The Pursuit Of Happiness — My 7-Step Magical Formula For Personal Happiness

3. Do you.

Stop. Caring. About. What. Other. People. Think. Of. You.

Be yourself and let your personality explode, and don’t apologize for it. You’ll naturally attract the kind of people you want to be around. And if you’re not their brand of champagne, so be it, it’s their loss.

Nobody thinks about you as much as you do, other than maybe your mom.

That’s not to say people don’t care about you—they really do—but they’re impressed by the big picture. The way you made them feel, your energy, your attitude, your health. Not the last #foodporn picture you posted on Instagram, the dumb shirt you wore on a date 3 weeks and 4 days ago, and definitely not the .753 pounds you gained over vacation.

People literally spend milliseconds thinking about the trivial things we spend days obsessing over.

I asked Jeff Nalin, Psy. D., for his thoughts on what creates happiness:

“Having insights into our own emotional material is very important, however, the thing that propels our sense of self forward is sharing those insights with people in an authentic and genuine way.

When people do that…they’re showing the world who they are and taking those reactions as information to move the development of our identity forward. This is how you develop the sense of being comfortable in your own skin. This is what reduces anxiety. This is what lifts depression. All by enabling you to feel competent in the world.”

Do you, cultivate your identity, shake off the negatives, and get excited about sharing yourself with the world.