Idea Pictogram, Author at ideapictogram

How to Upgrade Your Sales Strategy in Seven Easy Ways

by Idea Pictogram | Sep 17, 2026 | ideas+business

If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to sell. To put it bluntly, this is probably the least favorite aspect of entrepreneurship for many beginners and maybe even many experts. The fact that we have to ask our customer to shell out even a few bucks can fill anyone with overwhelming dread. But selling doesn’t have to be a chore. Here I describe how you can upgrade your sales strategy in five easy ways. With these easy-to-implement techniques or hacks, you can defeat your aversion to selling and become more successful at it.

1. Don’t ask for anything upfront just yet

Making a sale is just like dating. You wouldn’t ask a complete stranger to marry you (or maybe you would?) So don’t expect a new customer to commit to buying from you right away without first getting to know one another. That’s why you don’t ask for anything upfront just yet.

First let your customer know about you, what your expertise is, and how your offer will improve their lives. Only then will you make your sales pitch. Experts say that it can take as many as ten touchpoints for your customer to trust you and buy from you. So be patient and don’t expect results right away. Trust takes time. You have to earn that trust because no one is going to give away their trust to just anyone. So delay the ask and focus first on implementing the sales strategy tips below.

2. Give more value than what is expected

This is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your sales strategy. Everyone likes it when they buy a product and they’re pleasantly surprised when a little something extra is added in for free. For example, sending a personalized thank you card in the mail is like receiving an unexpected bonus. That’s going above and beyond what the customer expects. That cultivates loyalty, which can pay out big time in the future when you want to make another sale.

Customers remember little touches like these, and it doesn’t take much effort to do. The next time that you have a product or service you want to sell, your customer will immediately think back to that nice gesture. They will be more likely to buy from you again because they’ll know that you will do more than expected. So giving more value than what’s expected will increase your odds of sale success.

3. Eliminate friction

Ever been frustrated when you visit a website and it takes a long time to figure out how to load a shopping cart and make a payment? So this sales strategy tip is all about making it easy. If you have a website with your sales page, also have a page dedicated to an FAQ. An FAQ is where you can answer all the possible questions that your potential customer might have.

If you sell physical products, make sure that the check out process from shopping cart to payment is clear and easy to navigate. Eliminating friction will lead to more sales because it’s easy for the customer to do. This will upgrade your sales strategy very easily.

4. Handle objections strategically

When a customer has an objection, it’s because they doubt whether your product or service can guarantee to get the results that they want. They’re on the fence about shelling out their money for a product that won’t work or doesn’t live up to their expectations. To overcome this, think of ways to lessen their fear of your product not working or turning out to be a waste of their money.

Often, sellers will set up a “guarantee or your money back” policy. This is to assure the customer that there is no risk to buying their product if it doesn’t meet their expectations. Also put yourself in your customer’s shoes and empathize with them. What objections can they have? Have your answers ready in your sales pitch or sales call so it demonstrates that you’ve thought of everything and have solutions to these objections.

5. Your ideal customer: know who to target

This is another easy, simple way to upgrade your sales strategy. Know your niche. Are you targeting a certain age demographic, industry, profession, or location? I often get emails with sales pitches from different companies. I do want to help but I don’t respond because I’m not a decision maker or what they’re trying to sell me doesn’t have anything to do with my job. Targeting the wrong customer is a waste of time and effort.

You want to be efficient with your marketing efforts to get the most chance of success. So familiarize yourself with the habits of your ideal customer. Where do they hang out? What products do they buy? What are their pain points that they want to have solved? Knowing your customer then makes it easy to find the right channel through which you can target them.

6. Nurture relationships with your customers

Warm outreach has a higher chance of success than a cold one. Often, asking for business from someone you don’t know or trust falls flat because they have no reason to want your product or service. That’s why it’s smart to nurture relationships with your customers before you start to think about selling to them.

The wider the network, the greater the net you can cast to reel in your customers. So don’t wait until you have something to offer them. Network right away and build those connections. With this easy upgrade to your sales strategy, you’ll find it more efficient the next time you want to make a sale.

