This blog post has been authored by Engracia Sleeswijk, ESleeswijk Consultancy

With the chaos in our environment, some would think that it is almost utopian to be happy. Trouble follows, or simultaneously, and many experience mental fatigue when coping with bad experiences.
It happens around us and sometimes to us, and we are dealing with a lot. Society gives more credit to visible suffering than the ones in silence.
Therefore, silent suffering is growing into a disease because society tells us to “keep going” even when drowning mentally. Persistence is of good quality, but not when you are mentally drowning. Drowning shows itself when people are going through life on routine without plans or hope for a better life. While going through a horrible experience, it is crucial not to lose your Happiness but to protect it.

Happiness in the purest form.
When we are in the business of living and surviving, it is vital to have a basic core message about your Happiness. Within this context, we speak of the mental state that the French call “joie de vivre”- the mental resilience to keep the hope of better times, even through bad experiences. Without this motivation to live life the way you’ve envisioned, it is impossible to live life to the fullest. You see, you have to realize that what will keep changing is the flexibility to maintain life-joy. You are going to have to protect your life joy with a plan.

Having a healthy and realistic view of the world and the experience you are going through is at the basis of joy and Happiness. DNA built up can play a role in the time you need to recover from a setback. This blog is not aiming at disregarding mental disorders “and just be happy.” If you need help in that department, you owe it to yourself and seek a professional to examine the source of your reaction to setbacks. Another step could be to accept the situation as it could help one figure out the vast array of solutions available. You have to hold on to this truth because when in distress, one might think there are no solutions available. More often than not: The answer is found in the problem.

From there, start planning the steps towards it:
– Do not lose the momentum of this moment by getting depressed while you have to act.
– Keep your cool, never crumble in face of the crisis.
– Remain calm and take stock of the solutions available and separate them into categories: Useful now, shortly (2 years), and within five years. Each one of the classes will demand your specific actions concerning action-speed.
– Figure out the assets and the liabilities each of the solutions bring and within which timeframe.
– You must be willing to release the old plan and adapt to each change of strategy needed to progress.
– The old is gone; the new plan will bring you systems and structure to rebuild again.

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” ― Alan Lakein, author”

I’ve been privileged to Teach, Coach, and help thousands of professionals and entrepreneurs to get to their sweet spot in life. I do coaching in translating the mystery of life, to everyday life for you to get your future within arms-length.

Helping others to further their life has been an energy source for me for the last 20 years.