet like-minded female entrepreneurs. Swap business cards and grab coffee together to share ideas, insights and inspiration about being a kickass female entrepreneur!
If you enjoyed this article and would like more life-changing tips and actionable strategies on how you can live a better life every day, come and join me on my social media pages, where you’ll also get access to free video content which I create for you.
To your happiness and well-being.
Saajidah
Saajidah Esat is passionate about empowering women to take responsibility for their physical and emotional well-being. She has authored a book on The Science of Happiness and has co-authored a book on Clean Eating. Spreading awareness on these 2 topics is what she spends most of her time doing. Her background is in teaching, and while working with young children, she discovered how stress and anxiety in the home deeply affects children. This is when she made it her mission to educate women and families on the importance of well-being, mindfulness, meditation, eating well, practicing self-love, emotional resilience and much more. Her philosophy on women is “You can’t pour from an empty cup, so always take care of yourself first.” Saajidah hopes to use her passion and energy to make an impact globally with her work in advocating happiness, well-being practices as well as encouraging female leadership, in order to balance the scales of inequality that still exist between men and women.
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