How to Make Life Interesting and More Enjoyable

Do you find yourself dreading Monday mornings and counting down to the weekend?

Or do you feel unfulfilled and bored in life overall?

Well you’re in luck because there are many things you can begin implementing to find more enjoyment in your every day life.

Many of us often let work and our problems consume and define us. We let life pass us by and before we know it, another year has passed.

Gain control of your life and take your happiness back with these tips.

Become more aware and observant

The main thing meditating over the last few years has taught me is awareness. I’ve become more sensitive to my body and my surroundings.

If you really take a moment to observe everything around you, you will begin to feel more of a connection to the universe and your life.

I’ve gotten emotional from staring at the moon or watching a thunderstorm. I’ve developed goose bumps from watching documentaries about nature.

This world is truly amazing and when you pause to really appreciate how complex it is, life becomes overwhelmingly beautiful.

For example, our bodies are nearly perfectly made and we have cells inside of us that fight for our lives. We spend years walking a planet that rotates and circles around a sun, but we don’t fall off. We can eat thousands of species that grow from the ground to nourish us, and we can build businesses and do fun activities like go down a water slide or attend concerts. Amazing!

Additionally, if you start to become aware of your presence, energy, and other people, you’ll notice a shift in your interactions.

Give people their personal space in the grocery store.

Don’t vent/complain about your life to someone who appears overwhelmed or emotional.

Pay attention to where you’re walking and hold the door for people behind you.

These things can be challenging because a lot of individuals are disconnected from how others’ may feel, which makes it more difficult to “be the bigger person” in said situations. However, it’s respectable that you are doing your part.

Another great way to practice awareness is to notice any and all sensations you may feel throughout your day.

Focus on the warmth and pressure as your significant other hugs or touches you.

Focus on your muscles tensing and the sweat dripping down your face while you workout.

Focus on the sensation of your body just sitting still. Notice the weight of your body and the surfaces you may be touching.

Putting emphasis on every day things can really change your perspective.

Take care of yourself

Eat healthy food, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, socialize, learn new things, and break unhealthy habits.

Life is harder to enjoy when you suffer from aches and pains or other health issues.

Of course some things are inevitable, but majority of the most common diseases (heart disease, diabetes, etc.) can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy choices are a form of self-care and when you start to take care of your body and mind, you’ll gain more happiness and confidence.

Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it. Mental health is just as important as physical health.

Self-care in all areas is not selfish.

When airlines go over their safety rules, they tell us that in the event that our oxygen masks release, secure YOUR mask first before helping others.

When you take care of yourself and show yourself love, you’ll be better to those around you and see life in a brighter life.

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Stop wishing/waiting for the future

Don’t treat the now as a transitory period.

Meaning, stop dwelling, wishing, and waiting on the future or for some change to occur.

I know this is so, so difficult, because we tend to feel unsatisfied with our present lives. We long for more or aspire for better days.

Which there isn’t a problem with that until it becomes your whole existence. You begin to forget how far you have come or you stop appreciating what you do have in life.

This often results in a vicious cycle, until one day it is too late and you look back and regret not living and enjoying your life more.

This phenomenon is known as ‘The Hedonic Treadmill’ or ‘Hedonic Adaptation,’ which states that regardless of what happens to someone, their level of happiness will return to their baseline of happiness.

You may have already experienced this.

Think back to a few years ago. Was there a job you would kill to have or a person you desperately wanted to be in a relationship with?

You end up getting that job or dating that person, and now you don’t feel much enjoyment from it. You may even hate your job or get really annoyed of your significant other, despite much change in them at all.

This theory is not inevitable though, and you can step off that treadmill. Genuinely try to appreciate the now and always remind yourself of how far you have come.

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Practice gratitude

Subsequent to the last point, gratitude plays a huge role in life fulfillment.

I keep a small journal and a pen on my night stand, where I write the date and at least 3 things I’m grateful for just about every day. There is always the obvious…I’m grateful to be alive, for my health, for my job, etc. However, I try to make my list unique to each day. It’s a great way to end the evening.

The quality of your life is based on your perspective.

We all face challenges throughout life. Some go through more difficult things that may be extremely difficult to look at in a positive light, but you can still control how you react.

Choosing to look at everything, good and bad, with gratitude is life changing.

When I face a tough situation, I also tend to think about why it happened.

For example, I recently missed my flight home. It was already a late flight, so I had to catch an even later flight and obviously get home later.

