Personally, I’m one of those restaurant diners who takes a few extra minutes to order when there are more meals on their menus. For some reason, companies have recently shifted their perception on the wrong data concerning buyers and their choices. You need only to go shopping for a day to see that many companies, in an effort to make their customers happy, offer an overwhelming “palette” of items, equipment, packages or plans in misguided attempts to make lives easier. For busy people who already have enough going on in their busy lives, this spells nothing but disaster. Believe it or not, overloading customers with two dozen or more choices (in an effort to engage customers and help them feel in control of their lives) does nothing but push them away at an alarming rate. If you have a few minutes, I’d like to share a few ways to help you make the decision process easier for your customers.

1. Make Decisions Simple

No business owner, sales rep or marketer can deny the value of sticky customers. These are a special breed of loyal people who decided that your business is the best of the best – and they will rarely go anywhere else to do business.

One way of acquiring sticky customers is by adhering to the “Philosophy of Simplicity”. This means making your site or store (whether it’s online or physical) easy to navigate – one that lets people gather specific, necessary information they need in regards to where they are in the sales funnel (also called the buying process).

Depending on your particular structure, the buying process typically has six stages that the customer “moves through” as he/she/it considers purchasing. Here are the stages:

• Problem Recognition: Before buying something, customers must believe that something is wrong with their lives, and a “perfect” product or service will fulfill their lives.
• Information Search: Once the individual figures out what the problem is, they begin looking for products/services that will solve the problem. This is a straightforward step in the buying process that can be easily derailed if you haven’t positioned your brand/company image as the “go to” problem-solver. Personally, when I go shopping for coffee, I pick up a canister of Tim Horton’s; they’ve made their brand become “Canada’s official coffee” by a) making delicious coffee, which states my craving for coffee and b) building stores all across the country, positioning themselves in front of everyone, everywhere.
• Evaluate Alternatives: People at this stage are looking elsewhere to see how other competitors’ products or services compare to the same thing you’re selling. Don’t take it personally: as consumers, many of us are always on the hunt for “the best deal.”
• Purchase Decision: After weighing price points, whether or not it solves a problem or need, and searching for alternatives… it is during this period that the customer ultimately makes the choice to move ahead with the purchase or not. (Marketers, by this point, should be reminding customers at this stage why they need this particular or service.)
• Purchase: This is the act of exchanging money for the service/product
• Post-Purchase Evaluation: At this stage, the buyer finally gets to use the product or service. During this period the customer will use the item/service and judge it, as well as the company regarding how the product or service performs.

Now that you know the six stages of the buying process for customers, analyse each stage and brainstorm ideas for how you can simplify those steps for your customers. Make it easier for them to see exactly why they are giving you their trust and hard-earned money.

2. Implement Customer Reviews

Convincing your customers to trust you will help them live happier lives because you will be giving them one less thing to worry about. This means helping people trust the information that they gather about your company, products and services offered, and where your offer stands compared to other companies. For example, look up any Amazon product and head straight to customer reviews. In general, the more positive ratings and 3, 4 or 5 stars a product has – the more likely an individual will purchase that product. This decision is based on the trust of other individuals who had previous experience with the product. Ergo, this means offering the most useful services you can – and products that go above and beyond your competitors’ rival products.

3. Option Weighing

Clearly, the bottom-line goal is to offer customers and prospects as much guidance and clarity about the “best” choice is for them. Doing this for people helps them get rid of stress, which is one of the primary buying reasons behind most purchase decisions. This is why a large number of individuals spend a considerable amount of time doing product research. This means finding out any and all relevant information about the product or service – including (in most cases) the best way for getting the most out of it. Therefore, it’s essential to provide tools that customers can use to weigh the features of products (if you’re selling products) against other competitors. (If you’re selling online, consider implementing one-click questions when you’re presenting customers with options about products. This step-by-step transparency significantly narrows a lot down.)

Conclusion

Remember, by offering your customers fewer options to choose from (thereby drawing more attention to those options) … you’re reducing the chances of letting them develop buyer’s remorse. Nobody wants to feel like they got stiffed on the purchase they made; the more options to choose from, the more nagging doubts will linger on their minds. It’s a case of the age-old adage involving green grass.  You want to make your customers feel inspired—and confident—to buy from you again and again.