7. Differentiate your offer from your competitors

Now more than ever, it’s harder to cut through all that noise and have your product or service stand out among a multitude of competitors. That’s why it’s so important to differentiate and to make your competitive advantage crystal clear to your customers. Why should they buy from you and not anyone else? Do you have better customer service, easier onboarding, or higher quality? Make this known to your customer right away. Once they have a clear idea of what sets you apart from your competitors, they’re more likely to be incentivized to buy from you.

Upgrade your sales strategy in your life, career, and business

These sales strategies aren’t limited to just selling a product or service. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur or aren’t interested in selling something, these tips can be used in your personal life to achieve your goals. For example, you might be thinking of asking for a promotion at work, aiming to have your work published, or persuading someone you know to understand your perspective. Apply these tips and see your success pay off!

Mind Over Matter: How to Harness the Power of Your Beliefs

by Idea Pictogram | Aug 31, 2026 | ideas for humans

I heard Dr Sarah Lidstone, a neurologist at UHN, speak many years ago at a TEDx talk in Toronto. Her talk, “It’s all in your head,” mentioned the placebo effect and how, at times, it really boils down to the issue of mind over matter. The mind-brain-body connection is so intertwined that the power of your beliefs (your mind) really do affect you physically (your body). In this blog, I describe five tips on using the principle of mind over matter and how to harness the power of your beliefs.

The power of wishful thinking

According to Dr Lidstone, treating the mind, brain, body as a whole can lead to some pretty miraculous results. Through the power of your beliefs, and your mind, you can cure ailments that affect the body.

Are thoughts so powerful that they can change reality?

Is it enough to believe in something so strongly that it ends up happening?

If you think that your thoughts would materialize into reality, some might call it nothing more than wishful thinking, and at worst, self-deception.

But that’s the power of wishful thinking, otherwise known in the self-help circle as “manifesting.” Popular self-help gurus (a dime a dozen) have created a whole practice of manifesting your dreams into reality. A lot of people believe in it and swear by it, attributing their success to the simple power of thought.

For example, some people swear by vision boards. Vision boards are a collage of images and phrases that you assemble onto a board and look at everyday to stay motivated and on track to meeting your goals.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. So if it’s mind over matter, how do you harness the power of your beliefs?

The power of imagination

The imagination is powerful stuff, I would say. I know because I’ve been the victim of my own imagination, like projecting what people think onto my reality, when it’s very far from the truth. So much that my actions were being controlled by my thoughts. For example, I’d think, “Oh no, that person doesn’t like me so they’re avoiding me.” So I start avoiding them instead, and it turns into a big avoidance thing where we don’t ever talk to each other.

We all care, to some degree and at some point in our lives, about what people think.

I have to admit, sometimes I’m the type of person who lives too much in their head. Someone who thinks too much. I care about what people think, too much sometimes, that it controls the way I act and think. I try not to do anything that invites ridicule. I strive for approval, for the pat on the head. You could argue that it’s just self-preservation. Who wants to act in a way that will quickly lose your friends?

But these thoughts are just thoughts, sometimes not even mirroring reality, not in any meaningful way.

Mind over matter: is it really all in your head?

Is the imagination, the power of the mind, so powerful that it can change reality?

Can we make the impossible happen by sheer willpower? That would be awesome, wouldn’t it? If we could make all of our dreams and our goals come true just by thinking very hard about it.

Like the placebo effect, the mind is so powerful that it can convince us of things that are or aren’t true, and it can spur us into action with either positive or negative consequences.

You’ve probably heard of how the self-help gurus promise that you can manifest your wants and desires using the power of your own thoughts. Is this all hogwash, snake oil? Before you dismiss these claims, consider that there may actually be scientific proof to back them up. Dr Lidstone recounted how a patient with Parkinson’s disease, who was dependent on his wheelchair, was able to get up and walk after taking a placebo.

Can you really trick your mind into doing whatever you want it to do? It’s possible. By harnessing the power of your beliefs, similar to what we call “faith”, we can literally make our thoughts turn into reality.

