Care Less, Smile More – 10 Amazing Tips to Get You Through the Day
Life can be overwhelming. Between work, social life, and personal issues, it can be easy to become tired and burnt out. This is a guide on how to care less and smile more.
No, it does not mean ignoring emotions and you do not need to become an unfeeling robot. This guide is about picking your battles, embracing change, and overcoming issues. Learn the art of caring less to become a happier, healthier version of yourself today!
10 Ways to Care Less and Be Happier
Here is how to care less and be happier. It’s not about apathy, it is about guarding your energy and improving your mental health with easy, achievable tips you can add to your daily life. Try them out and see what you think!
Benefits
It sounds mean, but it isn’t. Caring less is not about ignoring problems or smothering feelings. Nor is it related to being less kind, less affectionate, and less understanding. It’s not even about apathy.
The care less smile more mentality relates to protecting your energy, setting boundaries, and learning how to take care of yourself. It is about giving yourself space to breathe and be. These 10 tips on how to do this can change your life for the better in just a few short steps.
1. Embrace Chaos
Life will not always go to plan. That is part of the stress and beauty of it. Sometimes, instead of resisting change, try to go with the flow. Be solution-oriented instead of focusing on the problem. Look for ways to change the future instead of regretting the past.
A good mentality to have in instances of stress is to focus on what you can control instead of what you cannot. Check out the full guide on that here!
2. Learn to Say No
Saying no is not selfish. It is an important skill to develop, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel at first. We cannot give more of ourselves than we are able to. That is when burnout happens and stress starts to accumulate. We lose our reasons to smile and lose joy in the simple things.
Learn to say no when you need to. If you are busy, or feeling unwell, say no, protect your own wellbeing, and trust that others will understand and appreciate your honesty.
3. Set Boundaries
Setting boundaries can be scary. Here is a complete guide on how to set them with confidence, but at the end of the day, it comes down to you giving yourself what you need to be happier and healthier.
Boundaries are a vital part of the care less mentality. That does not mean being angry and confrontational about setting your boundaries. It simply means explaining yourself openly and honestly. If you have limits, you deserve to have them respect.
4. Choose When to Fight
Fights or arguments are a normal part of life. Disagreements occur when two or more individuals don’t see eye to eye. It can be a difference of opinion, different personalities, or a difference in upbringing. Regardless, there are times to fight, and times to walk away.
You can choose to add fuel to the fire and escalate situations, or you can control yourself. You can simply let go and walk away. There are times to fight and times to say, “You know what? Whatever, I’m done.”
5. Let Go
There will be difficult situations in life, hard trials, worries, and regrets. Ugh. In some cases, it may be best to work through any unresolved feelings and let go. The past cannot be changed, and overcoming it can be a challenge. Maybe you start focusing on lessons learned, on how you made it, or on the brighter side of things.
At the end of the day, some thoughts, feelings, and actions do not help you. In cognitive behavioral therapy, a mental exercise is to image thoughts as tangible and controllable. If one comes along that is not helpful, discard it. Picture it floating off into the sky, imagine it getting carried away by a river, and let it go.
6. Don’t People Please
You will never please everyone. That is but a fact of life. So why try? Care less about what others, especially strangers, think of you. You are never going to be able to make everyone happy. Sometimes, the most you can do is be kind, firm, and honest.
Don’t attempt to give more of yourself, your time, and your resources than you are able to. Put your wellbeing high on your list of importance.
7. Stop Comparisons
Comparing yourself to other people is part of the reason social media is so bad for you. You see a photoshopped, filtered picture of the best parts of someone’s life and find your own lacking. In all honesty, comparing yourself to others is useless.
We are individuals that are going at our own pace, in our own lives. Unique in that everyone on earth has a different experience and perspective. Stop caring about comparing others to yourself and start living life.
8. Cultivate Relationships
Why is something like cultivating relationships in a guide to care less? We as a species, even the most introverted, tend to be social. We need the care and support of others. So, in an effort to care less about things that matter less, we must determine what matters more.
Cultivate relationships with the people you care about. Make sure to reach out if you need support and be there in turn. Share with them and have them share back. This way, you appreciate the people in your life and get to smile more.
9. Gratitude
Making a habit of gratitude is a brilliant way to improve mental and physical wellbeing. Focusing on what you are thankful for allows you to reduce stress, which in turn can help improve overall health.
Appreciate even the little things, like an extra cup of coffee, free time to watch a movie, or reading a really good book. Care about things you like, even if it’s something as simple as your house plant as opposed to forcing yourself to care about things you don’t like. Like that ugly Christmas sweater you got last year. Even then, I suppose it’s one more sweater to keep you warm on cold nights, right?
10. Mindful Days
Mindfulness is when you focus on the present moment. It can be in meditation, during an activity like eating, or during a calm moment. It can be a way to relax and prioritize your wellbeing easily.
Take mindful times to recenter yourself and calm your mind. Mindfulness can be an amazing tool that changes the brain for the better.
The Takeaway
Care less, smile more is a mentality we can all embrace. While we can still care about issues, solve problems, and overcome adversity, this guide helps to regulate and improve the day-to-day issues we commonly face. You can become a happier, healthier version of yourself by following the tips provided and learning to care (about certain things) less.
Know that health starts from within, so eat nutrition-dense food, exercise when you can, and care for mental health. Don’t forget about microbiota health too! Microbiota affects the entire body, from the skin to muscles, to immune and mental health! Get all the resources you need about microbiota health for free here!
