“Sometimes, I don’t seek a piece of life-changing advice. All that I ask for is peace of soul and mind. An inner-world that’s void of noise.”
Peace is important.
I only realized this when disorder took over my life.
I thought about work in the bed, my insecurities kept bugging me, and the noises in my head kept echoing. After a certain point, I understood that I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
I could’ve either come up with a way to end the mayhem inside my mind, or I had to feel like my head was slowly being hammered each day from within. The latter option made me cringe.
So over the years, I’ve been doing certain thoughtful, easy things which helped me stop the disorder and find peace in life. Not they’re the perfect solution or something, but they work.
Here’s a list of some simple ways you can use to get peace of mind
1. Don’t consume content like news, music, books, movies, or TV
Rinse your mind and heart.
Let them get rid of the information you’ve stuffed in them by consuming different kinds of content over time.
Here’s what usually happens to me:
- News ruins my mood with junk I didn’t need to know
- Songs, no matter how good they are, keep echoing in my head
- Movies and television distract me from important things
Consumption of media isn’t bad.
Still, when I need serenity, I don’t see a place for it. So I distance myself from all kinds.
2. Quit digital gadgets for a certain duration
I avoid peeking at the television.
I keep my cellphone out of reach.
I don’t open the lid of my laptop.
There comes a time when I realize that I’m badly stuck to technology like a slave. I find avoiding that hard. So I get rid of gadgets for a couple of hours, or an entire day a week.
For instance, I ensure that my cellphone isn’t the first thing I use in the morning, and answer email only when I’m online on a computer. I use pen and paper for daily to-do lists.
3. Face the chaos and end it
Peace ends when you ignore the chaos.
Hiding from problems you’re supposed to solve, not answering certain questions, or pretending like you’re alright – all this eventually takes a toll.
Your problems build up a huge wall that entraps you and snatches your freedom. After that, you get more problems to deal with, which could be unfortunate.
Deal with the chaos instead of shunning it. Look at the problems which bother you, because you can’t feel at ease unless you kill what’s biting you.
4. Be okay with not being the best
Lower your expectations.
Don’t let others make you think of yourself as a loser, or let them decide what kind of life you’re supposed to live. After all, what’s the point in living a life that robs you of your self-worth?
Instead of measuring your value in terms of successes or achievements, set your own terms. Live a life that’s fine in all aspects and taste every facet of it.
Finally, give up being a part of the pointless rat-race, comparison, or anything that doesn’t make sense to you.
5. Be alright with solitude
It’s crucial.
You can find inner peace mostly when you’re alone, and not by having a discussion about it with a crowd.
That’s because you spend most of your time dealing with your internal thoughts when you’re alone, reflecting on your life, and understanding your own thought process.
You’re forced to sit with yourself and make peace. You can’t run away. There’s no escape from yourself.
Ultimately, it pays off.
6. Express yourself through a medium
Talk.
Create art.
Write a diary.
Do anything that helps you release the heaviness.
Until and unless you let out what you’ve been concealing, it can be hard to calm down your soul.
You’ll die from within, and feel lonely. For this particular reason, you need to open up and speak out.
So maybe, start a blog, buy a guitar and sing, sketch your imagination, or just talk to your loved ones every evening.
Do what reflects you the best.
7. Cleanse your heart
We’re all bad in some ways.
Though we may not want to have ill-feelings about others, we can’t stop them from occurring.
You may occasionally feel jealousy, contempt, or hatred towards others. Still, don’t be guilty. All humans feel negative emotions at some point.
Your improvement begins the moment you wish to stop being wrong. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time.
I’ve gone through it, like everyone else. My self-esteem almost shatters when I don’t fix the negativity within me. So I make efforts until it fades away. I feel at peace after that.
8. Avoid materialism
I care less about stuff.
I don’t judge people by the brand of their clothes, and I don’t respect someone only because he or she has a ton of wealth.
Materialism doesn’t make sense to me.
Although materialism may be attractive, it can suck you like quicksand until you lose meaning in your own existence.
You develop a hunger that can never be fulfilled. You run wildly hunting for happiness, but never find it. Your self-esteem directly gets attached to whatever you own.
Materialism makes you miserable and leaves you in a pathetic state. It’s like being put on a hamster wheel – you gain nothing, you reach nowhere, and yet you keep running.
Can it lead to peace? Maybe not.
9. Lower your expectations
We all care about outcomes.
