10 simple steps

It sounds obvious. Drink more water, get more sleep, stop complaining, and your life will improve. But sometimes we need a little reminder that a few simple steps can make a huge different in our ultimate happiness and overall health.
We reached out to renowned life coach and nutritionist Ana Alexandre to find out 10 simple tips for a happier and healthier you!

1. Eliminate clutter: Ever wonder why those people on Hoarders look so miserable? Climbing out from underneath piles of stuff can also mean emotional freedom from items that could be mentally weighing you down.
"Get rid of all the things you don't need or that are not good for you," Alexandre says. "Ditch clothes you never wear and create more space to see the clothes you do actually wear."
And from your closets to your kitchen, get rid of unhealthy foods too. "Clean out your cupboards, and get rid of all processed foods like those containing white flours, sugar, and unhealthy oils," Alexandre says. 

2. Supplement your life: "Take an omega-3 supplement," Alexandre says. These amazing fats found in salmon, flaxseeds, and walnuts purportedly give you glowing skin, fight stress, and reduce inflammation in the body.

3. Just add water: You've heard it before, but it's worth repeating. It's important to drink eight to 10 glasses of water every day to keep our bodies functioning properly.
"Water keeps you hydrated, eliminates toxins, and keeps you regular. Always keep a bottle with you. If you see it, you will drink it!" Alexandre says. 

4. Forget the complaint department: "Stop complaining about never getting what you want, and instead, create what you want," Alexandre says.
She suggests setting at least three clear goals per year. "Set goals that excite you, that are tangible, and something with a finish line. Write your goals in the present tense (I go to the gym every Tuesday and Thursday). This will get you believing that they can be a reality!" 

5. Create a daily ritual: If you set aside just 10 minutes a day for yourself, Alexandre says, it will do wonders in eliminating daily stress and anxiety."Meditate for five minutes in the morning to start your day. Take the additional five minutes to relax before bed. Read a book that inspires you, take a bath, or enjoy a cup of tea. 

6. Just move it! Exercise not only makes you more physically fit, it also boosts your mood, increases your energy, and it can even improve your sex life.
"Find an activity you like and actually want to do. Take a dance or yoga class, go hiking or rollerblading," the life coach says. "It doesn't really matter. Just get your body moving."

7. Improve your penmanship: If you're thinking "I'm too old for a diary," look at it this way. "Writing in a journal daily helps you clarify your thoughts and feelings, reduces stress, and helps you resolve problems more effectively," Alexandre says.
Write down the highlights of your day, something you learned, or just one reason why you're grateful for the things you have.

8. All you need is love: It may sound cliché, but love truly does make the world go 'round.
"Find ways to get more love in your life," Alexandre says. "Make time in your schedule to see the people you love. Play with a child, hug your friends, tell someone you love them, and smile at someone you don't know. These small gestures can make a big difference."

9. Eat your veggies: Vegetables are an abundance of necessary vitamins and minerals that help keep us healthy and energized. So stop making excuses and eat some everyday. Doctors recommend at least five servings a day.

10. Sleep it off: Most of us need at least eight hours of sleep a night. That's need, not want. There's a reason why we need a sufficient amount of rest.
"Sleep improves stress, reduces inflammation, and allows cells to re-charge and repair damage," Alexandre says. It also keeps us functioning at our optimum levels both mentally and physically.
To make sure you get enough sleep , Alexandre suggests shutting off computers, cell phones, TVs, and anything else creeping in from the outside world at least one hour before bedtime. 

15 Things to be Happy :)

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy :

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:

1. Give up your need to always be right
There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control
Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame
Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk
Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle.

5. Give up your limiting beliefs
about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle.

6. Give up complaining
Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism
Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others
Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change
Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell.

10. Give up labels
Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer.

11. Give up on your fears
Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt.

12. Give up your excuses
Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past
I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment
This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations
Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Good Quotes

" When times are good be happy but when times are bad, consider god has made the one as well as the other"

"To move ahead you need to believe in yourself. Have conviction in your beliefs and the confidence to execute those beliefs"

"Life is like mirror. It smiles at you if you smile at it"

"Bless the ones that walked away from you, they are just making room for the ones that wont. "

"When found with two choices, simple toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you, but because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air, you suddenly know what you are hoping for ." 

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain."

"Never allow your heart to convince your mind that something you know is wrong is right."