Very often, when I notice people, I come to a conclusion that they find happiness in money, materials, luxuries and all those sort of goods or services which curtails the principles and practices of an ascetic. Now, let’s look at the other side. Not very often, when I notice an ascetic, my previous conclusion literally comes to a conclusion just by observing that man with his sheer opulence of simplicity. Opulence and simplicity are close antonyms. Aren’t they? But, how well both go together to define an ascetic? Really, well.

As a person who likes to observe, this is where I differentiate and come out with the true meaning of ‘happiness’. Indeed, it is very simple, just like an ascetic. The feeling of happiness never comes secondhand as in the case of those searching for it in wealth and a lavish lifestyle. In fact, it comes from a form which is intangible. It is not perceptible by our mind. It all lies within and only our truthful heart can perceive it. There are many paths to find that intangible form but one of the most important is the path of being self-satisfied. Many also refer to it as ‘inner peace’. If we are self-satisfied, we will always be happy.

Photo by Pixabay, CC0 1.0

Most often, society relates happiness to success. But, does it know the meaning of success? Success is half about accomplishing your goal and the other half is about remaining self-satisfied after the goal has been accomplished. However, the irony remains that you cannot be half successful or partially successful as success is a complete thing. To be successful, you need to have both the boxes checked. The importance of self-satisfaction is well understood here as being successful is the ultimate goal of life. Basically, being self-satisfied should be the ultimate goal. For all those who have accomplished their respective goals, are you successful? Well, your self-satisfaction can help you get to a decision.

Every decision that you take in your life confronts you with a test of your conscience. The after effect of your decision may land you in an uncomfortable situation as life is not a bed of roses and both, ups and downs are bound to happen. Now, there is another test placed in front of you. This time, it is that of your self-satisfaction. You will always be willing to come out of the tough times but you won’t be able to avoid your present, which resembles the down stage of your life. In order to let that present not be a barrier in your quest for a better future, you need to be self-satisfied with whatever fate has imposed in your life. A self-satisfied you will then be unstoppable in your endeavors.

The greatest virtue you can learn in your life is the ability to remain calm. Arguably, this goes side to side with the ability to remain self-satisfied. When you are self-satisfied, the idea of frustration, complaining, castigating and all those derogatory ethics will make no sense to you. Life will be a happy journey for you and you will always want to improve, as a person.

A wrong thought which has infiltrated into some of the minds is that self-satisfaction makes humans stable and it doesn’t allow them to aim for higher objectives. Remember, self-satisfaction is never a long-term thing. We should not look at it, considering a wider duration of time. It is all about accepting yourself in that present case scenario, no matter how long it lasts. It is a result of the hundred percent you have given put into something. Nothing better than the immensely popular fable, ‘The Tortoise and The Hare’ can put an end to this thought. The tortoise was never demotivated by the initial lead that the hare had taken and was self-satisfied with its inherited speed, which was no match to that of the hare. As a result, it continued and went on to win the race. You will certainly agree that there can be no higher objective for a tortoise than defeating a hare in a race.

Keeping other spheres of life intact, all of us should seek for self-satisfaction. There may be many external reasons to stay happy but all those external reasons will only keep you happy if you are self-satisfied.

No matter what you do throughout your day, it all comes down to a familiar question at the end of it. Have you spent your day well enough so that you can go to bed as a happy soul? Well, this is a common realization. Now, the other realization is the outcome or rather the answer to this common question. Somewhere from within, you wish for a positive effect. But, believe me your inner self will speak for the real you and it will only speak the truth. After a couple of minutes of this couple of realizations, the outcome will be crystal clear to you. You will go to bed either as a happy you or as a disappointed you. Remember, if you feel happy at the end, you had been happy throughout your day. Many of us tend to stay constant and expect things to change. But, that’s not the way life goes. In order to stay happy, you need to adopt few practices and fix few already in practice. Here are few daily life hacks which will certainly endorse you in your transition to a happy person.

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1. Waking Up Early

When you get up early while the rest of your neighbors are still in their sleep, it keeps you one step ahead of the rest. I won’t focus on the physical effects of getting up early but mentally, your efficiency is in its prime and emotionally, you are stronger than ever. Waking up early should always be supplemented with going to bed early so that at least you get seven hours of sleep.

