4 ways I've become more happy and peaceful in my life
Since turning 30, I’ve made quite a few changes and tweaks in my life.
I had a goal of improving my physical, mental, and emotional health. So today, I’m going to share with you four things that I have recently implemented in my life over the past three months that have made me significantly happier and have brought more peace to my life!
1. Breaking up with Instagram
The first thing that I did was break up with Instagram. I've always struggled to actually break up with it properly and I know it's always been an unhealthy relationship, but I always struggled to get off it.
I really enjoyed content creation and it was a great creative outlet, but sharing so much of the highlights of my life also felt quite vain.
I found I was sometimes a bit stressed about how my Instagram stories looked and it just seemed like a lot of unnecessary worries.
I would go to an event or go to do something nice with Richard and I would want to capture it all, which is great but then the sharing of that content sometimes became a bit burdensome because I would take ages just to edit stories perfectly and find the right font and colours. It consumed a lot of my time.
Instagram was a great distraction from doing the important things in my life that took time and effort. This included things like:
Growing a business
Working on a relationship
Making shifts in my career
I was on Instagram living vicariously through other people's pictures so it wasn't healthy.
Since breaking up with Instagram I now have more mental clarity and more time and white space just to think and be with my thoughts and think about what I want to do and things that I want to achieve.
Although this can be confronting, it’s been great to improve my focus and concentration and not be influenced by what others are doing. I’m now tuning in and listening to the things that I like and finding my individuality again.
I also have more downtime and at times I am bored, which actually makes me pursue other creative hobbies!
2. Documenting my life more intentionally
The second thing I've started doing is documenting my life in more intentional ways.
I remember being really creative when I was in high school. I would go out with my camera, take lots of photos and be really excited to come back home and learn how to edit them and create beautiful blog posts.
Since getting onto social media, I noticed I was using my SLR camera less and less and taking all my photos and videos entirely on my phone.
But now I’ve found other ways to document my life more intentionally and create memories in a different way.
The ways I document my life right now are:
Making YouTube videos
Exploring photography and taking nice photos with my SLR camera
Blogging
Journaling
3. Producing more content than I consume
The third thing that I do is produce more content than I consume!
In this fast-paced modern world, it's so easy to overconsume. Whether that’s social media, the news, etc, it's easy to experience information overload nowadays!
I truly believe that as human beings, we are all inherently creative and part of our life purpose is to express our authentic selves through different creative outlets.
We’re all unique and add our own value to the world. No one has the same life experiences, perspectives, opinions, and memories as you.
Some ways that I like to produce more are through:
Creating YouTube videos
Cooking and trying different recipes
Exploring interior design and updating my home decor
Curating nice pieces of clothing for my wardrobe
Writing blog posts and sharing photos
Host nice dinner parties!
Trying out a new Mediterranean recipe
Table is set ready for hosting dinner!
I've definitely felt a shift in my energy where I feel more positive and productive.
Sometimes we just need to be creative without an audience.
4. Having more whitespace in my life
The final thing that’s been a natural result of the above changes I’ve made in my life is having more white space.
I now have more space and time to live a slower lifestyle and take things at my pace.
I think it's really important to create space every day just to reflect on things that have happened throughout the day and the conversations you've had to allow your brain time to process the events in your life. This isn’t done often enough.
By allowing myself time to turn inward and reflect, it helps me build my self-awareness.
These four things that I've implemented in my life recently have significantly increased my happiness and overall sense of peace.
Removing distractions, living more intentionally, and using my creativity more has helped me understand myself better and have a clearer view of who I am as a person and the things I want to achieve in my life.
Share your thoughts
What are two changes you’re looking to make to live more happily and peacefully?