Here are five tips on how to harness the power of your beliefs:

1. Your beliefs must be grounded in reality.

It’s all great to say that you want to make a million dollars within the next six months, but that would rarely work if it’s so far-fetched that it’s not grounded in reality. Money doesn’t appear out of thin air. Ask yourself whether you can achieve your goal and whether you can take the necessary steps to get started. If you find yourself giving up after a short while, or a few half-hearted attempts, it’s time to re-evaluate and re-adjust your goals so that they aren’t so wildly out of reach.

2. Consistency is key.

You’ve heard of how faith can move mountains. Similarly, tiny actions can lead to big results. People never reach their goals, like losing weight or starting to write a novel, because they lack the follow-through or are blocked by how daunting and overwhelming a task can be. Discouraged, they never start at all. Don’t quit before you start! It’s the number one killer of dreams, the misconception that everyone must be ready before they start a project that they’ve always wanted to accomplish.

3. Think positive.

I might be criticized for toxic positivity which is a term I see floating around a lot, but has anyone’s life ever been negatively affected by a bit of cheerfulness? We can use more of the bright side when things fall apart, fall down, or are all doom and gloom. Believe me, this will happen often in any undertaking that is worth achieving.

4. Treat happiness like it’s a habit.

Just like consistency is key, happiness becomes second nature when you find more things to be grateful for. Can you become happier just by thinking you are happier? Maybe not, but give it a try. Changes to your mindset start by believing in the power of your thoughts.

5. Dare to dream.

You’re a unique individual and you have ideas and thoughts that no one else has. The imagination is limitless. Thinking outside the box is always a good and useful quality to have. Creativity is what leads to that next big idea, so tap into your hidden genius.

The above tips on how to harness the power of your beliefs might actually prove to you that it’s all about mind over matter. Thoughts are powerful and mysterious entities. Some call them delusions or wishful thinking. Some call these thoughts faith. But it’s been scientifically proven that what’s in your mind can manifest physically in your body. Treating the mind can treat the body. If thoughts are so powerful, then who can guess what you can achieve just by thinking it? Maybe it really is just mind over matter.

Why Don’t You Like Me? Rejection in the Age of Social Media

by Idea Pictogram | Aug 7, 2026 | ideas for humans

I’m no stranger to rejection on social media.

I wrote a nice, friendly note requesting someone’s connection over one of the ubiquitous social media platforms out there, and sent it out to them thinking of all the good things that could come out of it. But alas, to no avail. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Why don’t you like me? Is this rejection in the age of social media?

While I was listening to the crickets chirp, I started to think deeply, as someone tends to do on these occasions. Why did this person ignore me? Was it because I had no social proof? If this has happened to you before, you’re probably asking, “Why don’t you like me?”

Requests for help, and reaching out, is the part of networking that I like the least. When there’s no response, I start panicking and thinking that this person must dislike me because I’m being sooo annoying. But sometimes, the cold shoulder is just really that: they’re ignoring you because they’re busy and don’t have time out of their jam-packed day to pay attention to you.

Everyone has probably experienced requesting a connection through social media only to have it ignored or blocked.

In my case, on the scale of least to most wanted reactions, I should be glad that it fell on the higher end of least harmful reactions. At least this person didn’t openly berate me or shame me on social media, or report me to the authorities.

I shouldn’t be surprised, because this probably happens all the time, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit hurt, for all of a few seconds. Then I moved on and promptly forgot all about it.

Should we just be friends?

In the age of social media, how to choose your friends is relatively easy. You either accept a friend request, or you don’t. And you remove their connection if you no longer want to be friends. Rejection in the age of social media is so easy.

In the olden days, what happens when a friendship turns sour and goes awry? You would still have to see them everyday, but social media is changing what friendship means. You interact with them by sitting behind a computer and when you’re online, they’re easier to avoid. It became easier to make friends, but on the flip side, it is also easier to end a friendship.

It’s also easy to post something on social media without getting a lot of reactions or comments. They’re ignoring your post, not even reading it or paying attention, or at worst, ridiculing you.

