3 steps to find happiness through mindfulness

The concept of mindfulness is now a mainstream one. We’re all likely familiar with the definition of ‘bringing yourself back to the present moment’ when your mind is wandering back into the past, forward into the future or onto anything that isn’t helpful or serving you.

But is that enough to generate the experience of life you want? To create real change in your totally unique life? What if there was an extra dimension that enabled you to not only be more present but also concoct your personal recipe for happiness? 

Personalise mindfulness

Here are three simple steps to personalise mindfulness, adding that extra dimension and finding that perfect recipe for you. 

1. Get to know yourself, really well

The first step is shifting from mindfulness to self-awareness. What I mean by that is becoming aware and conscious of your patterns and habits - seeing clearly what you’re thinking, feeling and doing moment to moment, as well as more holistically understanding if your current life is making you happy. 

Why does this matter? 

Well, your brain runs on patterns. That means the more you think a thought, feel an emotion or take an action, the more likely you are to repeat it over and over again - to form your experience of life. In essence, we get what we’ve always done. 

So, to break any unhelpful patterns, we need to first know what they are…and we can do this by dedicating 24 hours to self-awareness.

Each time you notice thoughts, emotions or behaviours that don’t feel good, or are unhelpful - just make a note on a piece of paper or on your phone to identify and label them.

What this will leave you after 24 hours is a clear idea of what you need to shift to increase your enjoyment of life day-to-day and find happiness.

Top tip: post-it notes stuck around your home can help to remind you to check-in with yourself! 

2. Decide what you really want

In order to create real and lasting change, you need to know what you actually want, instead of what you’re currently experiencing. How often do we actually stop to ask ourselves these powerful questions?

• What would I love to be thinking day today? 
• What would I love to be feeling?
• How would I love to be behaving? 
• What kind of life do I dream of? 
• What things in life leave me happier, more confident, inspired, and calm? 

Now is the time to do that, to uncover what you want your experience of life to be. Remember to remove any limitations and boundaries created by self-doubt through this process, and adopt the mindset that you can have anything you want to. 

Top tip: a journal can be a really great place to carry out step two! 

3. Take consistent action

Once you know what’s holding you back and what you want instead, it’s time to bridge the gap! 

To explain how I want you to think about your internal experience of life as an orchard.

So, if you want to be more present, you need to practice mindfulness and bring yourself back to the present moment consistently. If you want to be more confident - you need to practice being your own biggest supporter and giving yourself credit and praise for everything you do. If you want to be calmer - you need to practice getting into a calm state as often as possible and if you want more balance in your life - you need to start taking action towards balance every day.  

This is where the real growth happens and you’ll be amazed at what can happen when you combine awareness and vision with action! 

I hope that these three steps are the kickstart that you need in your journey to finding greater peace and happiness in your life. Be kind to yourself, enjoy the process and make it your own!