As a life coach, I often hear the words, “why am I not happier?”

Oh, how I know that thought all too well. How familiar that thought and feeling is to me. This used to be the same question that I asked myself frequently.

I was doing good; in fact, I was doing great. I had a great career. I was making great money. I was in great shape, and I had many great things. So how come I did not feel so very great?

Well, maybe the answer is in this, Viktor Frankl, a psychologist and also a Holocaust survivor who wrote the classic, “Man’s search for Meaning.” who believed that people could not just be happy.

They need to have a reason to be happy.

We need to have a sense of purpose and meaning in life. And it’s this purpose that provides us with a reason to be happy.

It is also what Dan Buettner discovered in his National Geographics funded Blue Zone study, where they studied where in the world we have the most centenarians (people living to 100 yrs and beyond). They found 

They saw that one of the most significant factors for the longevity of the people living to be a 100 on the Island of Okinawa, outside of Japan, was that they all had an Ikigai, which translates into having a purpose or meaning in Japanese.

I, too, believe that we need to have a sense of purpose and meaning. When we do, we experience more joy and happiness. 

I’ve come to see that the thing that brings meaning and a sense of purpose is when we become who we are and do more of it.

It is when we get to share it with the world, giving back, contributing, it’s when we connect to something bigger than ourselves.

How I overcame my unhappiness, my situation of feeling stuck and lost, was by finding out who I was, what mattered to me. 

When I found that, I went out and did more of that. 

I found ways to share my uniqueness, my gifts with the world.

I aligned with my values and stepped into my integrity with who I wanted to be and what I wanted to give back. 

So, back to the question…

How do you become happier?

Become the real you, do more of it, and share that with the world.

Live life on your terms!

Let me know your thoughts on this topic below. I’d love to hear from you.