Even if it seems improbable, you need to make time for yourself in order to allow yourself to have time to think and hopefully, to listen to your inner-voice. Running around all day might pay the bills but you need to make sure you’re getting something more than a paycheck out of whatever you’re paid for or you risk losing your drive for it.

You need to reflect on your ability to manage your life and that includes your agenda.

The more money you make, the more you can delegate. For instance, with more disposable income, you may buy your daily gourmet meals from a caterer, have your house cleaned for you, every week, have a handyman take care of your property and so on. The catch, of course, is that to make more money, in the first place, you either need to work more yourself or think up ways to work more intelligently.

It’s all about thinking outside the box or said differently, to do something so unique, useful and sought for that you’ll be able to monetize your offering more often for more money and in most cases, to more people.

For instance, a good accountant might leave his firm to launch his own, perhaps alone, at first. Over time, he can specialize in whatever he -really likes- instead of what his bosses expect he’ll be best used for. Taking charge of one’s own life is a major shift from taking orders to taking charge. Some people are born to be in driver’s seat and they’re the ones who succeed the most brilliantly when switching to the entrepreneurial path.

Doing your own thing might require that you invest much more time in your work, including long hours after the kids are put to sleep but since you’re likely doing something you like, you’ll surely feel good about it… and get encouraging results faster.

Many people launching their own little venture quickly see how much more family time they can yield from shaping their own agenda, instead of having to be “out of the family loop” from 9-to-5, every business day. Imagine how privileged and fulfilled one may feel from seeing his or her kids grow up. Nowadays, busy commuter lifestyles means parents leave their kids to strangers for up to 10 hours, every business day, while they satisfy their bank account. Perhaps there exists a way to still make ends meet while being there for the people you love the most. Self-employed workers may appear to have a better shot at the successful family building game but arguably, this is a major consideration for every worker. In doubt, turn to your inner-voice for advice. You’ll know if you’re doing the right thing. It’ll just feel right.

If you’re concerned about the environment, teleworking will instantly lower your car trips to an absolute minimum, compared the gas-guzzling daily, back and forth, between an employer’s office and your home. Working out of your home also provides you with added tax credits which can help you cut up to 25% of your annual home ownership costs. In my view, this is a direct and very efficient environment-friendly measure.

Of course, you can still be happy when working for someone. It’s all about life balance, self-realization and a sense of purpose. The good thing is that when you figure it out for yourself, you’ll know when you’ve taken the right road to a happy life because, wether you repress your feelings or not, all the other life changing decisions that won’t be fit for you will just never feel o.k. so never fail to follow your inner-voice, it’s probably your safest bet in a world where so many people want so many different things.

Tags: life balance, family, work, obligations, choices, happiness, happy life, self-realization, sense of purpose

Shop, shop, shop… ’til you drop will -not necessarily- make you happier, in the bigger scheme of things. Of course, “having enough” will help but the answer to many things in life, for each and everyone of us, comes from those inner-feelings we need to learn from.

The basic rule of thumb states that the more we can rise abouve our petty desires while lifting ourselves to the greater common good, the more we can come to trust our inner-feelings to be genuine guides of our behavior.

While some may call this intuition, mostly everyone knows this to be “gut feelings” or spontaneous reactions.

The wild thing about inner-feelings is that, in most cases and over time, they prove to be more accurate guides than intellect and logic. Listening more closely to our inner-feelings help us become more comfortable with ourselves and enjoy time alone as a special treat rather than as loneliness.

Even funnier is the tendency of other people to be drawn to you even more as you learn to enjoy your solitude, therefore taking some time to nurture your inner-feelings of well being, balance and peace.

Taking care of your inner-self may even prove to be helpful to fight off bad stress and even depression (the big “d” word).

For all these reasons and so many others, anyone looking to enjoy life a little more may want to learn to appreciate his or her inner-self.

Tags: inner-self-self-appreciation, zen, inner-feelings, well being, life balance, peace, bad stress, depression, enjoy life, intellect, logic