2. Jogging in Morning

It really takes some extreme form of inner strength to ditch your cozy bed, put on your running shoes and motivate yourself to the running tracks. I personally feel that what you do to get to the tracks straight after waking up in the morning matters more than what you do on the tracks. Aren’t you challenging yourself at the start of the day? And, I don’t need to explain the feeling of winning a challenge. It’s all tacit to you. Believe me, any sort of failure that you face in course of your day will be countered by your accomplishment early in the morning and you will certainly be able to build on that failure. This extremely beneficial practice will always keep you jolly.

3. Sensible Eating

You are not a sensible man unless you don’t eat sensibly. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to keep a check on the different nutrients taken in, the fats content of a dish or even the sugar in your tea. All these are sensible only for body builders or for those to whom it is prescribed. Eating things that you like is a path to happiness but you should not gourmandize. Eat in limits, eat sensible. That’s the message.

4. Admiring Others

Jealousy is perilous quality to possess. It tends to infiltrate deep into you and accounts for a melancholy life. In fact, we should consider ourselves blessed if good things are happening around us or good people are present in our vicinity. Because it is from the good that one learns and succeeds. When you don’t admire, you don’t accept the goodness and so will goodness, not accept you. See, Karma is a robust force, which does exist.

5. No Grumbling

No grumbling corresponds to ‘remaining stoic’ which is a virtue of the happy ones. You should learn to take everything that the life has in store for you without any complaining or overflow of emotions. Learn to capitalize on good things have the freedom to fail. This quality will always keep happiness attached to your life. Mourning over the same thing again and again will land you nowhere.

6. Following A Routine

You should assign a chronological order to your day to day activities. This can be done by crafting out a routine. Let the routine decide your activities and not your activities decide the routine. Go by the routine and you will certainly go to bed as a happy you.

7. No Excuses

I feel that human beings fail because of two types of causes. One type is under our control and the other is uncontrollable. Generally, we tend to blame the uncontrollable cause in order to get away or prove that it was not our fault. If you don’t accept your fault, you can never be happy. Accepting your fault is similar to accepting yourself and happiness comes when you accept yourself.

8. Reading

Considered as a must have habit for all, reading has the ability to keep us stress free and ultimately, happy. Reading materials are in abundance and it’s up to us to utilize them. Once you have developed a habit of reading, you will start loving it. Whatever you read has a direct or indirect impact on your life.

It’s a dream of each and every person to live happily without any issues but not many achieve it. The reality is that this condition of inner satisfaction may seem unachievable to experience but is achievable. Inner or innate satisfaction is found when a person is aware of his subconscious level, to be at the present and find joy and pleasure in small things that come his way. Happiness and joy are attained when a person is not attached to the failures or success that he faces, he remains neutral, whatever comes his way. In short, he has held on his emotions.

So, here we have come up with such 5 tips which help in developing inner satisfaction and to live happily. Try to implement this into your life and do it again and again. Repeat until you achieve it and continue even after that.

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1. Realization Of Higher Consciousness

Higher consciousness refers to three main systems in your body and it’s not related to the organs, bones or your physical body. Instead, it refers to those things outside the physical body, that’s our own feelings, thoughts, and mind. To have a realization that 99% of things what makes us who we are, can’t be seen or sensed. In fact, it can only be felt. To develop an inner satisfaction and to live happily, you need to understand this aspect of life. If you practice or train yourself to bring happiness to these aspects, the change will be stronger.

2. Your Thoughts Define You

Your thoughts are what really makes you who you are. So, if you think positively, then positivity will come to you and if you do the opposite by thinking negatively, negativity will follow. Rhonda Byrne in her book describes the concept of the law of attraction. She says like attracts like. If you’re optimistic about your future, then positive things will happen to you and vice versa. Your actions are based on your prior thoughts. To improve your inner satisfaction, think positively on every aspect, be it your work, family or passion. Take risks and never think about failure.

3. Principle of Abundance

Do you remember the last time when you were happy for everything that you had? Unfortunately, most of the people live in a world where they feel like they are lacking something, they tend to focus on those. Like the popular saying, the grass is greener on the other side, most people feel that they lack something and face a lot of limitations and feels that the other people are living a perfect life which they don’t have and regret their actions without any cause. It is called as scarcity mentality where one person feels that they lack money, time, opportunities etc. When you feel such things, you lose your inner satisfaction and are not able to live a happier life as a result.

