19 Dec Happiness is listening to the right people…and that includes yourself!
Just the other day I wrote a blog for The Happiness Diet on listening the right advice (you can read it here).
Since then, I've been giving the issue a bit more thought and I've come to realise that it's not just about dieting advice but in reality, about so many more areas of life.
Whether it's happiness or success, relationships or work, all too often we listen to…
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those who talk/shout the loudest
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those who claim to have some special secret
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those who believe they have special knowledge because they've been there and done it (whatever) themselves
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those who have some sort of claim over us (e.g. our parents)
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those we admire
Now you might look at this list and think, well yes, of course I'd listen to those people! And in some cases you may well be right. But I'd caution you to be careful at times because…
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loud is not always right and in fact loud can often just be bullying
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there are no special secrets and anyone offering one should be treated with caution
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having been there and done it (e.g. lost weight or overcome adversity or found happiness or anything) is great and admirable BUT we're all different and just because something worked for him/her doesn't mean it will work for you
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although I love my parents and although we should all, in an ideal world, love our family, they're not always right (plus, see the previous point)
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having heros is wonderul but again, what works for others does not always work for us because (quite obviously in some situaions) we're all different
So what, then, is the answer? To whom should we listen?
Well, there's nothing wrong with listening to others as long as we also listen to ourselves!
And there's nothing wrong with listening to others as long as we consider and take into account their credentials and qualifications and experiences.
And yet another and, there's nothing with listening to others as long as, especially when it comes to healthy living (including weight loss) and overcoming adversity and depression and other areas of psychology, that we give some consideration to "evidence based" and proven methods rather than just the recommendations of a charismatic spruiker.
So listen carefully, to others AND to yourself, and remember always that you are you and your path to health and happiness, success and a great life will be yours and yours only and your job is to find it or more realistically, forge it!