It was so stressful and definitely sucked, but I focused on the positives…the things I was grateful for.

I got the next flight for free, I made it to the airport safely (after REALLY bad traffic, rain, and an unfamiliar city), and missing my flight gave me the chance to buy a meal and eat my food.

I also couldn’t help but to think of the reasons this could have happened. Maybe I would have made my flight and got in a bad wreck once I got home.

You never really know, but it’s a lot easier to accept things when you look at it from a different perspective.

Gary Vaynerchuk (one of my favorite influencers EVER) always preaches about gratitude. He always talks about the 400 trillion to 1 phenomenon.

Which is roughly the odds of you being born as you.

It’s something that has stuck with me and reminds me how truly grateful we all should be.

The fact that I have my health, I am able to improve my life in all areas of my life, I get to write these blog posts, I have a family and boyfriend that loves me, I have a great career, I have clean water to drink and shower in, etc.

I could go on for days, but seriously.

Gratitude could stand solo on this list to “enjoy your life more,” so start implementing it!

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Incorporate routines that fit your lifestyle

With a ‘Type A’ personality I truly thrive off of routine. I have grown to love the routines I’ve incorporated into my day and so should you!

First, I start with a morning routine that involves yoga, oil pulling, and drinking plenty of water.

Sometimes I change up my routine, but overall I stick with my basics.

This means that I wake up earlier than I have to. I could sleep an extra 30 minutes if I wanted to, but I have found so much joy in my morning yoga that I make it a priority!

Of course I would rather go back to sleep, but morning yoga and other little things I do make my life so much better.

In the evening, I wash my dishes from the day and tidy up my kitchen/apartment. When I get in bed, I write down at least 3 things I’m grateful for and then I read for about 20 minutes.

The morning/evening routines you may watch on YouTube look amazing, but keep in mind that people have different lives and schedules.

You may not be able to wake up any earlier to fit in some exercise or meditating, that’s OK.

Instead, find a time in your day that you can do a few daily rituals that bring you peace and happiness.

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Set big goals

Set goals that are bigger than you have ever imagined.

Want to become a millionaire? Doable.

Want to travel the world? Doable.

Want to start your dream job? Doable.

Set your goal, do a whole bunch of research, and break down the exact steps you could follow to reach it. The big goal is composed of a bunch of smaller goals that you can start working toward today.

Find other people who have reached those goals and study what they did/do. Essentially simulate their moves and eventually you should be able to reproduce the same results.

Having a lofty goal definitely makes things more exciting, plus gives a larger purpose in life.

For me, my current big goal is to become debt free by 2022. I would also like to become a full-time blogger/YouTuber around the same time and be a millionaire by 30.

I get a high off of paying down debt and publishing new content. Every cent to my debt and every new piece of content gets me one step closer to these goals!

Savor things you love

When was the last time you truly appreciated your perfect tasting coffee? Or the taste of a warm, decadent cookie? Or the feeling of the ocean touching your toes?

When you are doing (or consuming) something you really love, truly live in that moment.

You should be doing little things you love every day, even if it’s getting under your cool sheets at night and curling up to sleep.

Don’t be afraid to get excited or happy over little things.

Take control of what you can, let go of what you can’t

One of the best things I’ve practiced over the last year or so is to let go of the things I cannot control. This removes stress and worry from my life.

Even if something was your fault, it’s likely that you can’t go back and fix it now. All you can do is take control of what you can and go from there.

How many times have you worried about something and in the end, every thing ended up working out?

For me, whatever I worried about ALWAYS ended up being OK.

Losing sleep, stressing, not eating, thinking negatively, etc. only make life more difficult.

If you have multiple things worrying you at the moment try this activity:

-Write down all those things bothering you to the point where it is effecting your daily life
-Then, underneath each of those things write down what you can actively do and control to resolve the problem
-Start doing those things
-If there is nothing you can control for a situation, let it go

Here are a few examples:

Problem: “I got in an argument with [name], now we’re not speaking.”
What I can do: Call or write to [name] to apologize and explain my feelings.

Problem: “I missed my car payment and I don’t have the money to pay it.”
What I can do: Call my loan provider to explain what is going on.
Sell things around my house until I can pay for it.
Start budgeting and focusing on my finances so this never happens again.

If you come across something you have no control over, you can still control one thing: How you react to it. Sitting in traffic, the weather, gas prices, what others’ think/say, etc. You will always experience good and bad times for each of those, but you can’t control them whatsoever.

