Happiness is a driver for our success in life. Without it, we have a hard time getting up in the morning to do what we must do (buy groceries, go to work, make food), and what we want to do. So in reality, the question of happiness goes much deeper than simple, fleeting emotion. It's a critical element of our lives.
But how do we get there? With our many obligations and stressors, it can be difficult to think of happiness as a real priority. It gets shuffled to the back burner because of the many more pressing priorities. Family, work, fitness, house repairs...there's always something else pulling on our attention.
It's easy to start feeling like we're drowning in a sea of obligations.
360 Living aims to draw focus to be a lifeboat in this situation. It outlines a set of foundations that together can make or break our happiness. We know that those stressors and other priorities won't go away. But by creating a detailed and focused list of priority areas, we're better equipped to stay on track with them. We stay more accountable to the really important areas.
Dumping loads of energy into one area of life may help us to attain great gains in that area, but if it means neglecting the other areas, it won't lead to authentic, lasting happiness. Eventually our neglect toward the other areas will fester and overpower any satisfaction we found in the one area of focus.
The concept of 360 Living is not to try to tackle everything at once, nor to focus obsessively on any one area at a time. It's about balance. There's a certain order which dictates our ability to find happiness. It ties back to that trusty old psychological framework Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This pyramid-shaped concept gives a visual representation of how we must fill basic needs (i.e. safety) before focusing on more complex needs (i.e. relationships).
360 Living is a matter of finding our own personal path to better living. It's about incorporating all of these elements in their own good time.
Below is a quick overview of the foundational areas of life, and the relationships between them. Each of these elements are discussed in-depth in the 360 Living guide. With these areas in mind, you're better equipped to avoid throwing your happiness out of balance by neglecting any one area.
Watch for more posts about these specific areas coming soon. In the meantime, we invite you to explore the many ways you can start improving each of these areas using the diverse 360 Living application recommendations.
The 360 Living guide also contains specific strategies to complement those apps and resources. Sign up below to get notified when the book is available on Amazon.