4. Feeling Detached

Often, people are in an imaginary world where they place their expectations on people, money, possessions etc. We’re merely a minute part of this universe, yet we feel bigger than that. When we examine the human history, it can be seen that people want to conquer the world itself, control people, and possess all the wealth although the lifespan being an average of 75 years, almost just 27,000 days or just 6,48,000 hours. Then, why are we getting attached to people, things, and money? We become so dependent and we feel that we can’t live without it. It’s indirectly disrupting our lives to a great extent. Feeling detached to everything, be it your past, or people or money or kingdom, is like flowing through life with much greater ease. That’s going to improve your inner satisfaction.

5. Develop Habits

Habits play an important role in the development of a person. It also develops one’s inner happiness because when they perform habits, they feel a sense of accomplishment. But, those should be good habits in order to achieve the inner happiness. That helps you to be connected to something that you love. Good habits such as reading books help you to engage yourself and to improve your intelligence, habits such as writing help you to be better at creativity and so on. Develop habits to live a satisfying life.

If you ask me to summaries the whole post in few words, then I would say that you should distance the negativity, find love and peace within. It is the only way you can attain inner satisfaction and live happily thereafter. Fake until you make it. So, grab a coffee and be ready to implement these challenges given in the list into your life because you deserve to live your life to its fullest.

People, what is the point of earning livelihood which doesn’t allow you to live? Don’t stick on a particular track and listen to it on a loop mode. Take the headphones off. Listen to yourself instead of what your routine makes you listen and do. It’s your life. Life needs to be enjoyed. Fall in love, or be the love. Enjoy or be the enjoyment yourself. In this rat-race which has no beginnings, no ends, and no rewards or destinations, don’t let your individuality be suppressed. You and your soul deserve a holiday. To live fully, love deeply, and enjoy unconditionally.

But, how would you do this? Don’t worry. We have got your back in this. 😉
We bring you 10 ways to celebrate your life by treating yourself with a holiday to wish goodbye to all the stress you have invited in your life.

Photo by langll, CC0 1.0

1. Green the Scene

How often do you actually stop and notice the beauty of Nature? What’s better for a holiday than an outing to underexplored natural places with your family, or friends, or better alone? Green the scene around you. It helps to reduce stress and enhance concentration which is what you ultimately need the most. It also provides you a peaceful, calm time to help you reenergize for the forthcoming routine chaos.

2. Bake Together, Stay Together

You might have heard the statement that ‘A family that eats together, stays together. But, trust me, nothing can be better than a day when all the members in your family cook or bake something together. If you’re away from your family, you have with you your friends who occupy no less importance than family. Sit together. Plan something. Indulge everyone in cooking including those who rarely cook. The purpose is not to have good food, but to forget every other worldly thing and focus on a single thing together. You will not only prepare food but also bake love, happiness, and bonding. It’s these small things that bring you more enjoyment than eating out in a five-star restaurant. And for the first time, you will enjoy the kitchen chaos, messy platforms, loud gossips and togetherness. 

3. Social-Boycott

For people like me, who are constantly gathered by people at workplace and at home and are tired of answering phone calls and reverting to e-mails, you can celebrate your holiday as a ‘No Social, Just Personal’ day. Ask other people in your family or group to switch off the phones and laptops for the day and indulge in some sort of activity like playing indoor games together such as- Ludo, Carrom, Cards, etc. Go out for dinner, or watch a movie together. But, the prime rule should be followed- Social boycott. Avoid the chit-chat with other societal elements and focus on yourself and your loved ones. Sometimes, people and social network drain out you and you need to recharge yourself.

4. Movie Marathon

This is something which some of you may not agree to, but conducting a ‘Movie Marathon’ on a holiday is a fun idea, compiled with stress-reliever. Watch consecutive shows of movies and that too in an unplanned way. Go and sit in the theatre and watch whichever movie plays next. The excitement of the unexpectedness and the joy of watching back-to-back shows is incomparable. Movie-maniacs, how do you find the idea?