"Its hope that feeds our dreams, its faith that drives our choices, and its love that determines our actions."

"There is difference between what we look for, what we settle for  and what we are meant for "- The Notebook.

101 Ways to be Happy

101 ways to be happy 

1. Smile

2. Connect with nature.

3. Surround yourself with positive people in person or online.

4. Do something you have always enjoyed.

5. Do something you have never done before but have always wanted to try.

6. Learn something new.

7. Smell something that makes you happy: a mandarin, perfume, choclate, you decide.

8. Reward yourself for good habits.

9. Eat something that makes you happy, but not too much if its fattening.

10. Spend time with good friend.

11. Touch something that makes you happy; a cat, velvet, the bark of a tree? Take time to notice.

12. Dont worry now, worry later.

13. Say or sing something that makes you happy.

14. Challenge yourself, I dare you.

15. Look at something that makes you happy.

16. Stop procrastinating, do something.

17. Take a small step towards your goal.

18. Congratulate yourself.

19. Tell someone you love them

20. Do a good deed.

21. Face your fears.

22.Read a book you love.

23. Get outside.

24. Spend time with inspiring people or read about someone who inspires you.

25. Clear out your junk literally.

26. Let go of negative memories.

27. Dwell on positive things from your past.

28. Be creative. 

29. Dare yourself to do something.

30. Give someone an unexpected gift.

31.Change your habits just this once, do something unexpected.

32.Watch the sunset.

33. Get up for sunrise.

34. Open a savings account.

35. Be active.

36. Plan for success.

37. Eat something healthy.

38. Trust your instincts.

39. Follow your passion. 

40. Throw a party or plan to soon.

41. Avoid drama queens and energy suckers, you know who they are.

42.Write stuff down, keep a diary.

43. Set a goal.

44. Clean your house, bit by bit.

45. Say no

46. Spend a day alone.

47. Devote a day to family.

48. Pick up the phone and call someone you have not spoken to for a while.

49. Wear your favourite outfit.

50. Be present.

51. Go for a bike ride.

52. Do something you loved as a kid and you have not done for years.

53. Forgive someone, especially yourself.

54. Go slow.

55. Have a meal somewhere different, try a picnic.

56. Avoid advertisement.

57. Pick a bunch of flowers and put them in your house.

58. Ban all media for the day.

59. Let something slide.

60. Display a colorful fruit bowl and eat one or two pieces a day.

61. Be romantic.

62. Play a game: uno, monopoly, chess, poker.

63. Make a smoothie.

64. Have a siesta.

65. Do something you have been putting off.

66. Dream big.

67. Start small.

68. Seek out supportive and like- minded people.

69.Understand that all things come to an end.

70. Feed the ducks.

71.Persevere: pick up something you gave up on.

72. Start a new habit, a good one.

73. Look at yourself in the mirror, pick what you like best and flaunt it.

74. Seek a sensuous activities and enjoy them.

75. Look for funny things and have a laugh.

76. Rest up.

77. Change your routine.

78. Take a photo, look back at old ones.

79. Stretch your body.

80. Meditate.

81.Write a mantra.

82. Focus.

83. Dont buy something , see if you miss it . Put the cash in a savings account instead.

84. Notice what makes you happy and use it in sad times.

85. Ignore people who annoy you, stop being with them. 

86. Play hide and seek with some kids.

87. Put a picture of something you want on your wall.

88. Tell someone your dreams.

89. Love yourself.

90. Be grateful.

91. Visualise.

92.  Unblock.

93. Use your brain: try a crossword or sudoku.

94. Make a good choice.

95. Acknowledge your feelings.

96. Go on a journey, long or short. 

97. Talk to someone you would not normally connect with.

98. Be grateful for life.

99. Write a poem.

100. Teach someone something you know well.

101. Choose to be happy everyday.

Some gentle loving suggestions for a happy, playful, inspiring life:
 (1) Feel very fortunate, grateful and supported at all times (don't just think about it, feel it)
 (2) Give your full attention to doing one thing at a time with love and sincerity
 (3) Aspire to work not just for your own benefit, but for the highest benefit of all. Renew this aspiration daily
 (4) Break the routine. Try different things, meet different people, learn a new skill. 
(5) Create spaces in your day and week to deeply connect with yourself, loved ones and nature.
from happiness.org