Are you happy?

Has anyone asked you that recently?

If yes, you know that in the moment, you were potentially caught off-guard, therefore, you probably mumbled off some kind of quick response to brush off the question.

To truly answer though, you must define happiness for yourself.

And here is a little trick I made for you to help you answer that question...

An easier way to live a happier life, is following a counterintuitive approach and focus on WHAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY.

Why?

Typically, the things & situations that make us sad/anxious/stressed are more recognizable to ourselves and those around us, than what it is that brings us to a prolonged state of happiness.

So do this for me, think about the things that cause you the negative feelings / states.

NOW LIST THEM OUT!!! :)

Moving forward, you must make choices to that will help you reduce those instances; thus, you will be left in a state of happiness by default.

Lets use myself as an example.

Here are some things that used to cause major internal conflict in my life.

Conflict 1

The people I surrounded myself with. (They were good people deep down, don't get me wrong, and don't take this the wrong way.) As individuals we were all on a solid path, yet as a collective, we had habits that were hurting all of us. We drank to much, ate too much shitty food, we slept extremely poorly, the list of harmful things goes on a bit longer hahah.

These choices eventually lead me directly into my next conflict.

Conflict 2

Poor personal health. Because of conflict 1, my health suffered greatly in many different ways. Then because my health was suffering so much it eventually caused another conflict.

Conflict 3

Stress/Anxiety/Fear/Depression. The bad habits, lead to poor health, which lead to negative feelings. These negative feelings eventually corrupted my thoughts and made me a less clear thinker and I would continue to make poor choices for ME, myself, and I. Aka I would stay stuck in this loop because I could not think as clearly as I do now about the situation.

Here is how the loop ended though.

CHANGING MY ENVIRONMENT

The very minute I started dating my wife Erin, I became a better me. (I did not start dating her until I took the initial action of following her "fitness" IG at the time and was inspired by everything she was doing. Then I finally had the courage to reach out to her and visit her in Texas [I was living near NYC at the time] this was 2015).

As a team we have both focused on placing ourselves in healthy environments physically, mentally and spiritually. We refuse to get into family/friend drama. We stay away from putting toxic things in our bodies and minds with the physical/digital poison this world produces. And we rid our living environment of material items that cause distractions and do not bring value to our lives. (We don't have a TV or cable. This forces us to LIVE rather than drown out our lives on the couch.)

Upon changing my environment, conflict 1 disappeared. This lead me to improve areas of my personal health, which eventually lead to conflict 3 being resolved as well.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel stressed/anxious/sad/depressed from time to time. I am human. Yet, these instances usually only happen if I lose focus on conflicts 1-3. They are enigmas now, rather than weekly states of being.

In conclusion,

If you truly want to be more happy, rid yourself of environments/people/situations that TAKE happiness from you.

Move to a place you will enjoy year round.

Hang around people who inspire you.

Ingest healthy material for your mind/body/soul.

Happiness is simple, yet it is not easy.

I hope you have an amazing THRIVE THURSDAY!!!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful that I was able to see Joe Rogan and Dave Chappelle LIVE last night in downtown Austin. Shoutout to my friend Noah for hooking it up with an extra ticket. I am thankful to have people like him in my life. IT IS ALL ABOUT YOUR ENVIRONMENT FAM!!!