Jovana Miljanovic blog post

Here are some tips that might inspire you too to introduce a new habit which will end up making you happier.

NOW IS A SPECIAL OCCASION
I’ve been lighting candles that you usually save for a special occasion, using fancy cutlery and ceramic cups for coffee and a teapot to serve my favorite morning jasmine tea. And you know what? It worked, it felt amazing and it still does! Not to mention that I was eating copious amounts of dark chocolate, that I had fresh peonies, tulips or roses in my vase almost every day. The parole was: I chose to spend my money on things that make me smile and I don’t care how ridiculous it may look to someone.

INTRODUCE HEALTHIER HABITS

I would start the morning at 6 am, drink turmeric lemonade, green tea with a pinch of organic cinnamon, coconut butter and wait to eat for 16h from my last meal which was dinner the previous day. I would also journal and write at least two pages per day about my current thoughts, emotions, friendships, work-related stuff, etc. This helped me clear some mental space for new things to come into my life. You can write more about this method in the book The Artists Way by Julia Cameron.

SHARING IS CARING
I was sharing the books I was reading and some of my favorite quotes on my Instagram account and people loved it, we reached over 200.000 impressions. My friend Jack from London told me he was so pleasantly surprised how well read Serbian people are and that made me super duper happy!

BUY LOCAL PRODUCTS
I bought and endorsed local products, some of them were amazing, some were very disappointing, but it always feels good to put your money in the local pocket instead of a global corporation one.

SET CLEAR BOUNDARIES TO PEOPLE

As you can probably imagine, I get tons of messages, emails, requests daily and it gets slightly overwhelming from time to time. I simply can not answer all the messages I get all the time and favors you ask me to do for you because there is not enough time in one day to help everyone. After I finish my daily tasks, help myself, my family and friends, by the time I get to random people online, it is usually bedtime. Some people feel I need to answer their private message on Facebook because it is urgent to them! Well, my life is urgent to me and I won’t apologize for that.

Here is an example: You are not my friend and just because you read my content doesn’t make you entitled to use me as your private consultant, life or business coach, unless you pay for that service hourly, which still doesn’t make you my friend, only my client. That gives you priority over hundreds of messages I get daily and dedication from my side in your designated time. This still doesn’t mean we are friends, we are going to grab coffees and lunch together and you get to message me all day and expect my answer immediately. I publish free content on this blog, free content on my YouTube and Instagram, give out tons of useful information in my free webinars and feel free to enjoy it. You can come to my workshop or hire me for consulting if you want more interaction with me 1 on 1, but harassing me online is not an option.

ACTIVE LISTENING
I’ve been practicing active listening for months now and inspired my friends to do the same. I kindly asked my friends to turn their phones off or at least put them on silent while they are with me because it disturbs me when someone’s phone is vibrating and constantly asking for attention. I want to look into someone’s eyes, to hear them out, see their facial expression and talk to the person looking back at me, not their gadget. I always have my phone on silent and all my notifications turned off at all times. I don’t want to give anyone on any social media the power to control my day and time, so I chose when I want to dedicate my time to address all those notifications.

IMPORTANT
Follow this rule before you speak or post about something or someone: Is the thing you are about to say absolutely true and you know it for sure? Is the thing you are about to say useful to the person you are telling it to? Is the thing you are about to say positive and with good intentions?

HAVE PATIENCE WITH YOURSELF
Whatever you are going through at the moment, have patience with yourself and you will get over the challenges much faster.

SAY HOW YOU FEEL
I’ve learned to say how I feel no matter how that makes other people feel. I told my friend that I believe she treated me like shit and I explained why, and she explained why she acted like that, which was a relief. This just contributed to us having a better relationship, all in all, so I highly recommend telling someone how you feel today.

SPEND TIME IN NATURE
This is self explanatory. Human beings are not designed to sit in an office under AC for days, months and years.

RANDOM HAPPINESS TIPS

1. Drink 2l of water daily
2. Read more books, recommend them, share them with your friends
3. Journal daily and write down every night 3 things you are grateful for that day
4. Go to any church of your choice or a religious or spiritual place and spend some time there
5. Buy and endorse local products instead of large corporations
6. Write letters of gratitude to friends and family, even if you don’t plan on giving it to them
7. Call your grandparents if and while you still can
8. Write about something, anything that is occupying your mind
9. Meditate
10. Practice balance in everything you do, balance is the key
11. Set emotional boundaries early on and don’t let people pull you around
12. Practice active listening, learn to shut up, turn your phone off and listen to what your friend is saying
13. Try a new yoga class
14. Clean your inbox, room, closet, bathroom, desktop, Dropbox…
15. Tackle a nagging task (doctor, dentist, inconvenient call…)
16. Quit nagging, snapping or gossiping
17. Don’t spread information that is negative, not true or doesn’t have any positive value
18. Don’t expect praise or appreciation from anyone, learn to tap yourself on the back
19. Give proofs of love while you still can
20. Ask for help
21. Offer to help
22. Enjoy in the now
23. Work smart, not hard
24. Happy hour every day just for you, do what makes YOU happy for at least for 1h
25. Acknowledge the reality of other people’s feelings if you don’t understand them
26. Give thanks for both the ordinary and the extraordinary
27. Practice patience both with yourself and with others
28. Create something new from scratch
29. Be childlike
30. Approach a stranger
31. Ask someone out on a date
32. Spend time in nature
33. Don’t take anything personally
34. Wake up early
35. Visualize
36. Make a vision board
37. Practice saying NO
38. Gaze at the stars
39. Be real, say how you feel
40. Be present
41. Make a present for someone you love

Can’t wait to find out how this went for you! Good luck, may this be the happiest month this year so far!