Happiness is often increased by ADDING things to your life, like adding more healthy food, buying some new clothes and more physical activities. But happiness can also be increased by GETTING RID OF some things in your life. In this article I like to share five things to get rid of, so you can attract more happy feelings and energy.

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1. Things you do not like (anymore)

This can be anything in your house from clothes that you do not wear anymore,  decorative pieces such that no longer fulfil that function in your home or gifts that you do not like. We tend to stuck up on so many items in our lives. It is absolutely liberating to get rid of things that no longer have a clear purpose. How difficult this can be when having a sentimental value to certain things. Learn to give up things that do not longer serve you. Ask yourself: Did I use this in the last year? Would I buy it again right now? If the answer is Yes, than let it go. You will end with more time and space for things that you love and appreciate.  

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2. Stress factors

This is a difficult but important one. In our lives we have lots of stress factors. It can be deadlines at work, facing a traffic jam when you have to be somewhere in time, having kids in time at school, anxiety for a presentation and so on. A few stress factors are manageble, but when you face to many this can result in an emotional disbalance, a disturbed sleeping cyrcle, weakened immunity system, headaches and more discomforts. So many reasons to limit our stress levels. Todays pandemic haven't made this easier, since we have less ways to relax and boost our energy bar due to the lockdown. Therefore, it is even more important now to be aware of how you feel and how you can eliminate stress factors in your life. Ask yourself: Is the stress factor justified? What can you do to reduce it? For instance, if you experience too much work related stress, try to decrease your workload and set boundaries in the things you say 'Yes' to. 

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3. Negative mindset

It is easy to let negative thoughts into your mind. When we face something difficult or we are in a complex or demanding situation (such as todays Corona situation), we often tend to say 'This is hard' or 'I cannot do this'. The key with transforming your mindset is to be aware of those thoughts and to change them using active words such as 'I know this is hard, but I am working this out step by step'. There is a huge power in words here. What also helps to eliminate a negative mindset is to think about all the things that you are going well in your life, everything what you are grateful for. Especially when you write this down, you will notice there is less space for a negative mindset.  

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4. Draining relationships

Relationships that we have with friends, collueagues, acquaintances, partners etc. are essential for our happiness. We often have relationships in our lives that do not bring us energy, but takes energy. If someone is draining your life and that person has nothing to serve you, than talk about it with this person and what would need to change to maintain a healthy and happy (work)relation. But if that doesn’t help than you might consider letting them go. We do not want destructive relationsships in our lives. If you do, you pay more tribute to the relationships that do nurture you. 

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5. The fear of following your dream 

Many women work hard for their career, but do not really follow their dream life. All kind of fears, for instance the fear of loosing a steady income, hinder the path towards diving into the deep or to make this powerful decision to change. Sometimes this mission in life is vague (the 'What do I want?' question), but sometimes the vision is clear. And even then tend to stay on the safe side. To live life how we should do in stead of what your heart wants. If you desire change then start calling it a plan. Drop the idea that things need to be perfect to get started. You are never going to feel ‘ready’. It is better to just begin step by step (even when those step are not perfect) towards building your dream life than never begin. There is never a 'good time' to make a change to something new, there is only now. So do not let fear stop you to start the path you always wanted.