A simple life is a happy life

Who else is ready to simplify your life?  The warmer days of August just beg us to slow down a little (kudos to those of you getting kids ready for back to school early) and look at ways to keep life just a little simpler.

People often misconstrue a simple life with one that feels devoid of happiness and joy, but the opposite is actually true. It is not about being “boring” and living a minimalist lifestyle, but more about setting priorities, knowing what you really want to focus on, and letting go of what isn’t as important to you.

Here are some reasons why living a more simplistic life can actually be a much happier and more fulfilling one.

You Experience Less Stress and Overwhelm

The first benefit to living a simple life is experiencing less stress and overwhelm, which naturally makes you feel happier. What is making you feel chaotic and in need of simplifying things in your life might not actually be all the demands on you or a busy schedule, but the fact that you just have a lot of daily stress and feel the overwhelming burden.

With a simple life, your stress tends to be lowered by decluttering your home and your mind, starting a journaling practice, and only focusing on what matters most to you. This in turn helps to reduce the overwhelm and burnout you may have been experience. In turn, you are a much happier person.

You Make Meaningful Connections

When you have a simpler life that is less chaotic and stressful, you still have a social life, but often a more meaningful one. The connections you keep or make in your life are ones that tend to last. This is because instead of feeling pressured to just make friends and socialize with anyone, you tend to be pickier about who you spend your time with.

You will notice that your friends, colleagues, even the family members you talk with the most with a simplified life, are the ones that mean the most to you. These are deep, meaningful connections, people who you have a lot in common with and because your “soul tribe”.

You Prioritize What Matters

A big part of simplifying your life is prioritizing what matters the most to you, and letting go of what you discover isn’t actually that important anymore. You will notice many things (and people) in your life were there for the wrong reasons. As you begin to make positive changes in your life, these things tend to fall away.

You Feel More Gratitude

You will feel immense gratitude for the many blessings in your life when you are on this journey. Even just with a daily journaling practice, you will likely have a list of gratitude written down. As you focus more on what you feel grateful for in your life, you start to notice all your blessings more often. This habit quickly makes you happier, but also helps you see a simplified life can be a more fulfilling one.

You Are More Intentional

The process of simplifying your life often means the actions you take and goals you have are made with more intention, and less about just doing what you think you should be doing. This goes along with looking at your priorities and living a slow, simple life. Every action you make, every purchase, every conversation, every task, it is all very intentional and methodical. With this approach, you have a much more fulfilling life instead of one where you just feel like you’re going through the motions.

You Develop Simple Habits and Routines

You will also develop some amazing routines with simple habits, such as journaling, being more mindful, decluttering and organizing, and many more. People who work on simplifying their life tend to spend a little less time trying to stay busy constantly and on devices, and more time reading, journaling, and participating in more mindful activities.

I have a guide to gift you to make the rest of your summer more meaningful. Savoring Summer: Your Guide to an Intentional Summer You can get it here