Set your soul free by adopting these five habits; they are the building blocks of happiness and greater inner peace.
1. Spend your energy on things within your control.
Let go of things you can't control -- like the weather, the bus being late, the behavior of others, traffic and long queues, the café running out of your favorite salad roll, or coming down with a cold.
When these things occur, let them gently wash over you like water off a duck's back. Don't let them disturb the sense of inner peace and contentment residing deep within your heart.
Then something magical will happen. All of a sudden you will have a wealth of free energy to spend on things you can control.
Things like your dominant thoughts, your attitude, your behavior, your values, and how you live your life -- your daily lifestyle, exercise, food, career, passions, self-education, friends, fun and leisure time.
This is where your true power lies. Spend your time here, and watch how it transforms your life.
2. Adopt an optimistic worldview.
We are taught to focus on problems, on fear, on protecting ourselves from all the things that could go wrong.
The world is a reflection of our dominant thoughts, so with this overly pessimistic outlook, problems and misfortunes are exactly what we find.
We're not able to see all the beauty, blessings, kindness, love, abundance and opportunity surrounding us in every moment -- because we're not looking for it.
We've trapped ourselves in a self-fulfilling prophecy with our negative stories about the world.
Adopt an optimistic worldview. Wake up and anticipate an amazing day. Feel excited about the infinite possibilities for your life. Notice all the love and gifts around you just waiting to be seen.
Have you ever spent time thinking about something (a green car, a black pug, an engagement ring) and then all of a sudden you spot them everywhere?
It's the same with your life. Spend time focusing on the positive, and then all of a sudden you will see positive outcomes, serendipity and good fortune everywhere.
3. Forgive, forgive, forgive.
The Buddha once said, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
Learn to forgive other people when you perceive they have 'wronged' you. Have compassion for their situation -- they are fighting their own battle, they are doing their best.
See past their 'faults' to the light inside of them -- it is the same light that lives within you.
This is one of the hardest habits to adopt in life, but it is also one of the most freeing.
Don't forget to extend your new forgiveness practice to yourself, either. You, as much as anyone, deserve your compassion and love.
4. Remember your higher purpose.
David Campbell once said, "Discipline is remembering what you want."
Spend time doing the deep soul work to determine your values, your dream life vision and your higher purpose -- and then use these to guide you in your daily life.
It's so easy to get trapped by inertia and fear, to procrastinate, and to make poor choices when we're so 'busy' with life that we've forgotten what we love, what lights us up, and what we're here for.
Maybe your higher purpose in life is to learn to love yourself, to help others, to laugh, love, write and travel.
Keep reminders of your purpose nearby, and it makes decision making easy. You just need to weigh up whether the action you're about to take (or not take) will bring you closer to your higher purpose.
5. Be your own guide.
It matters not what anybody else thinks.
Worrying about how other people view you and your life choices is like handing over the control panel of your heart to someone else and going, 'There you go. You can decide how happy and worthwhile I feel today.'
The more you let your own intuition, inner voice, values and desires be your guide, the faster you can step into your highest good and start living in alignment with your true self.
It helps to remember that without mind-reading abilities, you can't know what others are truly thinking anyway. So when your ego starts to fill you with doubt, remember anything it tells you is just a fictional story.
It also helps to remember that you are complete and beautiful exactly as you are. Your worth is not dependent on external factors like whether you're seen as "successful" or you're living life in a certain way. Don't forget this.
Elyse is the founder of NotesOnBliss.com, your guidebook to happiness and creating a beautiful life. For more tips, wisdom and inspiration, sign up now.