THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS

3 Things Truly Happy And Successful People Do

And why you should be doing them too

Last week, my department threw a celebration for a colleague who was retiring — he turns 60 at the end of the month which is the mandatory age for retirement in my country.

He had serve the company for over 30 years and I had the honour and privilege of working with him for over the last 10 years.

At the end of the celebration, I had a sit down with him and I asked him about his plans for the future.

I also asked him what was the secret to his success and positive outlook in life — this is one guy who I have never seen angry or stressed out no matter what difficulties or challenges he found himself in — as I would love to be able to do the same in my life.

And these are the 3 things he shared with me.

Don’t bother about people who will never bother about you

We’re generally people pleasers. We don’t like confrontations, we don’t disappointing people, and we don’t like making enemies. I guess that’s just human nature.

But at the same time, we really shouldn’t allow ourselves to be taken for granted and be used whenever others please.

Are you that friend who would constantly be the first one to text others to check up on them and see how they’re doing but never get a single text from others first?

Yeah, that used to be me.

And it hurt when I realised that I was the one constantly making an effort to keep in touch with others but never getting the same back in return.

The only time I’d get a text first was when someone wanted to sell something or ask for a favour.

But just a random nudge to see how I’m doing? Never.

So I stopped doing it as well.

And I realised that it doesn’t make me a bad person. It doesn’t mean I don’t care. I still pray for all my family and friends, I hope they’re all doing well — I just don’t make the first move anymore.

While my circle has gotten smaller, it’s now only filled with those who matter to me, and I to them — which is how I’d want it to be.

I just bother with those who can’t be bothered with me anymore and I can honestly say that I’ve never felt this much peace in a long time.

Everything in life is temporary so there’s no point stressing too long over things

Stress is everywhere, regardless of whether it’s at work or at home, whether you’re poor or rich, etc., it’s all around us.

But what my colleague told me is that no matter what it is that happens to you — be it good or bad, it’s all temporary.

Whatever it is that you’re feeling right now, that you’re going through right now — good or bad, it too shall pass.

While it’s only natural to stress, there is no point to stress over things for too long.

He told me that by all means, feel the stress, acknowledge it, feel its existence, but don’t let it consume you, don’t let it overcome you.

Once you feel it, let it go.

Because whatever is causing that stress is temporary, it too shall pass so don’t stress over it for too long.

Let it go.

Life is short, go after what you want and live with no regrets

And finally, the very cliché but true saying that life is short.

When he was telling me about how the past 30 odd years have passed him by just like that, I could see that he wasn’t kidding.

He said there were things he did which he was incredibly proud of but there were also things he wished he did and that he regretted not doing them because the chance had passed.

While he acknowledge there may be certain things that we want to do which we will never be able to due to circumstances, the things that we can actually do, we should — no matter how crazy or scary they may be.

Like Nike’s famous motto, just do it.

He said he was lucky because the things he regretted not doing were few compared to the things he did do. It’s why he has very few regrets. He said if he could go back in time, he’d tell his younger self to just do what he wanted to do so that he would have no regrets.

And I guess that’s true for me as well.

Looking back at some of the things I didn’t do when I was younger which I now wish I did, I should have done them. The things that were holding me back, back then, just seem so trivial to me now.

Which is why I trust me gut feeling more these days. Even if some things seem uncertain or they may seem scary, if it feels right in my gut, I’d go for it and 99% of the time, my gut proves itself right.

The 1% that my guy was wrong, I still ended up with a really good lesson which I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Life really is too short (and unpredictable) so I don’t want to have any regrets on my deathbed.

I want to die knowing that I lived a life I chose, a life I was proud to have been able to lived — a life without regret.

There were other things that he shared with me as well but these 3 things have been the biggest guiding principles throughout his life. They have helped him through tough times and good times.

How he manages to stay happy and be successful in the things he does, these are the secrets behind it all.

As he left the office for the last time, all smiling and happy, I have no doubt that he lived his life true to his principles, and it inspired me to do the same as well with my own life.

The 3 things he shared with me, I’ve already started living by them and they’ve already helped to improve the quality of life for me.

I hope they can do the same for you too.