“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”

The only thing that we can truly control is our own attitude and reactions. Once we accept that, we can find happiness right where we are, irrespective of how things turn out. This was perhaps the hardest but the most necessary part of the transformation for me.

1. Let go of trying to control everything.

Every time we pretend to be someone, it takes us away from our true selves, and from our place of happiness. It was hard at first to stop trying to please others. Eventually I realized how liberating it was to dare to be myself!

2. Let go of trying to please everyone.

I often found myself asking “Why me?” It was hard to replace that with “Why not?” After all, everyone gets their share of joys and sorrows; why should I somehow be above it and deserve only the joys?

3. Let go of the sense of entitlement.

Unless we walk in the shoes of the other, we really don’t know the reason for their behavior. Carrying resentment only hurts us and delays any repair. I cannot tell you how amazing it’s been to let go of some of the resentment I didn’t even know I’d been carrying for years

4. Let go of resentment.

On the flip side, if we are the ones who made a mistake, it is time to forgive ourselves and make amends. “I’m sorry. How can I fix it?” can go a long way in starting the healing process.

5. Let go of guilt.

Neither apology nor forgiveness is possible without letting go of pride. Nor is there room for authentic connection where pride resides. Let it go.

6. Let go of pride.

If I had a dime for every opportunity I squandered in the quest for perfection, I’d be rich! But no one can be perfect all the time. That’s what makes us humans. We are quirky. We have flaws. We are beautiful just the way we are

7. Let go of perfectionism.

In any given situation we have a choice—look at what’s good and be grateful or look at what’s wrong and complain. Deliberately adopting the attitude of gratitude literally changed the course of my life.

8. Let go of negativity.

We are the average of the people we hang out with, and if they are frequently negative, it becomes hard for us to maintain an attitude of gratitude. It’s been a tough call to distance myself from people in my life who were bringing me down, but it was necessary to move on.

9. Let go of draining, unhealthy relationships.

Somewhere along the way, many of us have bought into the notion that the busier we are and the more we achieve, the happier we will be. After thirty-five years, I’ve come to realize that busyness does not equal happiness.

10. Let go of the busyness.

Money is definitely good to have, but once our basic needs and savings goals are met, it’s time to evaluate the tradeoff of earning more and more. Letting go of the need for money just for the sake of it has been a very hard but fulfilling experience for me.

11. Let go of the attachment to money

Everybody who tries anything worthwhile fails at some point or the other. Failure does not mean we are broken. It simply means we are courageous to dare! Easier said than done, but I’m trying.

12. Let go of the fear of failure.

Fundamentally, we all crave for connection. But when fear of abandonment starts to rule our lives, we make very irrational choices. I try to trust that what is meant to be will happen. And no matter how things turn out, we’ll come out of it okay.

13. Let go of the fear of abandonment.

We usually only get to see the highlights reel of other’s lives. Comparing my behind-the-scenes to that has only made me unhappy in the past. It’s time for change.

14. Let go of comparison.

In the end, the core of all my issues was that I expected things to be a certain way. I expected what a good spouse or a friend ought to act like. I expected my daughter to behave a certain way. I expected how situations should turn out. Heck, I even had fixed expectations of what happiness was! Letting go of expectations has helped everything else start to fall in place.

15. Let go of expectations.

how can we find true happiness if we are saddled down by the baggage of the past or fear of the future? Once I learned to let go of some of the above, I started to focus deliberately on today and now. Suddenly, music and beauty emerged from what was previously mundane. Is there a better way to find true happiness?Letting go of something that is ingrained in our minds for years is hard. In my experience, even when I do manage to let go of something some of the time, at other times, it comes right back. In the end, it’s the journey that matters.

16. Let go of yesterday and tomorrow.

We don't need to chase anything to be happy. Happiness is already within us. We just need to clear up some clutter to find it.

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Psychology

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Philosophy

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Mindfulness

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Motivation & Inspiration

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Mental Health

16 Things to Let Go to Live a Truly Happy Life

The Bhagavad Gita says that the Universe is made up of eight elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether (Space), Mind, Intellect, and Consciousness. The five sheaths to human existence are the environment, physical body, prana or energy, mind and consciousness. So, the whole universe is an individual part, and we are part and parcel of the universe.

Honour Existence

Krishna tells Arjuna to fight but be in peace at the same time. He says, “First, go inside and cleanse yourself. Do not fight with hatred but fight for justice; fight with equanimity.”

