How To Bring More Joy Into Your Life

It’s difficult to know where to start with things like how to bring more joy into your life because everyone is so different and what brings one person joy might sound like an absolutely nightmare to someone else. But as we’re all on a quest for a happier and more positive life, I think it’s important we try to narrow down some things that universally can make a difference to all.

With the world crumbling around us, environmentally and politically, granted, it can be very hard to maintain an ounce of joy some days. When everywhere we turn, there’s a negative news story, it can be very easy to want to curl up under your duvet and sleep the day away.

And we should do that – sometimes.

I certainly do. Sometimes when things get too much, all I want to do is nap. You don’t need to face the world when you’re unconscious, right?

I think it’s so important to have those coping mechanisms in place to help us self-soothe and go inward and put our mental health first.

But we can’t turn a blind eye to the world forever. We do need to get out there and you know, go to work. Feed our kids. Walk our dogs. So when the world is forcing us to show up, how can we bring more joy into our lives in those little, sustainable ways?

In this post, let’s look at 10 small, sustainable but effective ways of how to bring more joy into your life:

Take more photos

At the start of 2023, I began doing weekly wrap-up posts on my Instagram. I’d seen plenty of people do these and always thought they were a lovely idea but I never thought I’d have much to include in mine. My weeks seemed pretty dull and drab, compared to the people I followed online.

However, that was FAR from the case. As soon as I committed to doing these weekly wrap-ups, I was taking more photos and it’s been amazing to look back on these posts and see all the stuff I’ve done this year so far! Thanks for taking more photos, I’ve brought more joy into my own life by documenting the fun things I’ve been doing.

Express gratitude regularly 

Expressing gratitude is one of the healthiest and easiest ways to find more joy in your life. The great thing is, it’s fairly effortless, inexpensive and you can do it any time and any where!

There are loads of different ways to express gratitude from starting a gratitude journal to simply thinking what something you’re grateful for as it’s happening. Find something that works for you and make it part of your daily routine.

Get outside in the elements

Being cooped up inside for too long isn’t good for us so if you want a completely free way of how to bring more joy into your life – look outside! If you have a garden, use it. If you have a balcony, use it. If you have windows, USE THEM!

Better yet, going for a walk (or a run or a bike ride) to get the blood pumping, the heart beating and those endorphins singing will boost your mood and easily bring more joy into your every day.

Listen to music – make playlists

Music is so powerful. It has the ability to make you smile, sing, dance, cry, scream. It can lift you up when you’re down, chill you out when you’re stressed or allow you to express negative emotions in a more healthy way.

But ultimately, music is good for the soul. So this is another easy and free way to bring more joy into your life. Make yourself some playlists of songs you love, happy songs, songs that make you feel like the main character in your own story.

Seek out good news stories

Bad news stories are everywhere. Not only do we need to curate the news we consume, we also need to actively seek out good news stories, so we’re not constantly only bombarded with the wrong in the world. There’s actually a lot of people doing a lot of good things out there – we just never see it.

I personally love this series from Leena Norms called “What If It All Goes Right?” where she talks about current good news stories and contemplates what if it all actually went right? We all need more good news, so it’s also worth cutting down your news intake usage.

Be kind to others

Being kind to others is never not going to make you happy – as well as that other person. There definitely needs to be more kindness in the world and that can start with you. Yes, you! It can start will all of us doing small acts of kindness whenever we can.

How to bring more joy into your life doesn’t always have to start and finish with you. Yes, reading a book might bring us joy but what if we read a book then donated it to charity? Or gave it to a friend?

Do something that brings you joy – not money

Hustle culture has been rife for years and it really peaked during the pandemic when people were out there telling us all to start a business during this time of turmoil, rather than giving ourselves and our loved ones care and support whilst the world went through a LITERAL PANDEMIC.

Jesus Christ.

Look, let’s not beat around the bush. Money is nice. I like money. I like making money. But not everything in your life needs to be monetized or done for the purpose of making money from it. Find a hobby or a passion that allows you to be free and creative without even having to think about money.

Stop caring what others think

Much easier said than done, I know. But sometimes when it comes to how to bring more joy into your life, it’s the inner work that really helps. The work that’s ongoing and won’t happen overnight.

One of the biggest lessons I learned in 2022 was that nobody really cares – and not in a malicious way. And it was an empowering lesson to learn. The quicker we all learn that, the better.

Bring a childlike wonder to your life

Children are full of joy, all the time, every day. They don’t care what people think (see above) and to them, everything is exciting and new. Whilst we might not be able to adopt that exact same outlook (I mean, once you’ve had one Starbucks, you’ve had them all, right?) we can learn from them.

We can start to be open to new experiences and also find joy in the old experiences too. Something you’ve done a thousand times, try and look at it from a fresh perspective. For this point, you might even want to start learning something new and opening up your mind to the wonder of a new topic.

Stop trying to rush through everything

How are you ever going to find joy in anything if you’re constantly trying to rush through your life?

Again, this is another one of those that are easier said than done, especially when we live in such a fast paced environment, which is always all about the next things. But instead, why don’t we try and slow down, live more intentionally and grasp each experience, each season of life as it comes?

Actively trying to bring more joy into your life isn’t always easy.

Especially when we have so many responsibilities, including children, jobs, finances, social lives, running a home and more.

You really do have to work for that joy sometimes and that’s okay to admit. I hope these 10 ideas give you something to consider when you want to know how to bring more joy into your life.

How do you bring more joy into your life when everything feels a bit bleak?

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