Instead, you can jam out to your favorite songs in traffic or listen to a great podcast, you can put on a cute rainy day outfit, you can carpool or start saving more for gas, and you can keep quiet if someone judges you!

Get off social media

In late March of 2019 I decided to quit social media. Well since then I haven’t been back on Instagram and I stopped watching YouTube videos that made me feel down about my life.

One of my best decisions ever.

Social media can be great for interacting with other people, building businesses, and getting ideas. However, it’s a HUGE time waster and it’s a highlight reel where we tend to compare our bodies and lives to others.

Think about your social media use? Do you spend hours scrolling through photos and tapping through stories?

Do you expend energy on Twitter arguments and celebrity drama?

How many times did you have to take that photo to get it just right? Did it upset you when you only got 89 likes instead of 100+?

Social media can be a very toxic place and I highly encourage you to take a break from it.

When you do, you’ll likely feel a lot better and want to start taking steps to reduce your use of all these platforms.

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Simplify all areas of your life

Minimalism is quite trendy lately, and it’s really not a bad thing to consider.

Being minimal doesn’t require you to own one outfit and a single chair. The idea is to reduce the clutter in not only your home, but in your finances, your online/digital tools, the food you eat, your routines, the things you commit to, and your goals and to-do list.

The less debt you have the less bills you have to worry about scheduling. On the same note, the more money you can save by not consuming so much, the easier life becomes.

Unsubscribe from unnecessary e-mails and start organizing your phone or computer files.

Stop saying yes to every single thing and making to-do lists that are 10 lines long.

When you get organized and reduce the amount of things around you or in your mind, your life will seriously improve.

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Embrace failure and fail forward

Everyone fails.

The problem arises when you let failure hold you back.

Instead, get over it quickly, learn from each and every failure, and try again.

We are all bound to make mistakes, whether big or small. We can choose to let those mistakes and failures make us feel afraid or defeated or we can keep striving for success.

Don’t dwell on the past.

Learn to appreciate alone time

The person you will have the longest relationship with is yourself. Therefore it’s very important to love yourself and enjoy your own presence.

Many people fear being alone or silence around them.

The main point I’m trying to make here is to find happiness in yourself and who you are. The best way to do this is to spend time alone to discover yourself.

I now live alone and I’ll admit, at first I felt really lonely.

Now, I have realized that it’s really not so bad. Outside of work, I fill my time with productive things and enjoy it a lot. I can do whatever I want to in my home.

Keep positive thoughts running through your brain, and if you struggle with that I highly recommend listening to podcasts or talks.

Make time to do something you are passionate about

Blogging has become a huge passion of mine and I get really excited to focus on writing or improving my website.

I know it is one of my passions because I spent years making $0 from writing but I kept doing it. There was also a time I took a break from blogging for a few months exactly for that reason. However, I quickly got my itch to just write again, redesign my blog, and plan out months of content.

I LOVE that I can work a full-time job, come home and do what I need to do (workout, clean, etc.), and then spend an hour or two writing. Blogging has genuinely improved my life and I don’t know what I would fill my time with otherwise.

To find your passion, think about what you wouldn’t mind doing for free for a long time. Your passion doesn’t need to make you income whatsoever, that’s just a good place to start.

Maybe its painting, volunteering at an animal shelter, or gardening.

Whatever it is, make time for it daily or weekly…even if it’s just for a little bit.

Water your own grass

Instead of wanting what the next person has, focus on yourself.

It’s easy to think that “the grass is greener” on the other side, yet so many people neglect to water their own grass.

If you really want to improve an area of your life, make an effort to do so.

It’s pretty amazing how much we can make our life better when we try.

Start planting seeds (opportunities) and grow plants and trees of all sizes and colors. And if someone grows beautiful tulips and lemon trees before you, so be it.

Never think “Must be nice,” or “That should have been me.” Genuinely celebrate others’ successes and realize that yours will come. The only person you should compare yourself to is who you were yesterday. Strive for more, strive for better, and soon your grass will be greener than ever and your garden will be thriving.

What can you do daily to make your life better?

Life can become more interesting and enjoyable in many ways, this is just a small list.

You can adopt a pet, buy some house plants, find more ways to laugh, go out on a week day, chat with good friends, hug someone, go on a beautiful hike, and so much more.

Your life has the potential to be truly amazing. Work on changing your perspective and putting these tips into practice, and you’ll realize how much better your day to day becomes.