5 Key Ideas to Be Happy and Successful

I know it's pretty hard to listen to a 19-year-old motivate you. Trust me, I have been working towards a goal for years now and I know a lot of teenagers in my position. People who want more from life and simply need the motivation to get started. So I present the five key ideas I follow so that I can reach the dream life I have been imagining.

1. Visualisation

Closing your eyes and imagining exactly what you want from life, be it: one year, two years, even five years down the line is a really big motivator. If you can see what your life has the potential to be there is absolutely nothing stopping you. Seeing your future is the first step to getting there. As well as this, I find that writing down your goals (I mean in big bold writing and sticking it on your wall), waking up and seeing that every single day helps. Some people opt for vision/mood boards, but the idea still stands. See your future to be your future.

2. Don't make your goals too big.

What I mean by that is don't over complicate what could be simple. Don’t set too much for yourself, you know exactly who you are and you know your limits (but then again I don't believe there is a limit). So what I'm trying to say is don't go too hard too fast you are going to burn. Everyone always wants a quick fix and that's not how life works. Slow and steady wins the race. Planning every step, know your route will get you where you want to be the fastest.

3. Surround yourself with people that believe in you and in the things that you want to achieve.

This means that sometimes you won't be able to talk to your friends and your family about what you are trying to do. I know it's hard to imagine that your family, that your mother and father, your sister even, will not motivate you. I had it myself when I was starting whatever this dream is; people telling me that at 18 years old it was too late. "Try something else" and "it's not meant to be." So I stopped giving my ideas and putting all my hope into people that didn't believe in me. Into people that wouldn't every single day push me to be the best that I could be. It sucks but it's worth it because I know that they love me, they just don't understand what I'm trying to achieve and that's okay for now and you'll be okay.

4. Take a break, you'll need it.

Don't get me wrong when I say break, I don't mean stopping for three months to re-evaluate your entire life. I mean taking a day or even ten minutes to stop and reward yourself mentally and physically. Let yourself know that you're doing good and if you are not doing well, finding the path back to where you want to be. Because at the end of the day, you're human just like everyone else; you cannot try and put aside your emotions because as important as your goals and your dreams are, it will mean nothing if by the end of your journey you are left completely dead on the inside. So breathe in, breathe out and keep going.

5. Lastly, something even I am working on, is seeing the positive in everything that happens to you.

In every situation, in every problem, in every event in your life that seems hopeless; take a minute and find what's good about it. What you have learnt from the situation. What you will do differently. Even if you're a pessimist at heart or just a plain old realist, find the good because it will give you a push even is just a little one to help you keep going.

Say you go to the gym and you end up running on the treadmill for only five minutes and give up and go home. At least you went to the gym; you did at least a five minutes. Who knows, tomorrow you will do 10 and then 20 and then 30; in a blink of an eye, you'll be where you want to be. It's not difficult if you just see what's good in your life and don't focus too much on the negative.

So remember these five things and you will be on the right road to happiness and successes.