I sometimes fear putting myself out there, opening myself up to rejection, but it’s something I have to do each time I post a blog post. Sending out a post and waiting passively for the number of reactions to climb is a nail bitter.

Sometimes it feels like rejection if there’s not that much of a response. Rejection hurts, and sometimes when there are hundreds of connections that could’ve responded, the multiplier effect amplifies that rejection.

The same goes for connection or friend requests. “Why don’t you like me?” you ask. You feel like you’re pestering people.

Wait, why can’t we be friends?

When you’re networking to find a new job role, for example, you find out that it’s not only who you know, it’s who wants to know you in return.

The digital era makes it easier to make a ton of friends as well as to lose them, and instantly. All in one instant, your social proof can go up or down, and if you’re riding the waves as a way of cashing in on your popularity, you better watch out when that luck turns. People are fickle, and social media is the most excellent tool for them to act out that fickleness.

In the olden days (and I’m talking about the past twenty or thirty years), friendship used to be about meeting up in person and going for a (real) coffee. Virtual meetings are convenient, and so easily set up, and dropped.

Ignoring someone is passive rejection, and so easy to do because it’s doing nothing at all. I’ve been at the receiving end of passive rejection, and obviously it’s not nice.

It’s unsurprisingly easy to be annoying over social media. Asking for a favour too many times will definitely get annoying. You might think of it as persistence or perseverance, but it’s just being irritating, and I might be guilty of this, too.

If someone is being a pest, ignoring them is the best thing you can do.

Friendship, monetize this!

The number of likes and reactions on a post could translate into a hefty sum of money. These micro approvals are a commodity. The clicks, when added together, can mean a big payout. Tally up the number of reactions, and you get your net worth in social proof. If you’re really popular online, you’d obviously want to use this to your advantage if you’re looking for ways to make money.

Ever since you asked, “Why don’t we be friends?” to someone you met online, your next question might have been, “How can I monetize this? How can I use your friendship to further my own agenda?” It sounds cruel and self-interested, but that question is top of mind for some business-minded people.

You can literally spin social media likes into gold, and a lot of it. Remember when friendship used to mean so much more than clicks and likes?

Friends? In the age of social media, who needs those?

The number of likes can translate into money, and lots of it. Friendship shouldn’t be a commodity. Are we friends because I expect something in return? In the age of social media, that answer might be yes, and might be all friendship is now about.

If you’re being strategic about who you’re friends with, you’re looking for a friendship that, after you spend time cultivating, will get the best return on your investment.

Money does change the way you think about friendship. Friendship becomes transactional, an exchange of mutually beneficial goods and services. Social media is the gateway to becoming popular, fast, with the least amount of effort.

Like it or not, pun intended, friendship is no longer measured by how much time you spend together or whether you truly care about the other. Friendship is now measured by how much influence you have on your friend’s buying decisions and where they choose to spend their time online.

Is friendship losing its meaning because of social media?

The social media royalty wins, big time, while the rest of us commoners are struggling to gain traction. I’m not complaining about the fact that the game is rigged. I’m complaining about not getting in on the secret myself, what everyone who has an enterprising online presence thinks but few will admit to.

When friendship becomes strategic, that’s when friendship loses meaning. We’re not friends, we’re business partners. You give me your approval, and I give you money. It’s that simple. Most want to get the greatest amount of money out of it with the least moves and least effort.

Making–and losing–friends on social media is so easy to do, that we do it all the time without giving much thought to it. Rejection in the age of social media is easy. Some people I know like to streamline things a bit, cut off a few former friends like you would shed a few pounds here and there. So I shouldn’t be concerned if all I get is a lack of response or reaction.

Do you depend on approval from your peers through social media?

Do you only have virtual friends and not real friends? Are you asking “why don’t you like me?” too often? My advice is to separate your self-worth from your social media persona. When you’re a social media influencer, and everything about your persona hangs on the number of reactions and likes, it’s easy to lose sight of reality.

