How to Live a Simple Life and Be Happy
Many of us have a desire to simplify our lives, be happier, and less stressed after years of living ridiculously busy lives. I’ve done some research on this subject and implemented some easy changes to start accomplishing this goal. I want to learn how to live a simple life and be happy!
If you’re like me, you’ll need to learn how to intentionally simplify your life and actually learn how to enjoy living a stress-free lifestyle. So many of us create our own complications in life without even realizing it. Then suddenly, we are wishing for a simpler lifestyle.
We have too many things… too many activities… surrounded by too many people in our lives. We say “yes” far too much and feel the need to go, go, go all the time. We don’t know how to live a simple life and be happy.
Let’s take a look at just 7 easy ways to live a simple life and be happy rather than continue to allow our lives to be so complex and stressful.
Related Article: Why is Life Beautiful? 29 Reasons to Believe!
How to Live a Simple Life and Be Happy
There are hundreds of ways that you can simplify your life and be happy. Many of them are really rather easy, but our overactive minds have forgotten how to think simple anymore. That’s why I found myself on the Internet researching this subject rather than just making common sense changes in my life. Simple and happy really can, and do, go together. It’s a matter of shifting your mindset about how to live a simple life and be happy.
Although there are hundreds of ways to simplify your life and still be happy, I am going to focus on just 7 easy ways that I’ve found helpful. Well, sort of. I’ve actually combined lots of ideas into 7 categories of changes. You can start with these changes and then work toward other changes that may be more specific to your lifestyle and what you want out of life.
So let’s get started with 7 ways to live life simple and happy!
1. Shift Your Mindset
The very first thing you can do to live a simple, happy life is shift your mindset. Focus on the simple things in life and realize that you don’t need mountains of tangible “things” in your life to be happy. They say a simple life is a happy life, so start believing and living it.
There are three components that will help you shift your mindset…. be present, mindful, and grateful.
Be sure to stay mentally present in the here and now at all times. Being present helps you see the good things that are happening around you. Notice things like flowers and sunshine. Stop trying to multitask 24/7 and take life a bit slower.
Be mindful of what’s going on around you, how you are responding, what you are thinking, and focus on developing a positive mindset and peace of mind. You want to shift your mindset to one of thinking the glass is half full rather than half empty.
And learn to be grateful for all that fills your life. Gratitude is a powerful tool. It softens the heart and soul so you can begin to see things differently. Show gratitude for “my simple life” rather than focus on what is missing from your life.
You may want to read more about mindfulness in my article, 12 Benefits of Mindfulness: Mind, Body, and Soul.
2. Reduce Commitments & Obligations
Living a happy life doesn’t have to mean you are always involved in community activities, school activities, family and neighborhood business, church events, etc. The PTA will function without you taking on the role of the Ways and Means Chairperson. Your friends and family will still love you if you start gracefully declining some invitations to dinner or parties. Someone else in your group of friends can share the responsibilities of organizing the monthly birthday celebrations.
Start saying “no” to things that will take too much time away from your simple, happy lifestyle. You can easily get enthralled in the go, go, go lifestyle and forget that you can gracefully say “no thank you” to people. Or you can say “I’m sorry but I don’t have time to do that right now.”
Reducing commitments and obligations will simplify your life, give you more time and peace of mind. Consider saying no more often. Be selective with yourself.
There is more valuable information about calming the chaos in your life in this article, Practical Tips for Finding Calm in the Chaos.
3. Declutter Your Home
I’ve been working on this change for a year. And I’m proud to share that my home is almost where I want it to be!
Thankfully, my husband has been a tremendous help in decluttering our home because I become emotionally attached to things that people have given to me. But I’ve recognized that I can’t keep everything everyone has ever given me since I was in elementary school!
That’s how our home got so cluttered and overwhelming. This lifestyle does not align with wanting to live a simple life and be happy. I want to live a cozy, warm lifestyle like they do in Denmark, where the happiest people in the world live!
We took artwork and pictures off the walls. I boxed up knick-knacks that go all the way back to my childhood. I donated a carload of blankets that I didn’t really need. Plus, truckloads of other “stuff.”
LIVE TO BE HAPPY, NOT TO COLLECT ‘THINGS’ that only clutter your life.. the physical ‘things’ are not what brings you joy. It’s your mindset… your level of gratitude… and your commitment to using strategies to help you life a simple, happy life.
