350 days of happy

People are motivated by a desire to live in accordance with their values and beliefs, and express their personality and talents. These areas govern one's core - they make you, you. Discontent or tension builds up when you keep you suppressed or compromised over long periods of time, which would then undermine your self-esteem and self-concept.

Don't let conventional wisdom or popular opinions tell you who you should be and what you should want. Grant yourself room for exploration, learn from failures; ask deep questions that will reveal your deepest emotions and desires. No one will be happy with what they want, unless what they want is what they should have. Many worked hard for things that will not make them happy for long.

Contemporary society celebrates individuality and diversity and has the capacity for it - we can be united by our differences! It is narrow-minded to think that there are only a few ways in which one can succeed, and to confine success into a narrow highway.

So, go ahead, show the World your unique appeal and skill set, and contribute to the society in your own best way. Only when we respect who we are, protect our core and honour ourselves will we love the person that we are, and would be proud and happy to be us and with what we achieve.

Temptations and distractions abound in the modern world, and the faster pace of the outside World calls for higher consciousness of our inner World lest we be dragged along in a semi-conscious state, only to keep losing our footing and stumbling over.

Most people are at best, living semi-consciously - having days running them instead of them running their days, and allowing things to happen to them instead of making things happen for them.

To exercise higher consciousness is to have clarity of self and to align one's intention and purpose accordingly; be able to identify self-sabotaging behaviours and choosing to do what's right, not what's comfortable. In so doing, one feels in control and is able to steadily stride forward in tandem with the rest of the World without losing sense of self and sight of personal goals.

Work for mastery, not for retirement. Success and happiness comes from mastery. Know what you're good or can be good at and work towards bettering yourself personally and professionally to achieve mastery in self and your chosen vocation. Having this goal and purpose in mind keeps you motivated and anticipating the future. Independent of outcome, the process in achieving mastery brings joy through immersion, satisfaction from progress, and pride for not giving up in the face of difficulties.

Whatever profession you may be in, make time for wonder and curiosity. With a huge open resource both on- and offline, there is little to stop one from learning outside of formal education. Stay curious and keep learning.

As you hold yourself to higher standards and refuse to succumb to mediocrity, you are also raising your self-esteem, self-confidence and self-concept. Nothing gives us more pride and makes us happier than becoming a master of our chosen vocation, through which we contribute to the society. We derive meanings from our lives through giving our best to a cause greater than ourselves.