What does it mean to live a more joyful life? By definition, Joy means ‘Great Pleasure’ and ‘Happiness’. But, what does that actually mean…for you? It is a subjective feeling, what brings you joy might be completely different to your family, partner and friends.
I don’t know about you, but 2023 has felt like it went by in the blink of an eye! Thinking back to what I did this year that brought me joy, and what did not, has me pondering on 2024 and what I can do differently. So, why not write a blog article about it?!
Why is this important, you ask? Well, think about how much overwhelm you experience in your work and how much time you spend either at work, or thinking about it. This can become quite draining and leave you with not much energy to go towards engaging in joyful activities. I believe it is essential to make joy a priority so we can live a life in line with holistic wellness.
This blog article is a quick read that will go over 15 habits that you can start in 2024 that can bring more joy to your life.
1. Practice Gratitude
Take a few moments every day to reflect on what you’re grateful for. Gratitude shifts our focus from what we don’t have to what we do have, and it brings a sense of joy and contentment.
Sometimes it can feel tough to think of something we are grateful for, especially when we are stressed to the max and feeling completely drained. But, I would encourage you to think of just one thing at the end of each day that you are grateful for and write it down in a journal.
Go to bed thinking of this thing that you are grateful and notice how it feels in your body when you bring it to mind, or write in down in a journal.
Showing gratitude towards others is also a habit that can help you to have a more joyful life and it can improve your mental wellbeing.
2. Connect with loved ones
Spending time with people we love is a great habit that can bring joy into our lives. Schedule regular catch-ups with family and friends, even if it’s just a quick phone call or video chat.
I can hear you saying – but where can I find the time to do this?! Maybe its a phone call on your way to work, or a regular weekly video chat with friends or family that live far away from you.
Maybe its a quick coffee catch up or a stroll around the grocery store with a gal pal while you pick out your food for the next week….chocolate isle anyone?
Just like expressing gratitude, engaging in joyful relationships improves your health.
3. Engage in activities outside of work
Participating in activities we enjoy can bring us a great sense of joy in general. Try out new activities or revisit old ones you may have forgotten about.
Is there a trivia night on? Perhaps a dance class, or a Yoga class? Have you ever tried making your own pottery or painting? Seriously – even if you are totally shit at anything creative (ahem, hi friend!) it can still be fun just to try something new.
Breaking up the monotony of daily life can clear space for joy to pop up unexpectedly.
4. Give Back
Helping others can bring a sense of purpose and help you to live a more joyful life. This could include volunteering your time to a local organisation or donate to a charity.
Now, before you say it, I understand you probably don’t have time to volunteer annnd you probably can’t really afford to give other people money during this time in your life.
However, lets not forget the fact that you already ‘give back’ in your job. Every. Single. Day!
So, let’s look at that and see how we can extrapolate some joy out of it, shall we? Yep, it is a thankless job and a lot of people wouldn’t even call it ‘rewarding’. But think about this – if it weren’t for the support you gave your client today, yesterday or last week – maybe they would not have been able to get where they have. You gave your time and your energy to a person who needed it, in that moment.
Can you think about the joy that can comes from the giving back that you already do? Even just a teeny, tiny bit?
5. Spend Time in Nature
This is one of my favourites! Spending time in nature can be really therapeutic, allowing space for a sense of calm and joy. Going for a walk in the park, a hike in the bush, or planning a camping trip can really help us to feel joy.
If you are a person that loves being outdoors, can you slot some outside time into your daily life? Walking to grab your coffee and noticing the trees, leaves or grass outside? Or spending time after work just planning your next camping trip or overseas adventure with a loved one (or solo)?
6. Laugh More
Guess this one is pretty obvious! But, laughter is an excellent way to boost our mood and bring joy into our lives and it doesn’t require too much effort. Just by watching a sitcom or spending time with people that make you laugh can be enough.
You may have a warped sense of humour (like me) from working in the social work profession…and yes, we need to joke around sometimes so that we don’t go cray cray….but, it is important that we can laugh about things that have absolutely nothing to do with work. Laughing at memes, scrolling through your feed for funny animals videos, etc – all harmless and totally separate from your line of work.
I intentionally make space in my daily life to laugh more when I am feeling really low. Sometimes it feels really difficult, but after ‘practicing’ every day, it really started to help and I found myself more willing to laugh at random, light hearted things again. Laughter is another one of those habits that not only bring joy to our lives, but is also really good for our health.
7. Learn Something New
Learning new skills or taking up new interests can be a great way to bring a sense of joy and accomplishment into our lives. Take an online course or join a class in your community.
Why not consider learning some new skills that you can add to your professional experience? Or f#@$ work! Learn something that has nothing to do with work, like a new language or take an art class, whatever floats your boat!