4. Quiet the Digital Noise
This is probably the toughest change of all. Admittedly, I need to commit to this change also! Commit to turning off the television one night a week. Take a social media break a few times a week. Stop checking email every few hours.
Stop having multiple text conversations at one time. People can wait a bit for you to reply to a text message. Consider putting your phone away for a designated amount of time each day and respond to messages and texts at a predetermined time each day.
Learn to screen home phone calls. Don’t answer the phone if you are making dinner. If it’s important, the caller will leave a message.
Think about how digital noise impacts your life. If you are like most people, there is always some kind of digital noise occurring around you. Take a break. Get it under control. Your life will be much simpler and much happier as your brain starts to relax.
Pin to Pinterest for Later
5. Forgive and Forget
Let go of drama… past… present… and future. You are the only person you are hurting by holding on to anger, hurt, resentment, or jealousy. It’s taking up valuable space in your brain and damaging your soul.
Live to be happy, not angry or resentful. Your happiness should be your main goal. But if you are having trouble forgiving and forgetting things that take up negative space in your head, then happiness will be very difficult.
If you are living a life of gratitude with a positive mindset, it will be easy to forgive and forget. And your life will be much simpler and happier.
Related Article: How to Leave the Past in the Past
6. Embrace What You Enjoy
Be sure to embrace that which you enjoy in all aspects of your life. Spent time doing things you enjoy doing, not things that you ‘think’ you should be doing.
Be yourself, not someone people expect you to be. Enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Spent time with loves one who value and love the uniqueness of you.
Your beautiful spirit will be more fulfilled if you embrace what you enjoy doing in life and it will lead to greater happiness without the need for extravagance or riches.
You may want to check out 50+ Inspirational Quotes About Living Life on Your Own Terms to learn more about making choosing options in life that feel right for YOU.
7. Slow Your Roll
If you truly want to learn how to live a simple life and be happy, you’ll want to slow your roll. Slow down your brain. Slow down your activities. Be willing to live a quiet life rather than a hectic, crazy, overwhelming life.
Simple living means leading a minimalist lifestyle with fewer possessions and fewer things to do in life. Slow living involves thinking less, doing less, and being less complicated.
Do what you need to do to stay healthy and happy, but do it with less intensity and more casualness. Stop focusing on getting the next best thing.
Inspirational Quotes: Being Happy with a Simple Life
Like I said earlier, if you want to learn how to live a simple life and be happy, there are HUNDREDS of changes you can make and strategies you can implement in your life. I will link some articles with more recommendations below.
These 10 quotes about being happy with a simple life touch upon some of the other ideas and concepts. Take some time to reflect on the meaning of these words to determine what other changes you can make to live a simple, happy life.
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.”
Charles Spurgeon
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of what they have.”
Unknown
“Simplicity boils down to two things: identify the essential and eliminate the rest.”
Leo Babauta
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Unknown
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Leonardo Da Vinci
“Collect moments, not things.”
Unknown
“Less stuff means less to clean, less to organize, less to store, less mess.”
Unknown
“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.”
Oprah
“You can do anything, but not everything.”
Unknown
“A simple life gives birth to more clarity, inner peace and meaningful relationships.“
Margo Vader
Final Thoughts: How to Live a Simple Life and Be Happy
Living a simple happy life should be a great accomplishment in today’s chaotic world. It’s kind of crazy in itself that we have to research how to live a simple life, or how to live a happy life. The world has become so complex that we’ve forgotten how to live simply.
Live life simply and happy. It’s really quite easy when you think about it. Don’t over-complicate life.
Here are three of my favorite articles about how to live a simple life and be happy. Two of these articles come from some of the most reputable websites in the field of mental health and happiness. They contain a wealth of information! The third article is a great blogger’s website.
Scientists Reveal Why A Simple Life Makes People Happier from Power of Positivity
The Beauty of Simplicity — Living a Simpler Life from Medium
And this blog article has some very specific awesome ideas for when you are ready to take your simple, happy life to the next level… 4 Steps to Live a Simple Life and Be Happy in 2021.
I hope you have enjoyed reading how to live a simple life and be happy in 7 steps. It’s just a start, but we all have to start somewhere, right? Plus, making small changes can lead to big changes in the future!
Be happy, my friends!
Love to All! ~ Susan