Peaceful Fight

The Gita says, “Your own mind is responsible for your bondage and for your liberation.” Your mind keeps changing all the time. If your mind is trained well through Sadhana (spiritual practices), it befriends and helps you. Otherwise, your own mind behaves like an enemy.

Mind your Mind

Liberation is acquired by Nishkama-Karma — Action, which is done without any feverishness or attachment to the fruits of the action. Karma yoga is doing work with total responsibility.

Karma Yoga

Remember that that which is temporary is sorrowful. Sukha is inside you. Don’t look for happiness in that which is temporary, fleeting and changing. Joy and happiness are only in that which does not change.

You are Sukha

The relevance of Gita is in observing the flow of events in your life. That is ‘Sakshi’! Look at your past — Is it not a dream? Similarly, another 20 years will pass. Remembering that, “Whether unpleasant or pleasant things are happening, I am a witness to it. My mind getting caught up in it is also part of the happening; I am witness to that too.” This is how you rise above any situation.Just like how the air comes and blows everything away, in the same way, all of life’s events come and go.

Witness the Flow of Time

the Holy Book of Geeta teaches the ultimate ways of living a fulfilled life.

The Bhagavad Gita caters to the entire range of human evolution. It stands for poise and equanimity and for performing one’s designated duty.

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Religion & Spirituality

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Meditation

Life Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

Solipsism revolves around the idea that there is nothing you can confirm except your own existence. If you think about the brain’s capacity for hallucination, and just good ol’ dreaming, it’s not that hard to imagine outside manipulation being possible as well. For all we know, we COULD be stuck in the Matrix, or maybe you’re the only person that exists and the entire world and your experience of it is just an illusion.

Solipsism

The philosophy of idealism has nothing to do with being idealistic. It has nothing to do with ideals, but rather ideas. It revolves around the thought that reality is fundamentally something that exists on a mental level. Kant once defined idealism as “the assertion that we can never be certain whether all of our putative outer experience is not mere imagining.”

Idealism 

Is the idea that nothing can be said to exist beyond the observation of the thing itself. So, for example, you could not argue that the stone exists, only that your sense of it exists. You could say: “I saw a stone.” but not: “The stone was there.” The only thing that one is able to confirm is the sensory data of the stone, but not the stone’s existence independent of your own.

Phenomenalism

The idea that only the present exists, and that both the past and future do not. A Buddhist scholar named Fyodor Shcherbatskoy said the following: “Everything past is unreal, everything future is unreal, everything imagined, absent, mental . . . is unreal. . .. Ultimately real is only the present moment of physical efficiency.” The belief that our way of experiencing time is it’s true and only nature. So, for a presentist the idea of time travel is ridiculous, as there exists no destination to travel to, where other philosophies and theories might suggest otherwise.

Presentism

Contrary to presentism, eternalism is the belief that all moments in time, past, present and future are equally real. Some eternalists believe that because of the nature of time, in this case that time exists as a whole, not in separate parts, the existing future already exists in a set and final manner, and therefore we are only capable of experiencing the future, not able to change it in any way, which one could interpret as the existence of fate. Modern scientific theories seemingly support the eternalism over presentism, but with our ever-developing understanding of the universe.

Eternalism

The most well-known form of nihilism, existential nihilism is focused on the assertion that life has no inherent purpose, goal, or intrinsic value. (Intrinsic value is the idea of something having value in and of itself.) Simplified, it’s the belief that life is utterly pointless. The difference between nihilism and hedonism is that pleasure, or joy, is seen as worthless as well, and therefore is often characterized as leading to a feeling of despair. Some modern interpretations of existential nihilism conclude that precisely because your life has no intrinsic value, goals or purpose.

Nihilism

Hedonism is centered around the belief that pleasure is the only thing that has intrinsic value. Basically, a hedonist makes pleasure the ultimate goal of any and all of his actions and choices in life. Hedonism is perhaps the philosophy that is closest to our original instincts, in that it embraces the response of pleasure to things like eating and fornicating wholeheartedly. Instead of bringing morals into the picture, it focuses on feasting on pleasure, a sensory response that probably played a vital part in our survival as a species.

