We have covered different aspects of cultivating love and happiness on this blog. You may ask, “But how can I make time to pursue happiness?” That’s easy: through cultivating habits and becoming conscious of what you focus on. Learn how to focus on actions in your everyday life to get into the flow and to flourish.

How do you ensure you’ll find time to pursue happiness every single day in an easy and fun way? First of all, you must understand that you are time, you don’t have time. Time is relative; time is there in abundance. As Einstein showed: Time is the fourth dimension. It’s a question of mindset, or if you prefer, choice.

If you live with the understanding that you must be super clear about the things that matter most, you can make conscious choices about what you make time for.

Having the answers to the following questions will be of great help in figuring the latter out:

1. What maxim is guiding you throughout your life?
2. How are you making choices, big or small?
3. Do you know what matters most to you?

These are fundamental questions you have to answer for yourself before you find it easy to pursue happiness that will be lasting rather than fleeting. They are all closely linked to your values (and the hierarchy of your values).

What are your guiding principles?

My clients and friends strive to live according to ethical principles. They care. They want to contribute somehow to make this world a better place. Some have adopted Mahatma Gandhi’s maxim, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

One of my guiding principles is the law of reciprocity. Wikipedia defines the three forms this Golden Rule may take as follows:

• One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form).
• One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form).
• What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathic or responsive form).

You may aspire to live mindfully. This means to become aware of which thoughts, words and deeds you are performing habitually. You may then be able to discard actions that are not contributing to your happiness and avoid actions that could harm others.

Another example of a guiding principle is to choose to foster positivity daily. Did you know that you suffer from a ‘Negativity Bias’? You have to cultivate conscious thoughts, words, and actions conducive to a balanced mind. Changing your focus again and again on the ‘positive’ is paramount to fostering your happiness.

Or you could cultivate self-care, self-love, and self-respect first. By looking after yourself and your well-being, which includes leveraging your sensitivity and playing to your strengths, you are in a great position to serve the people around you and contribute to making this world somehow better and more beautiful.

What makes you happy?

There are two very different ways to pursue happiness. Do you know the distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic happiness? One is about the meaning you create in your life, and the other is about fleeting joys through your senses. You can have both.

The best way to find time for actions that make you happy is to be crystal clear about them. What things energize you entirely and make you forget the time because you get into the flow?

You lead a brilliant life by doing activities every single day that create positive emotions, get you into the flow and give your life meaning – see also my article about the Authentic Happiness‘ Formula.

Things that make me truly happy include being outside in nature, beautiful vistas, moving my body (hiking or riding a bicycle), deep and meaningful conversations, and spending quiet time gardening, reading, or writing. The picture above is the view from a bench of one of my favourite places in Geneva, the Jardin de la Paix.

Your turn now to Pursue Happiness

Writing down the things that foster positive emotions and make you feel great is the easiest way to be crystal clear about them.

Here’s a free WorkPlaySheet called 20 Activities.

The list and questions in the WorkPlaySheet will help you analyze which actions make you happy—whether alone or with others— and guide you to try out new things as well.

Once you have filled in the three columns, choose one activity that inspires you. Make time for it today! If you are super busy, choose one that takes only a few minutes, like blowing bubbles.

Choose two other things and schedule them into this week’s calendar.

Never forget to savour the fun and joy while doing it!!!

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Important to know: the frequency of positive emotions has a greater impact on your happiness than the intensity.

Find out how you can create many moments of positive emotions in your everyday life using this WorkPlaySheet (no signing up required)!

This article was first published in 2014 and completely revised and updated in June 2026.