10 rules positive people follow to elevate their life

Everyone lives their life differently, but it can still be baffling to see some people keep a positive attitude, don a smile, and find peaceful moments in their lives despite the stress and chaos around them.

They just seem to live their best lives, which might have you wondering – how exactly do they do that?

The secret to elevating your life and becoming happier is about having your own personal values that keep you in the right headspace.

If you’re looking for a new set of rules to live by and help you look at the brighter side of things, then here are some of the best life principles that positive people follow:

1) Be Comfortable With Yourself

The first step to happiness is learning to love yourself and feel comfortable with your skin. No one is perfect and we all have flaws.

The sooner you accept these facts, the sooner you can accept the imperfections you’re born with – whether it’s your background, eyes, skin, nose, or anything else.

When I was younger, I often compared myself with my peers – from the way we look to how far we’ve gone when it comes to achieving our dreams.

It’s all part of growing up but the moment I realized how unique each of us is, the easier it was for me to stop caring about trivial things and just focus on myself – and that made me a lot happier than I was in a while.

Personal insecurity is one of the most common things that destroy a person’s happiness.

Not being comfortable in our own skin kills our self-esteem, confidence, and happiness that are supposed to come from within.

Allow yourself to be honest with who you are. Forgive yourself for your past deeds, those things you are ashamed of.

Accept that you are sometimes a carrier of negative emotions, like disgust, rage, and jealousy. And learn to embrace the silence when you need it.

2) Always Look at the Silver Lining

Running into unfortunate situations is a normal part of life.

We can choose to feel stressed, angry, annoyed, or sad about our circumstances, but we also have the choice to turn everything around by focusing on the positive.

A person who values happiness knows that they have the option to let go, move on, and start anew.

When faced with setbacks, know that you can always learn from failures so you don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Every bad situation that life throws at you teaches you something because growth doesn’t happen in comfort.

Take bad situations and turn them into learning opportunities to strengthen your mind and become more resilient.

3) Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

Comparing another individual’s life and accomplishments to yours can be a benchmark of success, but doing it with burning jealousy can be destructive.

It’s difficult to be happy if you keep looking outside and wishing you also have what others do.

The grass might seem greener on the other side from your perspective, but it doesn’t mean it always is.

Positive people who live their best lives are grateful and happy with what they have – they don’t always wish, expect, and hope for another thing because they already feel content.

They acknowledge that everyone is different, so they live simple lives appreciating the things they have.

4) Let Go of Resentment

Lots of people hold onto their anger because they believe doing so makes the other person realize they’re upset about something.

But in most cases, a person holding onto resentment feels more pain than the people they’re mad at.

When we hate someone, the fire of hatred burns in our minds, not theirs.

Once we learn how to let go, only then can we be free of pain.

It’s hard to do this especially if you’ve never done it before, but you can feel yourself becoming stronger and happier if you forgive those who wronged you.

For people who struggle to let go of their resentment, a lot of professionals recommend meditation.

It allows an individual to control themselves and what they think about, keeping their minds at peace and strengthening their souls.

5) Live in the Moment

Positive people feel utter happiness when they live in the moment.

They tend to focus on what’s currently happening and who they’re sharing the occasion with.

Living in the moment means not feeling sad about the past or worried about the future.

As positive people, we know the importance of taking one step at a time and tackling what life has for us right now.

This is much better than planning too early or overthinking things that can lead to worry.

The only thing guaranteed in life is change, so we know the value of focusing on the here and now.

Living in the moment doesn’t always mean you have to start a new adventure every day.

My friend is one of the happiest people I know and she always told me that living my life can also mean appreciating and romanticizing simple things – like going for a walk, reading, or doing something that doesn’t require thinking.

I took her advice so when I do these small things, I feel happy that I don’t miss out on simple pleasures that my life has to offer.

6) Don’t Try to Control Everything

As much as we want everything to go our way, there are just some things we can’t control.

When we try to take over situations or other people, we do it because we want to feel more secure in our lives.

But ironically, the more we try to control things, the less we have power over them.

Being in the driver’s seat of our own lives can trap us in our own circle of false safety and security.

People become more dependent on the feeling of having authority over a lot of things, but it can drive them crazy if the plan goes astray.

Too much control also drives people away, making the situation worse and preventing individuals from achieving true happiness from within.

Being a control freak never does anyone well, and positive people tend to avoid becoming one by stepping out of their comfort zone.

They also evaluate their feelings and see if it’s affecting their ability to make decisions.

It’s good to practice acceptance even if it’s hard at first.

7) Keep an Open Mind

Having a narrow mind hurts people and the way they live their lives.

It’s tough for them to accept ideas different from their beliefs because they seem like threats, causing an individual to feel like they’re wrong.

As humans, it’s natural for us to dislike the feeling that comes with disapproval and rejection.

But according to positive people, living with an open mind is one of the keys to happiness and, ultimately, a better life.

When you’re open to ideas, you don’t feel threatened by them – you can wholeheartedly accept other perspectives and try to comprehend them better.

As a kid, I was always showered with compliments because of my school achievements. It made me think I always knew better so I didn’t take it well when someone suggested something else.

While growing up, I saw that my way isn’t always the best for everyone so I gradually tried to listen to others.

Now, I can say that being open-minded paid off because I make better decisions when I look at something from another’s perspective.

8) Don’t Chase Material Things

Buying the latest phone or the newest car in the market may give you a sense of satisfaction for a short time, but this kind of pleasure is fleeting.

Chasing material things can give you false happiness that only lasts for a short time until you find yourself wanting the next thing.

It’s an endless, vicious cycle of wanting that isn’t going to bring you true happiness.

True happiness comes from spiritual peace and inner contentment, not the material things that fade and lose value over time.

No matter how expensive our things are and how much money we have, there’s always someone who has more – which only leads to deeper feelings of anxiety and insecurity.

If you want to experience true happiness, it’s better to spend money on experiences you can share with the people you love.

Memories last forever and bring fond smiles to our faces each time we revisit them.

9) Never Lose Your Inner Child

Children are full of wonders, dreams, innocence, love, and other things that people seem to lose as they go through life.

For children, no one is evil and nothing is impossible but we slowly forget that magic as we grow up.

But the happiest people don’t seem to lose their inner kid.

They don’t let life’s problems and challenges change being a kid at heart and that’s a good thing – letting yourself become too affected by failure and misfortune prevents you from seeing the good of the world and the beauty in life.

10) Surround Yourself With Happy People

How people are around us has a huge influence on our lives.

We all know someone who keeps complaining all the time about how they’re wronged or how the world is so unfair to them.

A positive person might try to cheer them up, but negative people always find a way to blame everything else for their problems.

However, life is too short to be hanging out with these kinds of people.

Personally, I believe that the law of attraction is real.

Surrounding myself with positive people who are living their best lives can bring me that kind of happiness for myself too.

If those around me are grateful for their lives, then I also appreciate what I have as well. Positivity begets positivity.