Hedonism

Unlike what seems to be popular belief, stoicism is not about faking not having an emotional response or becoming completely emotionless. It is a philosophy that focuses on training yourself to improve through training and conditioning. From everything to your outlook on life, to knowledge and perhaps especially minimizing your negative emotional responses. Stoics believe that emotions like anger, sadness and frustration are based in your own, fixable faults rather than justified responses to outside influences.

Stoicism

One could perhaps argue that skepticism is the basis for all other philosophies. Because if we didn’t question, if we didn’t ask, then where would the answers be? But philosophical skepticism, unlike methodical skepticism, does not focus on questioning individual statements to validate or invalidate; rather, it questions if there is a possibility for a certainty in any knowledge. And given the constant changes in our understanding of the universe and even what’s directly in front of us, it might not be as “overly skeptical” as you might think.

Skepticism

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Science & Nature

9 Philosophies That Will Change The Way You Look At Life

Procrastination is one of the main barriers blocking you from getting up, making the right decisions and living the dream life you've thought of.Recent studies have shown that people regret more the things they haven't done than the things they have done. In addition, feelings of regret and guilt resulting from missed opportunities tend to stay with people much longer.

Procrastination

For example, if you want to start exercising, a good goal might be “be able to run a full mile by the end of the month”, while bad goals might be “do some running” (unspecific) and “run a marathon by the end of the month” (unrealistic).

1. Set specific and realistic goals.

First, identify cases in which you delay unnecessarily, to figure out what exactly you procrastinate on (e.g., studying) and how you do it (e.g., by <a href="https://solvingprocrastination.com/social-media-procrastination/">browsing social media</a>). Then, think about those situations to also figure out where and when you procrastinate (e.g., at home or the library, on starting or finishing tasks, in the morning or evening). Finally, figure out why you procrastinate.

2. Assess your procrastination. 

It should involve using relevant anti-procrastination techniques, which account for the goals that you set and the nature of your procrastination problem.

3. Create an action plan.

Make sure to reflect on your progress and refine your approach, primarily by figuring out which techniques work for you and how you can implement them most effectively.

4. Implement your plan. 

identify the smallest possible step you can take to make progress toward your goals, and try to start with just that tiny step, while giving yourself permission to make mistakes during the attempt. For example, if you need to write an essay, you can decide to start by writing just a single word, while accepting that it won’t be perfect, and might even be quite bad at first.

5. To stop procrastinating right now

A practical, concise, and research-based guide on how to stop procrastination.

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Productivity

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Habits

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Problem Solving

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Time Management

Tips and Techniques for Overcoming Procrastination – Solving Procrastination

Wherever you find yourself at work or in your personal life, do the very best you can do.

1.Whatever you do—give it 100%

When we carry unforgiveness, it’s literally like taking a huge rock, putting it in a rucksack, and carrying it on our back wherever we go.

2. Forgive and let go

Books give us access to some of the greatest minds and ideas that ever lived—we can learn from great people we wouldn’t otherwise have access to any other way than through their books.

3. Read Everyday 

The more you learn and grow, the better your life will become.

4. Never stop learning and growing as a person

Our thinking determines what happens to us in life—not our circumstances.So, to change our lives, we must first change what we believe about ourselves and how we think.

6. Change your thinking, change your life.

If you find someone with the desired results, you need to do what they are doing.

7. Find a mentor and do what they’re doing.

Everyone loves to feel special, Everyone loves to be noticed.And if you care for people and treat them as the special people that they are, then they will love you for it.

8. Be kind to people; treat people as you would like to be treat

Never argue with a stupid person or else they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

9. Never argue with a stupid person

Define the problem, list out the potential solutions, and choose a path forward. Some decisions are one-way doors, but most are not.

10. Don’t obsess about making the “right” decision.

Great advice can lead you to paths and outcomes that are much better for you. Here are the 9 best pieces of life advice I have ever received.

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Career

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Business

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Books

9 Best Pieces of Life Advice I Have Ever Received

<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams because every second of the search is an encounter with God.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">when you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favour.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.</li></ol>

Quotes From Book The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho 

A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho. Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho.Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel The Alchemist became an international best-seller and he has published 30 more books since then.

16 Things to Let Go to Live a Truly Happy Life

Life Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

9 Philosophies That Will Change The Way You Look At Life

Tips and Techniques for Overcoming Procrastination – Solving Procrastination

9 Best Pieces of Life Advice I Have Ever Received

Dipu Sahoo