Try these techniques

Try these techniques to bring greater happiness and success into your life:

1. Start each day by making a mental list of things you're thankful for in your life. You can do this while you're lying in bed just before you get up, in the shower, or while driving to work. This simple mental exercise will adjust your focus to the good things that you already have that you may take for granted.

2. Love life, not stuff. Do you believe that having more possessions will make you happy? What usually happens to many of us, is that, after we acquire something, it never seems to mean as much to us as we thought it would. After the newness wears off, we are back to wanting some more new stuff! So the joy in most new possessions is temporary, at best, and leads to more "wanting."

• The quality of your life itself is what will bring you the most happiness, not the quantity or quality of your stuff.
• Spend some time each day doing what you love.
• Build meaningful relationships that uplift you.
• Take action to create a life filled with what truly means the most to you.

3. Be patient. Our society has trained us to be in a hurry and expect immediate gratification. However, some of the great things in life take time to bring to fruition.

• Enjoy the process of creating the life you desire. Each day will bring you one step closer. Being impatient tends to push your goals farther away.

4. Believe in yourself. Life is much more pleasant when you have faith in yourself. Remember: You've already done things that are much more difficult than just about anything you may still wish to accomplish. So you know you can achieve your future plans.

• Consider what you did when you were learning to walk. How many times does a baby fall before they finally can stand up unassisted, let alone walk? We keep learning more over time, even a 10-year old doesn't walk as well as a 30-year old.  Walking takes many years of practice.
• How many times are you willing to fall down and get back? When you believe in yourself and expect success, you're more likely to succeed. Your upbeat attitude will lead you to seek solutions to your challenges until you reach your goal.

5. Work smart, not hard. Sometimes being smart is sufficient. We often believe that everything worthwhile requires a lot of work. However, many times, approaching challenges by working smart instead of working hard can save a lot of time and grief.

• Sit down and reflect on your situation from the perspective that there's a simple solution to each challenge. You might be surprised how clever you can be if you make an effort to find an easy but satisfactory solution.

6. Think of failure as an opportunity. Successful people believe that there's no such thing as failure. Each time plans fall short, analyse where the plan went wrong, learn from the experience, and continue moving forward.

• When you "fail," all you've really done is discovered an ineffective way of trying to do something. That's all. The knowledge gained only makes you more capable in the future.

Adjusting your attitude and making the changes permanent will take some work, but this effort pays off. Your attitude affects your perspective, what you notice, and what you fail to notice. So by adjusting your attitude, you can shift your whole reality!