Keep in mind that it’s not because they don’t like you, it’s because they barely know you even though they might seem like real friends or enemies. They don’t know who you really are like in person, they just know the image you project online, and that’s but a fraction of you as a whole. I had mentioned this in my blog post on social currency.

Want social proof? Look at my social media following

Why don’t you like me? I have an active albeit modest social following but apparently that’s not good enough.

One day you’re a nobody and the next your social status has been elevated to the stratosphere. It happens frequently now. Overnight success is definitely possible.

The most they can do is ignore you, not call the cops on you for stalking them. It’s a new form of social ostracization, annoying but completely forgettable and harmless.

It stings. You feel low about yourself for a day or two, you ask, “Why don’t you like me?” then you get over it.

How do you win this game? Easy. If you can’t defeat the cold shoulder, just let it be.

Things shift quickly on the internet. Losers become winners and vice versa. Trying to map out a viable strategy is anyone’s best guess. And look at the bright side. Social media is never boring and never predictable. Fighting for their undivided attention might be a lost cause. Rejection in the age of social media has never been so hurtful and so easy to do.

Does this mean that we can’t make real friends online? No. But it just gets harder to find true friends this way.

A Day in a Blogger’s Life: Why I Started Blogging

by Idea Pictogram | Jul 25, 2026 | ideas+business

I started blogging to share my ideas but now I’m questioning whether I should continue

I have less than 355 days to save my blog. If that doesn’t happen, I’m shutting it down permanently.

After getting punched in the face with ridiculously high web hosting fees, I’m on a last ditch effort to save my blog and drive more website traffic to it before I shut it down.

My three year term expired and the current cost of running a blog ($1,248.08 CAD per year to be exact) is freaking me out. Shelling out more than $100 per month for a blog where I only post sporadically definitely does not make sense.

I started my blog more than three years ago. Overly optimistic, with lofty, high flying ideas and aspirations, only to find out that it’s hard work. A day in a blogger’s life is full of hard work but I didn’t know it when I started blogging.

This probably happens a lot. Aspirational blogger sets up website only to discover that blogging is hard. Rather than giving up and losing face, I’m trying to save this sinking ship and give it one more go before I completely stop.

My goal was to solve a problem for readers

Some people blog to earn money. That might not be the best and only reason to blog, but it’s a completely valid reason.

Some people do it so they can become overnight social media influencers. They picture a day in a blogger’s life as lying on a beach, blithely tapping out blog post after blog post and gaining hundreds of followers as soon as the post goes live. They picture six-figure sponsorships and deals.

But the truth is, blogging hasn’t been a rollicking adventure. If I knew that my reach would be modest, why did I start blogging? Why was I motivated to start one and what was my goal?

Was money a motivating factor? Possibly. I had the greenest of ideas that I could turn this into a side hustle and make myself some money off of it. I thought I would give it a try to flex that entrepreneurial muscle. Because at the end of the day, running a blog is like running a business.

But the main reason I blog is to help solve a problem. That’s one of the reasons that’s consistently touted as the secret to a successful blog.

What kinds of problems does this blog solve? I had an inkling that people would read it and be inspired. You can also say it was naivety and a lot of wishful thinking on my part, but naivety and wishful thinking are what got me started in the first place.

I kept it as a secret blog for over three years, fear of judgement and ridicule holding me back from attaching my name to the website. What if someone I knew read it and hated it?

But like most fears, my fears were unfounded. Most people have the memory of a goldfish. That’s when I realized I was just projecting my insecurities on an imaginary audience. In reality, most people would think it was weird and move onto the next thing.

Do people really care? Probably not. Really, everyone is too busy to care.

Reasons that bloggers quit

Most people don’t blog and there’s a reason why. It’s hard to keep blogging when you don’t have a community. You ask yourself, why should I blog when no one else I know is doing it? You don’t have anyone to keep you accountable and that’s the most challenging.

Posting consistently and thinking of new ideas to share isn’t easy. Especially when the rewards are few and far in between.

You find it hard to keep blogging when there are a million other priorities on your to-do list. A day in a blogger’s life is full of struggles but there are rewards and that’s why I started blogging.

