18 Rails to Help You Maximize Your Happiness
We only have one life.
In that life we have a choice: We can either be negative and grumpy, or we can decide to make ourselves happy. For me the answer is clear. I want to enjoy this one life. I want to be happy. I want the people around me to be happy.
True, there are things that we cannot change. But we can always change the attitude towards things that we cannot change.
There is much more in our control about things that really count than we think. Based on a lot of reading, experimenting, and introspecting a large part of my life, I came up with a range of ideas that you can follow to actively improve your happiness.
I call them rails to the happy life. Let’s find out why…
What Are Rails?
I call them rails to the happy life because they are like rails on a bridge, which guide us to a destination. My rails are a collection of ideas that can guide you to maximize your happiness.
If you look carefully, you will identify four area that are essential for our happiness:
- Foundational principles
- Health
- Relationships
- Growth and mindset
I list all of the rails below.
Listing All 18 Rails
- Understand and follow your purpose in life.
- Know your values and constantly strengthen them.
- Define your goals. Create action plans and systems.
- Understand nutrition. Create your optimal diet.
- Exercise or move every day.
- Connect with nature.
- Get enough high-quality sleep.
- Embrace the cold as your friend.
- Maintain strong social connections with family and friends.
- Be good, just for the sake of being good.
- Get enough affection and sex.
- Constantly seek challenges.
- Value the small things. Be as minimalist as possible.
- Constantly develop yourself and learn new things.
- Let no one take your freedom.
- Learn to survive and fight.
- Strive for financial freedom.
- Learn to focus on what you can control and change.
Download the Rails to the Happy Life Guide
Example: Rail 15
Let no one take your freedom.
Freedom is an essential part of happiness. Especially, during the pandemic, our freedom of movement but also our freedom of speech was reduced. That concerns me. It concerns me even more that too many people just accept this. No need to use violence but let’s not stop critical thinking and voicing concerns. The freedom we have today was hard fought by the generations before us. We must not give that up lightly.
The ultimate freedom for me means that I am able to do what I want when I want, and where I want. In other words, it's freedom of activity, time, and location. That’s what I work towards. Vanlife or motorcycle adventures are examples about how this manifests.
I recommend that you too define what’s the freedom you want, then work for it and defend it.
Let your eagle fly.
Where to Go From Here
The minimum that I hope to achieve with my Rails to the Happy Life is to provide you with some input, make you think, and help you on your way to maximizing happiness.
Don’t forget, it’s a journey.
Nobody is always happy and nobody has all the answers. But we can move towards more happiness. Don’t be discouraged but continue working consistently.
I’d also love to get your feedback: good or bad, I listen to all. I’d be especially keen on improving the rails.
Contact me here.