Did you notice that your most productive and powerful hours are those connected to whatever makes you happy? When you are working on an inspiring project, spending time with your friends or loved ones time flies, isn’t it? So what does it mean for you and your productivity? How can you leverage on this observation to make yourself even more effective?

Read on, I will tell you about the trick.

There are four typical scenarios by which people choose to live. And I will explain them on four different types of ice-cream:

#1

Not tasty, but healthy. 

Many people live that way. They think that right now they need to work a bit more, study a bit more, do something they don’t really like for some time so in the future, it will become better.

They may say: “I don’t like how I live right now, but it’s a right thing to do.” Those people don’t usually see that ice-cream can be both: tasty and healthy.

#2

All-in ice-cream.

People of this type love to eat delicious ice-cream every day. “You have only one life, you should live here and now.” – they may say. “Let’s stay up all night, let’s wake up late tomorrow, why not?” The problem of those people is that their happiness is built on short-comings and in the long run, they may feel extremely empty and unsatisfied with living a purposeless life.

#3

Not tasty, not healthy.

Hard to believe, but some people live like that. They are stuck in their past, and mostly not that happy past. They feel like happiness is a myth and nobody is lucky. And life was meant to be a struggle.

“Hey, here is the new day, your new chapter.” – you may say. But people of those type will keep turning back to the events of the last year which heart them so much.

#4

Both tasty and healthy. 

First of all, it exists! And those people choose a cool, tasty, healthy ice-cream now and they are happy about their lives every second. This IS a real happiness. When no matter what you are doing, no matter how difficult it is, you know the “why” for you behind. You enjoy both pleasant everyday moments and every-day struggles, leading you towards something you want to achieve.

Did you recognize yourself in one of those ice-cream lovers? I personally experienced all four. The thing is that they all are extremes, except for the last one. The last one is the state we should strive for.

Attitude is a choice. And by choosing to be positive in the face of challenges, by choosing to enjoy each and every second we have been given to live, create and love – we accumulate the most powerful source of energy – happiness. And better than any energy-drink or motivational talk it will keep you pumped and excited for many many hours.

Still not sure what makes you happy?                                                                                                                                            Embarque on a journey that will shift your perspectives and help you to discover yourself: aiesec.org