Living a Better Life in 2023
The last three years have been rough to say the least. Life has been a vortex.
As we approach the end of 2022, we wanted to provide some ideas for how you can plan to live well, and perhaps better, in 2023.
How you spend your precious time
In 2009, a former carer of terminally ill patients, Bronnie Ware, wrote a blog listing the five greatest regrets she heard from patient after patient. Her five greatest regrets of the dying were:
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
I wish I had not worked so hard
I wish I had the courage to express my feelings
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
It is quite a list, isn’t it. I would be surprised if anyone could read this list and not sit silently for a few moments reflecting on how they measure up against the list.
Blogger Neil Pasricha surmised being honest with yourself and living an authentic life largely addressed all these regrets, because when you are being authentic:
You do live a life true to yourself
You do overvalue your time and find a job that fits your life
You do recognise and express your feelings
You do keep in touch with your friends
You do let yourself be happier
Being you and being authentic removes regret from your life. Let go of your mobile for a moment and listen to the advice from those who no longer have the gift of time life – as you still do.
Think about how you want to spend your time in 2023.
7 Science Backed Ways to be Happy Right Now
American philosopher William James says, “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.”
Based on feedback from many clients, this article on The Gap and The Gain provided helpful insight on how anyone can alter their attitude to be happier: loricapartners.com.au/insights/the-gap-and-the-gain
To be happy, you need to be intentional. Neil Pascricha sifted through studies, scientific journals and research reports to identify the Big 7 actions you can take to improve your happiness in 2023:
30-minute nature walks mean less keyboards, less screens and more fresh air and perspective.
Writing for 20 minutes about a positive experience helps you to relive the experience. It turns out journalling works.
5 conscious acts of kindness a week helps you feel good about yourself. Scientists have found doing an act of kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in wellbeing of any exercise tested.
Ten Long Deep Breaths help with your mindfulness and reduces stress. Remind yourself to regularly stop and take some deep breaths to reset.
Five Gratitudes from the past week, when written down, can help you be happier and physically healthier. [Australians could benefit from our own Thanksgiving Day.]
20 pages of fiction read helps open up parts of our brain responsible for developing empathy, compassion and understanding. When you develop your EQ, you become a better leader, teacher, parent and sibling.
High-Challenge, High-Skill Tasks help you be completely absorbed in the moment. In his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi describes it using this image:
You can read more details about each of these seven actions here: https://www.neil.blog/articles/7-ways-to-be-happy-right-now
None of us are going to do all 7 – but perhaps if we adopt one, and focus on being authentic with ourselves, we can start 2023 with a plan to make ourselves a little happier in 2023. For Sydneysiders, a little more sunshine would help as well.
Merry Christmas and best wishes to all for 2023.
Author: Rick Walker