What if I told you that it was possible to experience more pleasure in your daily life without making any radical structural adjustments? Would you believe that you could show up to the same job tomorrow with a fundamentally different outlook on the world and a radically improved sense of personal satisfaction? Probably not.
It's more likely that my claim would be greeted with something more akin to incredulity, at best.
There's an outside chance the mere suggestion of something so seemingly preposterous could elicit outright anger.
It's ridiculous to think that you could suddenly shift things to provide more pleasure without making any visible changes to your life.
Or is it? Prepare to be incredulous (or angry).
It is possible to transform your relationship to the world and your perspective on your life without making those outward changes.
Forget selling the house and moving into the wilderness.
Put that fantasy of resigning from your job and starting over from scratch on the back burner.
Don't even think about shutting down your business tomorrow so that you can take a middle-aged backpack tour through Europe.
You don't need a different car, a hairpiece, teeth whitening or a better pair of control tops to start experiencing more pleasure in your life.
All you really need to do is to be yourself.
Isn't that what you're already doing, though? In most cases, no.
Take the time to determine what makes you tick.
Isolate the characteristics, skills, attitude and beliefs that make your special.
Think about what you do best and what makes you the happiest.
When you've drilled down into that data, you'll have a good idea of who you really are.
Then, go out and be that person.
Bring those traits to the office.
Spread them around at home.
Allow the real you to shine through at every opportunity.
When you make a point of living your life based on who you really are and what you really love, more pleasure flows naturally.
Over time, we can lose track of who we are.
We can allow ourselves to become "roles" instead of people.
Sometimes, all it takes to imbue our lives in a renewed sense of meaning is to get back to the basics of who we really are.
It's life changing and it doesn't require lifts in your shoes or Botox in your lips.