It's important to be able to tap into your heart rather than your head, your intuition rather than your thinking mind. Quietening the chatter in your mind and creating space within allows you to better see what brings you joy.

Meditating For Joy 

Self Improvement

<ul><li>Check social media sites just twice a day. Once mid-morning, so you’re not starting your day with social media, and again late afternoon.</li><li>Keep a maximum of two portals of instant messaging that friends and colleagues can contact you on.</li><li>Choose those you ‘follow’ or who appear in your feed&nbsp;wisely. Opt for those who inspire you, not those who bring you down.</li></ul>

Reducing Social Media 

Cultivate gratitude wherever possible, even for the things that challenge you, as these help you to grow and build strength. Journaling can help you&nbsp;do that:<ul><li> At the end of each day, write 10 things that you are grateful for that day. </li><li>Celebrate and recognize them. </li><li>Soon you will see running themes and will be able to make them happen more often.</li></ul>

Cultivating Gratitude 

Having an attitude of gratitude makes us more appreciative and trusting, gives us better self-esteem and helps us bounce back from stress.Embrace the simple experiences and pleasures, otherwise, you may take them for granted and these are often what top up our feelings of joy. Also, be more present, it makes simpler things more joyful.

Gratitude And Joy

Joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. It comes when you make peace with who you are, why you are and how you are, whereas happiness tends to be externally triggered and is based on other people, things, places, thoughts and events.

Joy vs Happiness

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Through my personal experience and lifelong studies, I've come to realise that there is a profound difference between joy and happiness. Aiming for joy is more beneficial, as it is less transitory than happiness and is not tied to external circumstances. So many of us have lost touch with that feeling, not knowing how to cultivate joy any more, so we resort to quick fixes like alcohol, drugs and addictive foods, or find fleeting moments of happiness from other places without truly experiencing it and cultivating it for ourselves, for example by watching TV. 
It can be challenging for us to shift our mindset from one of negative thinking to one of joy, so here are three things you should be doing to increase the amount of joy in your life:
1. Quieten your mind with meditation.
It's important to be able to tap into your heart rather than your head, your intuition rather than your thinking mind. Quietening the chatter in your mind and creating space within allows you to listen more closely to what brings you joy.
2. Cut down on social media. 
We are so heavily influenced by what we 'should like/do/have/buy' that this so often is not in line with what truly brings us joy. For many of us, social media has become a necessity in our day. If ditching social media altogether is not an option, think about how you can cut down on it, for example:
&#183; Checking social media sites just twice a day, once mid-morning, so you're not starting your day with social media, and again late afternoon.
&#183; Opting for a maximum of two portals of instant messaging communication that friends and colleagues can contact you on. I recall a time when an ex-employer was contacting me on text, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Facebook Messenger and regular phone calls. Needless to say, it was far too overwhelming!
&#183; Choose the people you 'follow' or who appear in your feed wisely. If you like to get your daily fix of what's happening around the globe, whether it be in world affairs, fashion or self-development, opt for those who inspire you, not those who bring you down.
3. Keep a journal and practise gratitude for the things that bring you joy. 
Cultivate gratitude wherever possible and even have gratitude for the things that challenge you, as these help you to grow and build strength. This also helps to define what brings you joy and what doesn't.
In your journal, at the end of each day, write a list of 10 things that you are grateful for that day, it can be anything. Celebrate and recognise these aspects of your day. Soon you will see running themes, and when you do, intersperse your day with more of the good stuff and less of the 'not so good' stuff.
Having an attitude of gratitude makes us more appreciative and trusting, gives us better self-esteem and helps us bounce back from stress. It allows us to view the world, and our situation within this world, in a more positive, healthy way.
Just embrace the simple experiences and pleasures. When we're moving at 100mph, we take the simple things for granted. These are often the things that top up our feelings of joy. When you're more present, the simpler things become joyful; the food you eat, the air you breathe, the sounds of nature.
As many of my clients have experienced, the more they get in touch with their true self, the less they feel the need to seek from external influences to experience momentary happiness. Joy becomes a more constant state of being, it no longer becomes about what does or doesn't bring you joy, as you begin to cultivate joy from the inside out.
For more on Rachel, visit <a href="http://rachelfearnley.com">rachelfearnley.com</a>
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Joy and happiness are wonderful feelings to experience, but are very different. Joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. It comes when you make peace with who you are, why you are and how you are, whereas happiness tends to be externally triggered and is based on other people, things, places, thoughts and events.