When I was young, I was appallingly pessimistic. With the years, experience and life, I’ve learned to put things into perspective. It was a word I hated to hear from my parents, for the simple reason that I couldn’t do it. No matter how hard I tried, I took everything too much to heart, and I couldn’t think of anything other than “everything’s black and white”.

But with time and experience, I was able to establish a few golden rules to follow in order to be happier every day:

1 – NEVER GIVE UP. Let’s assume that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The obstacles we encounter aren’t just there to annoy us. We need to see them as challenges, which, despite their difficulty, will help us to reinforce our mental strength and perseverance.

2 – ALWAYS HIGHLIGHT THE POSITIVE SIDE OF YOUR DAY: the quickest and most effective way to do this is to write down your “3 favorites of the day” every day. It could be “a sunny day” or “I got my diploma”, “I saw a great movie at the movie theater” or “I spent time with my family”. Anything that’s pleasant and enjoyable is worth noting. That way, your days won’t seem so hard after all.

3 – BELIEVE IN YOUR ABILITIES. If you don’t believe in it, let those who do believe in it motivate you. Just because they love you doesn’t mean they’re blind.

4 – ALWAYS SET GOALS. If you’re an eternally dissatisfied person like me, you need to write down all kinds of goals for yourself: the small, easy ones that you can tick off and enjoy regularly, and the big ones that make you dream and give you the energy to fight.

5 – TAKE A DAY OFF. Despite all these positive attitude tips, it’s perfectly human sometimes to break down, feel morally tired and feel like giving up. When this happens: don’t panic, just take a day off. Go home, relax in front of a good film, your favorite TV series or your current book and clear your head. After a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel better.

6 – LEARN TO ENJOY THE MOMENT. In any day, ordinary or not. This allows you to live. Don’t spend your time thinking about the future. It’s essential to learn to enjoy the moment, to take a deep breath, to smile at the events of your day. Every moment that might fall into the “favorite of the day” category deserves to be put on “Pause” and enjoyed. That’s what gives you the strength you need to keep on fighting.

7 – WE’RE NOT SUPERMAN. No matter how much you’d like to be. You’re first and foremost human, even if you don’t like the idea. You can’t do everything, manage everything, succeed at everything, or have a flawless track record. Be a little indulgent with yourself.

8 – LOVE YOURSELF (if only a little). You’re not perfect, you’re exasperated by your flaws? Welcome to the club. But that’s no reason to go to war with each other. You have to stop torturing and mistreating yourself, because happiness comes from the absolute necessity of pampering yourself a little. There will always be someone around you ready to do you a favor so that you can have a moment to yourself. A bubble bath, a little nail polish on your toes, or a session of Zumba on Wii, and that’s it!

GOOD HABITS
Since then, I’ve been trying to improve my self-esteem every day. I try to stick to a happiness routine.