That’s a good thing – because unless we set an aim for ourselves, we can’t reach anywhere. Yet, no one should be too obsessed with getting outcomes.
Only because you’re working hard doesn’t mean you’d become infallible and achieve everything.
Just because you’ve completely surrendered yourself to a relationship doesn’t mean it’ll work out and the other person would love you equally.
That’s how life works.
It gets out of control. It makes you feel weak. It disappoints you.
Caring about outcomes also makes you dependent on them. You become turbulent, filled with internal ups and down, and the outcomes control what happens to you.
If outcomes are good, you’re on cloud nine. If they aren’t, you drown in depression.
When you expect less, none of that happens.
10. Slow down, and be patient in life
You won’t die tomorrow.
Patience is a virtue I had a hard a hard time learning.
That’s because I’m always in a hurry, wanting more … quickly, and I fail to see the bigger picture. Each day on mine consisted of random thoughts.
- “As per my current state, I’ll be a loser for life.”
- “I need to do something big in life to prove myself as soon as possible.”
- “I’m dying slowly, I need to grow faster.”
My mind was full of such overwhelming junk.
Those thoughts served no purpose except making me anxious and worried. So I knew how big a difference being patient can bring to my life.
11. Meditate
I don’t meditate regularly.
Yet, I need to mention its significance.
When I’m going through extreme chaos and can see my life-wrecking me, I always end up saying “I think I need to meditate.”
Then, I do.
That feeling is soothing.
The physical, mental, and emotional pain comes down to almost zero. I feel like I’ve stepped out of a dream.
It’s more than inhaling and exhaling or sitting still for five minutes. I’m not exaggerating when I say this – meditation can change your life.
If you’re willing to start, learn from people who are deeply familiar with its purpose, such as Sadhguru. Or use an app like Headspace.
12. Step outside
With or without a purpose – step out.
Go, see some birds, take a walk, or just sit there observing people in your neighborhood.
At least you’ll get a break from your messy, tiresome lifestyle for some time. You’ll feel refreshed. You’ll get back to work in a better state.
Stepping out of your house or office restores the inner peace that disappears when you’re busy.
13. Make lists
Create lists of almost everything.
Jot down whatever concerns you, to organize your thoughts.
Your mind won’t feel fuzzy. You won’t need to check what you’re lacking. You’ll be able to assess your progress.
This may sound complicated but it doesn’t have to be. For instance, I made certain lists for myself depending on my dissatisfaction with life.
Here are some examples:
- Little professional milestones
- Things I need to buy in the long-term
- Things I want to do but haven’t done
- List of everything that makes me sad
Some of this may sound crazy.
But I’ve been making lists since more than about seven years, and it’s one of the best habits I’ve developed. When I start acting based on those lists, my life fixes itself.
Go, make lots of lists.
14. Clean your desk or workspace and get rid of excess stuff
Clutter makes me anxious.
It somehow distracts me, as I subconsciously keep checking my surroundings. So I get rid of the fluff.
No unnecessary books that I’m not reading, no more stationary than needed, and no household items or stuff.
That helps me be at peace.
If your workspace isn’t a desk but a whole room or a shop, then you can keep the number of items minimal in it.
Also, if you aren’t an organized person, then maybe clutter won’t bother you. Still, see whether it can improve your state.
15. Have a conversation with yourself
Call it introspection or a way to assess your current situation, but the time you spend understanding yourself has a lot of meaning.
You start with asking important life questions, examining your behavior, finding out your strengths, and coping with your insecurities.
It takes a lot of energy and courage to deal with the mess in your head – but once you do it, your whole life becomes simpler.
16. Find what makes you restless
What keeps bothering you?
What keeps you awake at night?
Your inner restlessness doesn’t occur without a reason. It’s a way your conscience uses to remind you of what you aren’t dealing with.
Once you resolve all those issues or start working on them, you get closer to inner peace.
17. Break your schedule
You can easily get tired of doing same things repeatedly, each day. A monotonous life gets boring.
So you need to shake up life.
Start somewhere.
Change the way you work, add different kind of leisure activities than usual, and do what can make your lifestyle healthier and more playful than usual.
Still, remember this
Spend some time understanding yourself.
Once you do that, you’d barely need to rely on books or blogs like this one to feel better. You’d be capable of creating a life that feels perfect to you.
That’s one thing I wish for you.
Because ultimately, peace doesn’t occur when you read or learn from the experiences of others, but when you discover it on your own.