5. Meet, Eat, And Greet

Sometimes all you need to relax and enjoy your holiday is the company of your loved ones, life-discussions and heart-to-heart conversations. Go and meet them at their place, or your favourite coffee shop, or the back side of your school, and have conversations. Sing, dance, play or do your own thing which refreshes your mind. You can opt for a family dinner, a get together of school/college friends, or a tea-party.

6. Spa-Day

After days of hectic schedules and arrayed deadlines, studies and household chores, you become tired and stressed mentally and more than that physically. Your body needs relaxation at least a day in a month. Have Spa-lidays more often. Spa treatments and massage therapies often correlate with fewer sick days, reduced stress level, and induction of happiness.

7. Sport-Day

How about having some sport amusement for a holiday? Sport includes nearly all sorts. Choose the one closer to your heart even if you are not a champion at it, and play till your body doesn’t allow anymore. You may feel the fatigue for minutes, but the mind peace and relaxation you will get after hours will keep you reenergized and focussed for forthcoming days. Include everyone around. Organize a kind of Sport-Party if you want. Brainstorm ideas to make your holiday tranquil, untroubled and enthusiastic.

8. Hobby-Day

For a change people, let your hobbies take the charge of the coming holidays. Let them love you, revive the creativity and passion in you, and take you down the memory lane when your hobby was once your dream career. Isn’t it unfair to not even spare a single day for them? Do you sing? Do you dance? Do you cook or sketch or write or read or do any other activity on this earth? Go on. Keep aside the rest of the “important”, and Enjoy!

9. Give and Gain

Yeah, this is one of the ideas which I personally follow. Try out this once. It will not give you adventure or thrill or fun, but guaranteed happiness and joy. After all, who doesn’t feel happier by seeing people around him smiling because of him? Search, browse any nearby orphanage or old-age home, and pay a visit to that place. You don’t need any preparations. You just need to be. Be present. Listen to them. Understand them. Do something for the people living there which you can easily do. Because, for them, it is something really special and the blessings and happiness which you will receive after the visit will always remain in the list of your happy times.

10. Wander

Move out. Take a break out of this city and discover something new outside. Choose a city and wander. Don’t hire a local guide or cab. Use the local public transport system; communicate with the people living there. Go to local events and just become like one of those natives, instead of going there as a tourist. This will impart you fresh ideas, change of mind and mental peace. This needs to be in your holiday bucket list which you might be jotting down right now.

Yes. This is it. My ideas lack thrill, adventure, parties and concerts, loudness and something out-of-the-box but I can guarantee you will not regret giving them a chance. Happy Holiday! Live, Love and Enjoy. 

The rhythm of the songs strings your heart’s chords. Is that what happens you listen to music? Just answer me – how many times in a day do you plug in your earphones and listen to your playlist? Do you update your song list very often? Why do you think DJ is on the priority list of organizing a party? Does a romantic song play in your head when you meet your crush or a peppy number resonates in your brain when you are in a dancing mood? Do you Google the lyrics of the song and sing along? Do you go for karaoke nights to enjoy your leisure time? Does it happen to you that you listen to a new album and then that song gets on your lips and you continue to hum that song for a week or so? All of these questions are related to the inculcation of the habit of listening to music literally, all the time. Why is it that people have such a deep adulation towards music nowadays? The simple answer is that melody of the songs intrigues people and gives them few seconds of respite. So, happiness is an emotion that is quite rare to find in this world where humanity seems to fade away and music finds a way to attain that felicity. Here are 10 reasons that make music a source of happiness: (more…)

Every successful businessman knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of people, working together as one. Keeping this community healthy and happy is the key point to maintaining a healthy working atmosphere. It has been rightly said, “Making money is good, making a difference is better; but making money while making a difference beats all”. Here are 5 tips for business owners to maintain a healthier and happier workplace: (more…)

Laughter is the only universal language that is recognized by all and you don’t even need to learn it to communicate with others. This fascinating means of communication has intrigued scientists and general folks for ages. Many scientific studies have been carried out to understand why, when, and how we laugh. (more…)

All of us possess a sense of humor but with varying degrees. A humorous person enjoys many benefits such as popularity, good health, and high-level of confidence. If you want to make your life worthy, you will need a good comic sense.

Fortunately, you can improve your comic ability just like any other life skill. Here’re some time-tested, easy, and effective ways to fine-tune your funny side: (more…)