5 signs you’re doing well in life, according to psychology

Society has us convinced that a perfect life involves earning loads of money, travelling regularly to exotic destinations, or having a wardrobe of designer fashion.

However, the measure of a person’s success isn’t always tied to material possessions.

People are only now realising that someone who’s doing well in life is likely to be content, fulfilled, and happy.

The thing is, being happy and fulfilled is tougher to achieve.

If you were to take a look at your life now, would you say that you’re doing well?

Today we’ll explore 5 signs that may indicate you’re doing well in life, or at least doing better than you think, according to psychology.

1) You’ve learned to let go of the past.

To me, being free is a key indicator of how well a person is doing in life. 

While everyone would like to be free of worry and stress, it’s also important to be free of the past – your mistakes, trauma from your childhood, and past hurts. 

Some people tend to cling to these because they don’t know how to let the past go. They continue to let it plague their mind, and this unaddressed trauma can spill over into their current relationships and how they interact with situations.

It could potentially hinder personal growth and the ability to trust others, posing a stumbling block to making new friends.

When you let go, it gives you a sense of tranquillity because you’re no longer allowing the negative emotions from your past to take control of you. Instead, you choose to forgive the person who hurt you (which can include yourself) and move on.

When you do this, you’ll realize that life becomes less bleak and more peaceful. 

So if you’re someone who’s learned to let go of the past, it’s a good sign that you’re doing well in life.

2) You’re able to take care of yourself.

One of the main manifestations of stressors is a lack of sleep, exercise, and poor nutrition. In essence, the absence of self-care.

Instead, we may pick up not-so-pleasant habits to cope with stress, such as excessive drinking, smoking, binge eating, or depending on entertainment to escape reality.

Prolonging these negative habits can lead to poor health such as high blood pressure, insomnia, or heart attacks. In the long run, your quality of health will be impacted.

Therefore, someone who’s doing well in life would have incorporated healthy habits in their lives, such as having proper nutrition, regular exercise, and being able to take breaks when life gets too overwhelming.

They learn how to prioritize themselves so that they can remain happy, healthy, and resilient – which are key signs of someone who’s doing well in their life.

3) You’re present in the moment.

Do you feel like you’re going through the motions in life?

Perhaps you feel like you’re living on autopilot where you cruise through life and have barely any memory about the past few days because they just seem to blur together.

If so, it’s likely that you’re not doing too well, or that you may start to feel as if life has become very monotonous.

There’s no excitement and you may be feeling discontent as well.

According to psychology, we’re contented when we’re most aware of the present moment, and through contentment, happiness becomes a more viable option.

Instead of telling yourself that you’ll be happy after you achieve this or that milestone, learn how to appreciate what is going on around you now.

This can help you reshape your perspective to be content and happy at any given moment.

This isn’t saying that you stop being ambitious, but rather, being present stops you from only attributing success and a sense of achievement to milestones in your career.

4) You’re not worried about finances.

This leans more towards the practical side of things.

With inflation soaring around the world, the cost of living worldwide is only going to climb. So, it’s important to be financially prudent.

 If necessary, chart a savings or investment plan toward achieving a specific monetary goal you’ve set for yourself.

In doing so, you can start spending within your means with the assurance that this will help you achieve your financial goals.

Someone who’s doing well in life would not be overly worried about costs because they know that they’re spending within their means and accept the lifestyle that their current income enables them to.

While it’s true that money isn’t everything, it does feel great to not have to worry about finances. 

I personally feel that finance is a common concern for everyone. So, you’ll know if someone is doing well in life if they don’t need to worry too much about this. 

5) You have a positive attitude towards things.

Have you ever met someone who’s always positive? Even when life gets very challenging, they’re able to find the silver lining in everything.

They can reshape their perspective to see a setback as a learning experience. In addition, they always have a good word for someone – no matter their personality.

It’s getting harder to find people who are optimistic in life, because people tend to be more cynical, especially with all the negativity in this world.

But when someone is able to always see the good in things and people despite all these, I find that they’re actually doing much better than people who have more material possessions, yet are cynical or unhappy.

This is because maintaining an attitude of positivity welcomes feelings of happiness, peace, and contentment – something money can’t buy.

I feel that it’s these people who’ve really won in life.

Final thoughts

While there may be differing opinions on what constitutes a person’s success in life, I firmly believe that it comes down to how contented or happy one is in life. 

They may not be rich or have a lot of material possessions, but being content with what they have is something that not everyone can achieve – even those who seem to have it all.

If you realize that you identify with these thoughts that were outlined in the article, congratulations – you’re actually doing very well for yourself.

But if you find that these points are unfamiliar, don’t worry. It takes time to work to put these habits into practice, but once you manage to get a hang of them, you’ll realize that life will get inherently better.