Focusing your mind on learning something random can be an excellent way of creating some new neural pathways in your brain that steer away from the violence, abuse and daily trauma that it is used to. Hence, leading you to live a more joyful life.
8. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about being present and fully engaged in the moment. It can help us find joy in everyday activities and reduce stress. One way of making mindfulness a habit is to practice meditation.
Mindfulness can be added to your daily life in any aspect. Mindfully eat that chocolate instead of scarfing it down? Or have a puzzle at home waiting for you when you finish work for the day – something that takes your mind off the ‘shitness’ that has been your day.
There are loads of benefits of making mindfulness a habit other than experiencing joy, but this is a nice ‘warm and fluffy’ benefit.
9. Take Care of Yourself
Self-care is essential for our well-being and can bring a sense of joy and self-love into our lives. Take time to rest, exercise, eat well, and engage in activities that bring you joy.
Do you like a good bath? or a face mask? listen to music?
Taking care of yourself with the purpose of living a more joyful life can literally mean anything! I have found that the easiest way to make self-care a habit of mine is to link it with my sense of holistic wellness. I have written about this here, if you want to have a read.
10. Celebrate Achievements
No matter how big or small they may be. Recognise your hard work and take time to celebrate and appreciate your efforts.
This habit tends to gets lost with some of us women, doesn’t it? I mean – when was the last time you ACTUALLY celebrated an achievement? You probably felt guilty to ‘celebrate’ because you didn’t want to feel selfish, or you were too busy thinking about the next thing on your to-do list.
But please, please, please…do not underestimate the hard work you do. The achievements or the wins that happen, give yourself some praise for that. It doesn’t have to be a full on award ceremony or bottle of bubbles every time you see some positive results, but something is better than nothing. Forbes has a quick read on how this is beneficial in your workplace.
11. Find your ‘Ikigai’
‘Ikigai’ is a Japanese concept, basically – what makes your life worth living? What gives you meaning and purpose in life? If you are struggling to think of a habit to bring more joy to your life, have you considered digging deep and finding your purpose? If this doesn’t define what it means to live a joyful life, I don’t know what does!
There are many ways you can determine your Ikigai, but to begin – have a think about what you love doing, what makes you happy, what you are good at and what the world needs that you can offer.
Positive Psychology has created a list of 5 books on Ikigai, if you want to do some reading over the Christmas break.
12. Stop comparing yourself to others
You only get one life, so live it, live YOUR joyful life. We spend so much time thinking about what we don’t have, or what our friends, family members or neighbours do have. But why? All this does is make us miserable and always on the look out for ‘more’.
This comparison can leave you feeling less joy because it invites a sense of not being enough. How can we feel joy for what we have if we never feel good enough due to comparing ourselves to others? Yes, we are social creatures and it is natural to compare, but I encourage you to start noticing when you are comparing yourself to others – and create the habit of doing something different.
TinyBuddha has a list of things you can do differently. Have a read 🙂
13. Plan a trip
This is another one of my favourites! International travel is my number one activity that ensures I live a joyful life. Of course, we can’t always be on vacation, but we can always have a future trip to plan.
Whether it is a road trip up the coast with your partner, or a solo adventure backpacking overseas – you can find joy in the planning, just as much as the trip itself.
Whilst I usually plan my own trips, I don’t have any blog articles on how I do this (hmmm, future blog idea!) NomadicMatt is someone I follow on social media and he has a great article on trip planning here if you need some inspiration.
14. Do something you enjoyed as a child
Can you remember what you used to enjoy when you were a child? Maybe you liked climbing trees, or bike riding, camping or boogie boarding in the waves at the beach?
Why is it when we grow up, we grow out of doing the things we enjoy? Well…apart from the fact that we have to work to earn a living, have loads of responsibilities and now have to find the time and money to do these things.
As you head into 2024, have a think about what fun childhood memories you could bring back to live a more joyful life, as another habit to feel joy. Rollerblade with a friend, swing on the swings at the park with your child, visit a theme park and buy a show bag, whatever it is…just go for it!
15. Invest in yourself
Investing in personal and/or professional growth is another one of my favourites. I never really think of it as a habit that brings joy to my life, but it actual fact – it is!
By setting goals for myself, whether it be to improve my health, enhance my relationships or start a business – having these goals as a marker for myself brings me joy. If you love learning like I do, thrive off being intellectually stimulated, having ‘to-do lists’ or get excited about upcoming courses – investing in yourself may be a great way to bring more joy into your life.
Some things I have done to invest in myself include training, reading, supervision, coaching, therapy, self-help, journaling and much more.
If creating habits that bring joy into your life is something you would like coaching on, I provide online coaching. Click here to book a session, I would love to hear from you.
