The Happiness Warrior’s Guide to Creating Opportunity
- Written by Eric North aka “The Happiness Warrior”
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." –Albert Einstein
Opportunity is defined as: a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something
As the Happiness Warrior, I want to show you how to identify, create and develop opportunities to make them a reality and make you feel good about yourself. Great opportunities are life-changing ways to increase happiness, fulfillment, self-esteem, to help create an optimal life. Opportunities abound in everyday life, but in times of crisis these opportunities can be even more powerful, making a real difference in your life and improving the lives of others. These are the opportunities that are the strongest, have the most value, but require the correct mindset, gratitude and the self-discipline needed to make them happen. Consistent action is the key to creating momentum and making it happen.
To make an opportunity a reality requires a healthy mindset, a strong inner voice, (intuition or “gut” feeling), and self-discipline. Not all opportunities are good for us and relying on intuition (listening to your inner voice) is usually the best choice to take an opportunity and make it meaningful. Listening to your gut instinct and refining the ability to identify “red flags” rather than relying on ego and ambition will help you to clearly see the potential of the opportunity and make it happen. This will also help to create opportunities, better choices, and better self-esteem.
Good opportunities require insight, a plan for action, a mindset for personal success, the self-discipline to see it through, and most importantly, view it with a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude provides the emotional foundation for a successful outcome and more gratitude will expand your life with better opportunities. Without these things most opportunities are doomed to fail, and the negative cycle will continue without the ability to adapt to change while the rest of the world is moving forward.
In my own life, I became happier and felt more at peace once I began to realize that most things are out of my control with a “life happens” attitude. My reactions are more measured and balanced to help me reach the best outcome. However, when my ego prevails, I’m more likely to make decisions that I’ll regret, and amazing opportunities are wasted and gone forever.
Often in life, we’re conditioned to see ourselves as lacking in ability, lacking in confidence, lacking the belief that we deserve it, or use other self-defeating behaviors out of Fear! We are conditioned to live in a negative loop with unhappy behaviors and patterns that prohibit us from moving forward. This is all self-created and is not real. Fear is all self-created. We don’t need to let others decide our fate, define who we are, and what we can or cannot do which is wrong and a sign of unhappiness. When we learn to live in a happier state it becomes easy to ignore the opinions of others and live happier lives with even better opportunities. better opportunities. By not giving yourself permission to be happy great opportunities pass by unseen and are lost forever.
OPPORTUNITY KILLERS:
Opportunities are only as good as our mindset. Without developing the right mindset they become more frustrating, more difficult to achieve, and often end up as a “squandered opportunity”. These behaviors are all self-created and hold us back from living the happier lives that we all deserve:
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Fear: Do something every day that’s outside your comfort zone, learn to take pride in conquering your fears and you’ll be ready for anything.
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Anger: Think about where your anger comes from, what can you do to compartmentalize the anger and make it smaller and take up less space in your thoughts. Anger is usually created by self-doubt and poor self-esteem.
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Shame: shaming or judging others isn’t productive. Often, we see traits in others that we don’t like in ourselves and this creates inner conflict and unhappiness.
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Sadness: Is a valid emotion and plays a part in any life, but it can also hold us back from being happy. Sadness can be a feel like spiral, it can take us to very low places but eventually it will rise and life will go on.
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Rage: An egocentric self-expression, rage creates fear. Rage is selfish and harmful to everyone.
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Loneliness: Realizing that there are other’s out there with similar stories and experiences is a good way to connect and feel less lonely. Make a difference in someone’s life and practice kindness.
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Annoyance: Take a breath and learn to be patient by thinking about how the other person might be feeling at that moment. Maybe you can help and make a difference. Resolve to leave a better footprint in life.
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Inadequacy: What makes you feel inadequate, is that fair to you? Has someone else made you feel inadequate? Take inventory of things that you’re really good at and praise yourself for having these skills and values.
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Jealousy: Jealousy is crippling and keeps us from moving forward. Learn to celebrate your own strengths and what makes you special, everyone is unique and valuable including yourself. Jealousy is a sign of insecurity.
With a happier mindset, I can make better choices and choose new opportunities to create a better life and make a difference. With happiness as my guide, I’m more open-minded and able to see myself with clarity. I’m not limited by someone else’s perceived opinion of me. I can trust my intuition to help me make the right decisions and choices to move forward in my life.
New opportunities give us new ways to explore our lives and explore our dreams. New opportunities help reinvent who we are no matter what’s happening in the world around us. Opportunities give us the momentum to move forward with our dreams and ambitions. In this rapidly changing world where everything seems upside down this is how we can learn how to thrive and find new ways to be happy and fulfilled. The obstacles in my life have taught me, provided resilience, and much needed clarity and provided greater wisdom. It helps me to see life as game with its setbacks as well as its wins. How I play the game is what matters and feeling good about myself and my opportunities is how I win.
Every amazing opportunity needs a plan of action:
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Develop a clear vision of what you want: Imagine that you can be anyone you wish to be, then believe you can make it happen. Listen to your gut.
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Set Goals: Set goals with a mental picture of what you want to accomplish or what the ideal outcome looks like. Have a plan for success.
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Take Consistent Action: Momentum creates reality once action has begun.
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Listen to the world with an open mind. Be receptive to new thoughts and idea, I constantly remind myself that I don’t know everything. Listening and learning are the key to personal growth.
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Maintain and develop a state of happiness: Happiness creates gratitude and gratitude is the key to creating a happier life. Happy people are better able to make better quality connections with others, communicate better and accomplish more.
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Use intuition (inner voice) as a guide: Intuition helps us to make better decisions and creates more opportunity. My inner voice has never failed me, but I’ve failed myself by not always listening to it, and reacting without measuring my response
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Practice gratitude for all opportunities! Show-up for yourself with a smile and make it happen.
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Rid yourself of self-defeating negative emotions, this can take time, but once it becomes a good habit these will disappear from your life and happiness will be a normal state.
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