We all want to have more happy, joyful moments in our life, but how do we accomplish this?

Can it be as easy as copying the behavior of those who are happy? Or, are things that make us happy vastly different?

If your immediate answer to the last question is a firm ‘Yes’ - things that make us happy are indeed very different - then we also see that simple copy-paste is not enough. What is bringing happiness to someone else may not bring the same feeling to us.

Let’s look at the following examples which may confirm this assumption.

If someone feels happy after jumping out of the airplane, and another person while cooking, these two ways of feeling happy are very different. One is more about breaking the limits of fear, while another is more about peaceful contentment. Someone may also feel happy to win in academic triathlons or get recognition for expertise at work. These feelings of happiness have to do with achievement and appreciation, which are again very different.

We may also argue that the answer to the question is ‘No’ - what makes us happy is not that different. Aren’t we all happy when we are recognized at work and don’t we all want at least a little excitement, as well as peacefulness, in our lives?

Although this may be true, the real question is what is really important to us. Even though we wouldn’t be jumping out of the airplane in any near future we may still feel quite happy, while for someone else happiness without excitement is not happiness at all.

What makes us happy seems to be closely related to knowing what we like to do and bringing more of it into our lives. So what is it that you enjoy doing? What is it that you want more of?

We may think that this is an easy question, but it may be more convoluted than it seems. The sad truth is that not many people know - or even want to think about - what they want. In fact, this is pretty understandable. If we believe not being able to have it, than thinking about it brings just more suffering. So, paradoxically we push these thoughts away from our mind.

And even if we do know concretely what will make us happy, it still doesn’t mean that we are. If we are surrounded with difficult situations, how can we be?

This is why in this workshop, besides learning about our joy-type - which makes it easier to understand what naturally makes us happy according to our personality type - we will also consider main reasons that prevent us from feeling happiness. This will allow us to feel happiness in a more conscious and lasting manner.

Ivana is a creator of Find Your Joy Factor and Live Your Ideal Life courses, as well as the author of the Beyond the Fairytale book series. She helps creative, independent professionals identify their True Calling and find happiness in life and business. When she's not coaching, volunteering, or finding new ways to live her true calling, you'll find Ivana spending time with her husband, and doing what she loves: writing, reading, traveling, and working on projects that inspire her. Shanghai became her home in July 2018. You can find her books at: ivanabooks.com, as well as check her interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViWbjDdZsBM&t=230s