Living the good life can mean different things to many different people.   For me, reaching financial independence and not having that anxious feeling every day of worrying about money would mean I’m living the good life!  But also learning to be happy with myself and content with my lifestyle would mean I feel happy and am living the good life.  For me it’s not about having luxurious things or necessarily living in the best neighbourhood.

For some, living in high-end apartments for rent in Northridge CA might be the epitome of living the good life. Whereas others might believe luxury living has nothing to do with living a good life. It all comes down to your own personal tastes and beliefs.

If you haven’t spent a great deal of time thinking about what it means to live a good life, you’re definitely in luck today. I’ve thought about this topic a lot and will share some of my conclusions with you below.  Read on for my top 4 tips for living the good life.

How to live a happy life:

1. Approve of yourself no matter what

It’s human nature to be really hard on ourselves and it’s going to be difficult to live a good life if you are constantly berating yourself and disapproving of your thoughts and actions.  If you want your life to dramatically improve, you have to begin approving of yourself and getting comfortable with who you are.  Learn to be content with who you are and believe in your own beliefs!

Self-criticism can be very powerful because it has the ability to make you feel like your day was not worth living and it can also make you feel like things will never make sense again. If you keep self-criticizing yourself, then there will never be any happiness or joy because those feelings will not exist in your life anymore.

Every day, we are bombarded with messages that tell us what beauty is supposed to look like and how we are meant to feel and be. We are told that this is the size we need to be, this is the type of hair we should have, or this is the colour of our skin. And so often these messages are unachievable - it becomes impossible for us to feel beautiful and worthy on our own.

And yet, there are some simple ways you can practice self-love every day. No matter what society says about your beauty, you can love yourself for who you are and how you look. You can find joy in simply being alive and here on Earth.

2. Learn to break through your limitations

So many of us have a tendency to place limitations on our lives and this can really hold us back and make life miserable. Maybe you’ve always dreamed about skydiving one day but you’re afraid of heights and you’ve been putting this off for far too long. If this is the case, you have to break through your mental barriers and get on that airplane and jump out of that door and soar through the air like a bird!

We tend to limit ourselves all the time. We are afraid to ask our boss for a raise because we feel like we don’t deserve it. We never go after our dream job because we believe it’s too far out of reach. And we do other foolish things to prevent our ultimate happiness and it has to stop.

Face your fears and learn to say yes!  Open your arms to opportunities!  Learn to break through your limitations in order to lead a better life.

3. Become an expert at managing your money

Too many people have a tendency to spend more than they earn: they run up major credit card debt, they buy houses that are too expensive that they really can’t afford, and make other unwise money mistakes all the time.

I’m definitely guilty of bad money management.  I’ve shared my debt story a couple of times on this blog, but I’m getting better at managing finances as I get older and I've learnt from previous mistakes.  It’s something that concerns me a lot now I'm in my thirties and I make much wiser decisions, whereas I was frivolous with credit in my early adulthood.

It’s time to begin paying attention to money management tips so you can overcome your financial struggles and worries and begin living a good life from here on out.

Once you get your finances in order, life is definitely going to be a heck of a lot better for you and your loved ones. You’ll no longer have to worry about making the same money mistakes over and over again and you’ll feel confident that you can navigate the difficult waters of finances without the need for a life preserver any longer.

At some point in your financial recovery, you might even start considering those luxury apartments in Los Angeles and what they have to offer!

For me, right now, I am working on saving an emergency fund so we have money readily available for car repairs, white goods that need replacing or any other emergencies.  I hope to save enough money to cover six months’ worth of household bills should anything disastrous happen to me or my husband that prevents us from working.

• Want to make more money from home, online or need a side hustle?  Find loads of ways to make money at home on my blog, as well as my favourite side hustle in my matched betting blog! 

• Looking for ways to save money?  Find some great deals on my voucher codes and free money pages!

4. Remember to take the road less travelled

Last but certainly not least, taking a different path in life – also known as the road less travelled – could potentially lead to ridicule and other negative reactions. You may have a crazy idea that seems outrageous and impossible and the world will tell you that you’re nuts.

At the same time, your crazy idea might be the next big invention or computer program or other gadgets that the world goes bananas over and it could end up making you a ton of money.  But you’ll never get here travelling the road that everyone else takes. The only way to achieve greatness is to take the road less travelled instead.

Furthermore, you can take the road less travelled by moving to a new city, state or country. This may seem like one of the scariest things to do, but once you make such a decision, your future self will thank you for it. There are many pros of moving to a new place, but none seems to beat the fact that you will gain thousands of new experiences in life.

You will make new friends, learn about new cultures, improve your life professionally, and so much more! If you have kids, they will get new and better exposure, which means a better life. But before making this significant decision in your life, ensure that you do your research appropriately. Ensure you have a list of options on the countries you want to migrate to.

Take various migration tests to learn more about the country, and you can start by clicking here to get more information. Also, do not forget to hire an immigration lawyer who can help you navigate the immigration system, as it will save you time and money. Therefore, dare to be different by taking unique steps in your life.

You’ll never know if you never try and you should never regret trying!

If you have a passion or a dream, something you'e always wanted to do, then do it.  What's really stopping you?  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Make it happen and if it fails, well at least you tried.

Final thoughts

Living the good life means different things to all of us.  But I think finding a job that makes us happy and having financial security is something we can all agree is important and leads to a worry free life.  Whilst some of us may desire luxuries to make our lives good, we should really concentrate on what we already have and learn to be content and happy with what we have achieved so far.

There are many ways you can be happy in this world. Practice gratitude every day, say thank you often, and don't forget to give back.  There are plenty of ways to make yourself happy. You could try,

• Spending time with people who make you happy.
• Doing things that make you happy.
• Thinking about what makes you happy in the past and what will make you happy in the future.
• Giving up on things that don't make you feel good about yourself or your loved ones.
• Having faith in a higher power and trusting that everything will be alright no matter what happens.