Do you want to live a kick-ass life?

Do you feel like your life could be better but are struggling to make it happen?

What if I showed you four simple strategies to help get you there, would you be into that? Of course, you would.

1. Always think positive things about others

This means you’ll always look for the positive instead of the negative in everyone. You’ll be able to find both if you try but look for the positive and you’ll feel good about people and good about yourself.

Thinking negative thoughts gives you a negative mindset and drains your energy. It also increases stress and anxiety levels.

You should avoid these negative thought patterns as much as possible if you want to live a kick-ass life. Seeing the positive in people means that those people will treat you better. This will increase your happiness.

Take relationships for example. Suppose your other half has an equal amount of good and bad habits, but you focus on the bad ones. How do you think your relationship will develop if every day you complain about their bad habits?

Think about how you’d feel if your bad habits were pointed out to you every day. Now think the opposite.

How do you think your relationship would develop if you always looked for the positive? And how would you feel if others focused only on your good points? You will have much better relationships with everyone.

2. Be generous

When I look at my friends and acquaintances, I notice that the most generous are also the happiest. Being generous with your time and money makes you feel good, while at the same time helping others. The more that people give away, the more they get back in return.

If we’re talking about money, we should remember that there is always someone worse off than us. If I’m leaving a tip I usually ask myself whether the other person needs the money more than I do. If the answer is yes, then I leave a generous tip. It helps them and also makes me feel good.

Buying a meal or some clothing for a homeless person is one way to be generous. Another is to pay for an extra coffee at Starbucks and ask the barista to give it to the next person in line. It’s best to do that anonymously, then watch from a distance. It’s a great feeling to see how happy it makes the recipient. Hopefully, they’ll do the same for someone else.

This isn’t all about money though, as you can also be generous with your time. Volunteering is a great way to give your time to others.

Also, on a day-to-day basis, take the time to say hello and chat to friends and even strangers. Giving them your time in this way helps build bonds and makes us all happier. This one tip has the potential to transform your happiness levels.

3. Doing something is better than doing nothing

We all have plans to do certain things in life, like eat better, take more exercise, etc. but life often gets in the way. How many times have you planned to go to the gym but put it off because you didn’t have enough time? I know that I’ve done it more times than I like to admit.

If I plan to spend an hour in the gym but can’t make it for some reason I do something like 50 press-ups at home.

It may not be a lot, but it’s better than giving up completely. In an interview with Chris Eubank, he spoke about how he motivated himself to train every day.

His method was that he had a deal with himself to train for a minimum of one minute a day. That way he’d never have the excuse of not having enough time or energy for a long workout. Of course, once he’s done his one minute of training he will then stay for longer.

It’s usually getting to the gym that’s harder than the actual workout. So go for one minute and you’ll likely stay for an hour. If you only have one minute to spare, then at least you did a one-minute workout, which is better than nothing.

This can also apply to other areas of life.

If you’re a writer, writing 100 words is better than not writing at all.

Cleaning one room of your house is better than not cleaning any of it.

I’m sure you get the idea.

4. Think about the future, not the past

If you want to get on in life it’s best to focus on the future and not the past. It doesn’t matter how hard life was in the past or what mistakes you made; all that matters is what you do from now onwards.

When we focus on the past it can prevent us from moving forward in life. Remembering all the hard knocks can drain us of our energy and motivation.

I’m sure you’ve heard people say how they can’t do something because they grew up poor or had a bad education. But that doesn’t mean they can’t build a better life from now onwards.

I’m not suggesting that life will suddenly become easy, but it is still possible to improve your life. Maybe you won’t achieve as much as someone who had a better start in life. But you can achieve way more than you have up until now.

Wherever you are in life right now, resolve to make plans for where you want to get to and not where you have come from.