Secret to a Happy Life

I saw this graphic on Facebook today, and the first three sentences are perfect if you want to know the secret to a happy life.

photo from Facebook

Don’t sit on the couch and wait for it.

Go out.

Make a change.

I’ve done these three things a few times in my life and I’ve seen the fruits of my labors.

The first time I “went for it” was when I met Donny Osmond for the first time.  It was my life’s goal to meet him.  I knew inside me that it would happen, but I didn’t realize it would happen so early in my life.  You can read my experience about the time I crocheted an afghan for Donny and I was able to go backstage after his concert and give it to him in person.

This experience was way more than just meeting my idol.  It taught me that I could set a goal, work toward it, and achieve it.

The second time was when I built my modeling career.  Working as a professional model was also a goal of mine.  I paid my dues by working for free and for next-to-nothing in the beginning to get experience and to network.  I went from begging people to let me work for them to having so much work that I changed my phone number to unlisted.

I took my modeling career full-circle.  I fulfilled my dream and got to the point of burn-out.

I learned that in order to work, I needed to be able to sell myself.  I had to convince the client that I was the best model for the job.  If I wanted to work, I needed to create an air of confidence and that became a really important quality in other aspects of my life, too.

I wrote down my career goals and had a visual reminder of what I had accomplished and what I still wanted to do.

The most recent time was when I started eWillow.com.  I’ve loved stationery and greeting cards my entire life.  I love making cards.  eWillow.com is my baby.  It’s an idea I conceived and I’ll always be proud of it.  However, it hasn’t always been easy.  I’ve learned a lot of lessons about dealing with different personalities and that success is defined differently by different people.  Your idea of success is not that same as mine and vice-versa, and that’s okay.

In conclusion, YOU have to make things happen.  If you aren’t happy today, no one is going to wave a magic wand and change your life.  You need to decide that it’s up to you to be happy.

Start by writing down your goals and what you want to change in your life.  Don’t wait until New Year’s Day. Do it now!

Also, getting back to the original list, I don’t have a problem unfollowing (and blocking) negative people on social media, but I still need to work on a few of the items, especially the part about going to bed and waking up early.

Share your thoughts about the list!  What has been easy for you?  What do you hope to improve?