WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE PLEASURE

As a self employed individual who’s always trying to find the perfect work-life balance, I’d love to share with you why you should choose pleasure every now and again following my own life experience.

Recent research conducted by GALAXY Chocolate revealed the average Brit rates themselves just 6.3 out of 10 in terms of happiness. This wasn’t particularly surprising to me given the rate at which more recently, people have been sharing a lot about the subject matter on social media.

In a study of 2,000 adults, a quarter admitted they’re simply too busy to enjoy themselves as much as they’d like. As such, those over 55 – a time where you are more experienced and sure of yourself – scored themselves the highest at 6.9. And so, it would appear that growing old isn’t such a bad thing after all as age does seem to be a key factor here.

As someone who turned 33 a couple of months ago, I was rather excited to see that the age Brits wring the most pleasure out of their life was revealed to be precisely 33 years and four months. And I can’t help but believe this.  It’s safe to say that the older I get, the more I’ve become aware of certain facts which guide my lifestyle. The most important of which is knowing when to take a break. It’s safe to say I’m only human and can’t always keep up with everything especially given my self employed lifestyle. I’ve learnt to do the best that I can with the resources I have and trust that that in itself is enough. This allows me to appreciate the journey more than anything. Accepting what is, knowing I did my best, and moving on with my life helps ease the stress of it all. Also making sure to reward myself every now and again for my efforts and achievements. Afterall, if I can’t appreciate myself, how do I expect others to appreciate me. This is where pleasure comes in for me. 

Jo Hemmings, a behavioral psychologist working with GALAXY said: “From the research it’s clear to see that some younger generations are finding it harder to find pleasure in their daily lives. As we get older and wiser, the realisation that life is too short to worry so much means more are saying “carpe diem” to life. “It’s a common phenomenon that you start to care less about what other people think as you age, which clearly leads to a happier lifestyle.”

I very much echo the same sentiments as Jo. Life is definitely too short and is full of curveballs we sometimes fail to anticipate. 

In my 20s, I had big dreams and I planned to achieve all of them before the age of 30. At the top of my list was buying a house and a car. This saw me put all my time and effort into my work as a financial accountant at the time. I had very little time for any of my personal affairs. While my efforts paid off at work in the form of multiple promotions and recognition, I was still nowhere near close to achieving my key goals at the time. Right before I turned 30, I took an audit of my life. One of the things that stuck out to me was how much time I spent doing a job that didn’t hold true meaning in my life, all at the expense of the things that truly mattered to me – family, friendships, photography, story telling, amongst other things. It was also apparent that some of the goals I had set had nothing to do with me personally but one that came about as a result of societal standards. For example, I have no true use for a car because I reside in the city centre and mostly walk everywhere. If anything, possessing one would be nothing short of a liability.

I wasn’t shocked to see that those aged between 25-34 in the study marked themselves with the lowest happiness score, averaging out at just 5.9 out of 10. After all, I have felt the pressures that come with that timeframe as detailed above.

The result of my life audit allowed me to put plans in place that mattered to me. This saw me carve out time for friends and family and photography. I managed to set new goals. At the top of my list this time was to work for myself as a creative. I set about improving my photography skills, and acquired knowledge on running and operating a business in the UK. The more I learnt, the more I got confident in my decision making. Indeed the older I got, the wiser I became. And at 31, I decided to quit my job as a financial accountant and set about the task of becoming a full time creative. I am now more in control of my time and how and what I choose to spend it on.

Finding time for other things that make us feel a little better about life surely must be a good thing. Which is why GALAXY has come up with five ways you can help yourself choose pleasure. All of which I already incorporate and I’ll share how.

Less Means More  

If you’ve been following me for a while now you’ll know that I prefer quality over quantity. This is a lifestyle approach I’ve adopted over the years. You can see this in the content I put out as well as my lifestyle choices be it friendships or acquisitions. In order for something to exist in my life, it has to have meaning. A good example is going through my wardrobe every couple of months and doing a clear out. I recently gave a lot of pieces away to friends who needed and had for use for them. I felt very light afterwards.

Take a Break From The Norm

My usual routine usually involves daily shooting. I’ve recently started to break that circle and instead choosing to catch up with friends and speak more to my family who live abroad. Some days you’ll catch me watching a feel good TV Show like Grace and Frankie while laughing out loud. It goes a long way to help relax me as well as give me room to recharge.

Find That Feel Good Factor

As simple as it sounds, volunteering or helping someone else can make a huge impact on our own happiness. The way I tend to do this is with my Coffee Diaries podcast series where I share the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years to help other self employed content creators improve on themselves.

Break-up with Negativity

Become more aware of when you engage in this habit of negative thinking and make a conscious effort to replace it with positive thinking and positive people. I’ve had to train my thoughts over the years using the law of attraction. Knowing that I attract more of what I focus my thoughts and energy on. I try my best to remember to apply this especially in instances where I feel things are going awry.

Act on Impulse

Another interesting thing the research showed was that British females estimate more of their life is taken up by obligations such as work or life admin, compared to men who believe such duties take up less of their time. 

If you’re a Type A person and love to plan for any eventuality, keep in mind that sometimes the most fun can be found in unplanned moments so take a risk and let things happen naturally. A more recent example of this for me was when I booked a last minute trip to Paris just because. There was no planning or much thought process other than Paris sounds nice right in this moment. I went with Craig and we had a good time. Shooting, resting and enjoying good food were some of the things we got up to and we loved it. We’re learning that not everything has to be so calculated. It’s okay to do something a little different every now and again.

The results of this research has encouraged me to put myself first where possible. I’ve always wanted to share my story in a photo essay, and come 2020, this is a goal I hope to achieve. One thing I want to do more of is also give back to my community. I plan to start at my secondary school where most of my key life experiences began. It’s something I’m really looking forward to.

Why you should choose pleasure has been kindly sponsored by GALAXY, who wants to encourage the next generation to choose themselves and things that matter the most, in a world that is ‘always on’. This could be anything from heading on a spontaneous weekend away, trying a new hobby that’s out of your comfort zone or simply sitting back and relaxing with some chocolate.