Blogging is hard to keep up when you’re talking and no one is listening.

Indifference is a double-edged sword. On one side, it can let you do anything without risking public opinion, but getting people to care is a constant hurdle.

I wanted to share my ideas and reach more readers

I’m not even sure that I like the name of my blog. When I first started, I envisioned it as an “ideas and business” blog.

Why did I call it “ideapictogram”? Good question. Instead of answering this question, just Google “idea pictogram.”

In the early days I was obsessively watching Google search rankings like it was the stock market. Depending on where you are in the world, I’m on the first page of Google search results for the search words “The best things in life that are for free“, “The seven benefits of being frugal that will surprise you” and “The smart way to fail: how to fail often and fail fast.” I know. Ironic, right? These are blog posts I wrote almost a year ago and it’s still on the first page of search results.

Granted, I doubt that people are constantly searching for those exact same words, but I still get a kick out of it anyway.

Landing on the first page of Google search results is the gold standard for any blogger. It means more eyes on the blog. If a reader can’t find you, your efforts are wasted.

Sometimes, my blog posts will even show up in the AI powered feature snippets you see on the top of the search results. This is good, I thought. These small wins don’t seem like much, but when it validates my efforts, it gives me a reason to keep on going. It’s the benchmark for a successful blog. Plus, it’s gratifying to have external approval. It’s a great boost to morale.

Some of my posts do better than others but it’s a mystery why. It’s a hit and miss. How-to articles and top ten “listicles” perform best so that’s often the format of my blog posts.

However, some of my posts don’t rank at all on search results. The mysteries of the search engine algorithm is the only explanation I have. Some people would find it limiting to be at the mercy of a search engine, hacking your way to the top. That’s why some bloggers quit.

But I didn’t. I wanted to share my ideas and be creative. A day in a blogger’s life is full of creativity and that’s why I started blogging.

I wanted to do something extraordinary

What makes a great blog?

To create a great blog, I knew that I had to learn how to be more consistent when things get boring or too hard. Building a readership, marketing and self-promotion, is a job in itself, a typical day in a blogger’s life.

A blog needs to have a clear focus. You can’t be vague or indecisive, like it doesn’t know what it’s about.

I haven’t been following this golden rule exactly, because I write about topics that don’t necessarily go together.

If your purpose is to get more eyes on your blog, there is a certain way to write a post, rules to follow, and it can stifle creativity.

If I was writing with the sole purpose of landing in Google search results, the number of topics I can write about can feel too constrictive.

I had an idea, I had a vision, I had aspirations. Nothing really killed it all. I still want to do something extraordinary. That’s why I started blogging.

You can’t talk about creative writing without talking about AI

AI sometimes gives you less reasons to write and create. For better or worse, I make it a point not to use AI when doing creative writing.

A writer might also be pushed away by the thought that anything they publish will go towards training AI models. Does AI eliminate the need to publish? Will blogging be a lost art? What’s the point of writing when AI can articulate an idea or a thought better than you? There’s a lot of reasons why blogging might become obsolete, but it doesn’t keep me from trying or thinking of creative ideas.

But obviously AI is going to change what a day in a blogger’s life will look like in the future.

Save my blog by joining my community and becoming a reader

The countdown is on. I have less than a year. Only 355 days to turn this around and salvage this blog, the toil of the three previous years.

So give it a read. Take a look around. There might be some ideas there that either challenge you or make you think differently. A day in a blogger’s life is motivated by doing something you love and that’s why I started blogging.

Will I save this sinking ship or lose face and quit? You don’t want to miss this so follow this blog to find out.

How to Make Happiness a Habit

by Idea Pictogram | Feb 7, 2026 | ideas for humans

Happiness is a habit, one that you can develop if you work hard enough at it. At first, happiness sometimes feels like it’s hard to reach, like a neverending goal that keeps moving farther away no matter how many steps you try to take towards it. Happiness takes discipline. It might sound counterintuitive that it takes discipline to be happy. It can be a revelation that you have to work hard at being happy, that you have to put in the time and energy to achieve happiness. In this way, you can’t be too passive about your own happiness.

