Be Happy With What You Have, While Working For What You Want
Happiness will lead you to your destination.
A very good friend recently sent me a video narrated by Denzel Washington. It’s a great speech, and one line stuck like chewing gum under a table in my school canteen.
Be happy with what you have, while working for what you want.
Denzel got me thinking.
In 2023, I wasn’t happy with what I had. My environment made me feel claustrophobic, I didn’t have friends, I missed my family, and I hated my job.
During this state of unhappiness, I tried to force change by pursuing the next thing, something, anything.
But I quickly learned I couldn’t escape the present by running towards the future. This experience taught me two important lessons.
My peace of mind cannot be compromised. I choose to be happy or sad.
What I think I want when I am unhappy is way off what I really want.
I choose happiness. So, what can I do to be happy with the now?
Practice gratitude.
Off the bat, I can list 10 things I should be grateful for. I am making an effort to remind myself of these each day.
For the last 9,855 days, I have:
Always had at least 5 people in my life who would do anything for me.
Never left home feeling scared that something bad would happen.
Opened my eyes in the morning, realised I didn't die in my sleep.
Swung the fridge door open, never worried about it being empty.
Spent every night in bed, with a mattress, duvet and pillow.
Never worried about whether I would run out of money.
Had legs that function very well, I could walk, run, jump.
Turned the valve on the shower, and water came out.
Always had access to fresh water to drink.
Slept with a roof over my head.
When you tell someone you are unhappy, they think you are selfish and ungrateful. The usual advice is, ‘Things could be a lot worse'.
Sure, things could be a lot worse. But they could also be much better. Shouldn’t we instead focus on how things could be better?
In the end, I only know my own personal experience of life. I cannot compare my life to someone who has lived through war, poverty, and persecution. That’s just not my life. I wouldn’t wish that on myself.
Everyone wants more.
However, you cannot think about wanting more if you are not happy with what you have. To get to where you want to be, you must be happy with the now.
Nobody gets to where they want to be when they are miserable. You must be happy.
You cannot get to where you want to be when you’re down in the dumps. If you are not happy with what you have, you don’t have a clear mind. So, your thoughts about where you want to be will be foggy, frenzied, and frantic.
The goals I set myself when I am in a poor state of mind are rubbish. I make myself believe it’s what I want. Just so I have something to latch onto.
Unhappiness clouds your mind. You are always tense.
Tension is who you think you should be.
You feel the tightness, and are constantly on edge. You tell yourself you must reach Point B, and everything will add up. Yet there is no flexibility, and the string you are walking along is tighter than Rambo’s headband. There is no room for maneuver. It will snap.
Relaxation is who you are.
Relaxation is happiness in the present. You are not chasing anything. You have your best ideas when you are relaxed. Things flow.
Flow is the optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.
Nobody does their best thinking when they are restless, dejected, and grumpy.
Your mind can’t think clearly about the future when it is dissatisfied with the present. Be happy with what you have. Everyone reading this probably has 10 things to be grateful about.
Gratitude allows you to relax. You ease yourself into planning your route forward.
Your health is most important. You won’t get to where you want to be if you’re brown bread.
In this context, I will stick with physical health. When you feel like you’ve been trampled on by 100 elephants, physical health is superior to mental health.
If your health is not in order, that should be your first pit-stop. Naval Ravikant’s formula for health is this.
Health = Exercise + Diet + Sleep
1. Exercise
Everyone can exercise for 30 minutes a day.
I am running out of patience for people who complain about their weight and do nothing about it. Go for a walk, run, lift weights, swim.
I once saw someone without legs lower himself from his wheelchair into the pool. He was a much better swimmer than me.
There is no excuse not to exercise.
2. Diet
Eating. Everyone does it. Everyday. Without fail.
Are you eating healthily?
Research is starting to show that Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is the leading cause of mortality in the world. It has even overtaken smoking!
The World Obesity Federation estimates that 51% of the global population will live with obesity within the next 12 years.
A congested body is a congested mind.
Make sure you are making better food choices.
Take 4 minutes to read my article on UPF, it should change how you think about the food you eat.
3. Sleep
Unless you have insomnia, you choose whether you sleep 4 hours or 8 hours a night. Your mind will not function at maximum capacity if you are not sleeping enough.
has a very simple procedure for you if you need to fix your sleep, check it out here.Your physical well-being is your responsibility and your choice.
Ask yourself if sleeping 1 hour a day, doing 0 minutes of exercise a week, and eating McDonald’s burgers, Haribos and KitKats is going to make you feel good.
When your physical health is in order, you become confident and your mind strengthens. This establishes the foundation for you to become mentally strong and work towards your future goals.
When you are healthy, you energise your body and mind, allowing you to put your best foot forward to work for what you truly want.
Everyone wants freedom to do what they want. You need to be wealthy. You want money.
At the end of the day, everyone wants money. People disguise this desire, and take the moral high ground. They say they don’t want money because they mistrust financial institutions and think money is evil.
Nonsense.
Ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you - Naval Ravikant
If you despise money, you won’t attract it.
Here are some facts about money.
Everyone requires money.
We all work because we must earn a living.
If you could spend your time doing what you wanted, you wouldn’t be in your 9-5, unless it was your dream job.
90% of people wouldn’t be in their job if they didn’t have to earn a living.
You are chasing freedom, and money gives you this.
Money won’t make you happy, but it does solve 99% of your money problems.
If you have money, you can spend your time doing whatever you want. You’d still work, just on what you choose to work on. You’d quit your job.
You aren’t at that stage yet, and neither am I!
What’s the compromise?
If you are working, you must be working towards something. Do not be stagnant.
One thing I always remind myself about jobs is this.
You should be earning or learning. Either is fine. Both is best. If it's neither, quit.
If you are at an early stage in your career, learning is better than earning. The skills you learn will become part of your personal armoury, and they become weapons to deploy in the future.
What you want is freedom, and you need wealth to do this. Make sure you are learning as fast as you can. When you stop learning, move on. Delete, don’t want employer to see.
Balancing contentment with ambition
Summing this up…
Work on being happy in the present. Be grateful for what you have, because you have a lot to be grateful for. Ask yourself if you’d rather be depressed or happy. Depression is self-induced. It’s your choice. I’ve been there.
Your health is most important. If you are not physically healthy, make changes. Start exercising, eat healthy, get enough sleep, replace bad habits with good habits, and meditate.
Everyone has ambitions, and it is human desire to want more.
The only way you are going to achieve more is by enjoying the journey. You need to be happy with your life now, take the positives where you can.
This is where clarity, control and creativity combine completely.
Being happy allows you to put your best foot forward and walk with confidence towards what you want.
To end, I’d like to share the video I mentioned about Denzel with you. I watch it once a day.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
If you have any feedback, ideas, or comments please let me know, I would be happy to hear your perspective.
~ Stefano
I recently bought
’s and ’s Edit Your Way to Freedom online course. Although I am still a writing noob, I have tried to implement many of their amazing ideas into this piece.If you want a clear and concise course on how to write bettter, definitely check it out. It is worth investment.
Nice diagram for diet comparison.
Good advice.
Great advice and well written too. Appreciate the shoutout!