To some, it doesn’t come naturally. Happiness requires regular maintenance and practice, like maintaining a fit body through regular exercise and a healthy diet. To maintain your happiness, follow the principles of a balanced lifestyle. Implement regular check-ins with family and friends, and do an audit of each part of your life to find out which areas need improvement and which needs eliminating. Below are some more tips on how to maintain your happiness.

Let go of toxic thinking
Make your health a priority
Make friends and family a priority
Unplug from social media
Choose carefully what you consume

1. Let go of toxic thinking

Let go of anger and frustration. Don’t let negative thoughts be the reason that your life feels unfulfilled. First, you have to be more aware of your thoughts. Just like habits form by strengthening certain neural connections, building the required muscle memory starts with recognizing you have a problem. You can unconsciously have bad habits, like persistent toxic thinking that is too focused on negativity. Letting go of anger and frustration is a great weight off your shoulders. It allows you to feel happier and less tied to cycles of negative thinking. Happiness is a habit, which you can develop by letting go of toxic thinking.

2. Make your health a priority

This means exercising, quitting smoking, and having a healthy diet. Physical wellness has a great influence on your mental wellbeing. It’s easy to neglect your health when you have bills to pay and work to do, so it’s worthwhile to remember that healthy bodies make healthy minds. Either eliminate or moderate the things that will shorten your life span like the ones I listed above. Cleanse and declutter. Your environment influences how you think, so create an environment that is more helpful to your goals. Ever look at a cluttered desk and automatically feel overwhelmed by a seemingly simple task such as tidying and cleaning up? Make it easy on yourself and start with the simple things such as organizing your desk and your personal space. Healthy habits help in creating happiness as a habit.

3. Make friends and family a priority

Studies have shown that age-related risks such as dementia and Alzheimer’s increase the more socially isolated you are. By improving relationships with the people around you, you can be more satisfied with your personal life. Those with a solid support system are more resilient because they have others they can lean on in times of difficulty. That’s why making time for friends, new and old, can be so important. Don’t work too hard. Humans need play as much as they need work. Everyone needs to realize that work is not the be all and end all to life. Work is such a large part of our lives that you must find something you enjoy doing. It’s true that we need meaningful work to find fulfillment in our lives. The number of people who work really hard will wonder why they have let life pass them by.

4. Unplug from social media

Social media is a massive distraction and overconsumption of it can lead to feelings of inadequacy about your own life and self-defeating comparison. Sure, social media can have its fleeting rewards, and momentary joy from likes and peer approval. But these are like empty calories that if added frequently to your diet, lead to harmful side effects. Studies have shown that this type of desire for peer approval can be harmful for your health. Limit screen time; it can help to install an app on your phone that limits the amount of time you spend on social media. Being mindful of your consumption of social media can help make happiness a habit.

5. Choose carefully what you consume

When passively scrolling through social media, it’s easy to intake harmful content unless you pay close attention to what you are consuming. Choosing carefully also applies to the kind of people you associate with and spend time with. Making a decision about what you consume leads you to live a life that is intentional. Living your life with intention means that you think about making smart decisions instead of letting others make these decisions for you. This takes a lot of discipline. If you say you will do something, you have to be disciplined enough to follow through on your intention and to do it.

Discipline is the hardest thing to master. There are too many excuses, too many distractions and obligations. But if you want to achieve something great, you have to make a promise to yourself that you will accomplish what you set out to achieve.

Happiness is hard work. Just as no one expects to be handed money and have everything taken care of for them, you have to be willing to put in the effort to reap the rewards. Your quality of life can either go up or down depending on how much time you put into maintaining the essential aspects of an enriched and fulfilling life. Setting aside time and schedule in things like exercise and family time is a great start. Living an intentional life where you are cognizant of the reasoning behind the decisions that you make will make you more aware of what needs to be improved and what needs to be eliminated. Happiness is a habit, and requires a mindful approach to maintain for the long term.

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