Five Narratives To Abandon if You Want To Live a Happy Life

Nobody plays the long game anymore, but everybody seeks long-term rewards.

The happiness you experience highly relates to the narrative you build on yourself. There is no doubt about it.

Each of us has an idea attached to our happiness. And if you believe in your narratives strong enough, they will release an incredible amount of motivational power.

But sometimes, you lose control over those narratives. Perhaps because you got distracted and they overshadowed your common sense. Or maybe because someone influenced your life with their ideas and you started adopting them. In the era of content marketing, this is a common danger.

So you started considering side hustles and six-figure incomes. Or you mingled with the idea of leaving your 9–5 job. And maybe you even bought someone’s guide on how to make it in a month.

But did you consider your happiness when deciding to build a successful side hustle? Did you consider working 16 daily hours to make it even remotely possible?

If you haven’t, it means you have allowed someone else to influence your feelings. So here are five narratives to abandon to retake control and live a happy life.

5 Narratives to Abandon to Live a Happy Life

One of my favorite quotes on happiness comes from Buddha. And I like it so much because it shows a happy life needs a narrative:

“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”

Buddha

But it also implies that we control our idea of happiness and forbid others from even touching it.

Our narratives are our best motivational tanks. But beware of allowing others to take control of the way you want to live your life, or you will leave a dreadful lie.

So if you believe in the following five narratives, don’t abandon them. Keep working on what makes you happy. But if someone else convinced you to believe in them and maybe even sold you a straight road to happiness, doubt everything they told you.

1 — The 9–5 Narrative

Who told you a 9–5 job could not make you happy?

Maybe everybody. But that’s not true.

Most people work a 9–5 job without even realizing there’s an option. And maybe they don’t even care. So if a 9–5 career makes you unhappy, we would be a planet of depressed people, which obviously we are not. On the contrary, some people live happy lives because of the security of a 9–5 job.

If you have a guaranteed job, you don’t need to stress over turning a passion into a career and all that crap. You can enjoy working and interacting with other people at work. But also spend all your free time with your family and friends.

In the same way, a 9–5 job may be a happiness killer. If you want financial independence, you will hate working for someone else. And you must try to escape the 9–5 narrative as soon as possible.

So don’t fall into someone’s else 9–5 narrative. Try working on an employed job first to see its benefits and if you like it. And if you don’t, start building a side hustle and make it grow large enough that you can leave anything else.

You can write, create graphics, and sell products — the options are infinite. And the sooner you realize which path you want to take, the easier it will be to live a happy life.

2 — The Golden Side Hustle Narrative

Side hustles don’t always work. On the contrary, 99% of them fail.

So if you are trying to build a side hustle because you think you will sit on the top of a gold mine in a few months, don’t even bother.

The golden side hustle narrative is typical these days. And it is making more victims than it should.

People keep ignoring that building a second or even third income is more complicated than they imagine. It takes time, experience, and lots of failed attempts.

If you want to get rich, there are hundreds of ways more efficient than a side hustle. And marrying a rich woman or man is one of those.

But if you want to build a side hustle because you like how it works, give yourself some more time. It takes more than a few years to make an average alternative income. And even if you give it enough time, it doesn’t always work. You may have to try again with other options or give up.

It is better to work on something that fails if you are passionate about it instead of going all in only for the money. So if you have a passion, follow the golden side hustle narrative. Otherwise, abandon it immediately.

3 — The Perfect Productivity System Narrative

Side hustles don’t always work. On the contrary, 60% of them make less than $1000 a month.

So if you are trying to build a side hustle because you think you will sit on the top of a gold mine in a few months, don’t even bother.

The golden side hustle narrative is typical these days. And it is making more victims than it should.

People keep ignoring that building a second or even third income is more complicated than they imagine. It takes time, experience, and lots of failed attempts.

If you want to get rich, there are hundreds of ways more efficient than a side hustle. And marrying a rich woman or man is one of those.

But if you want to build a side hustle because you like how it works, give yourself some more time. It takes more than a few years to make an average alternative income. And even if you give it enough time, it doesn’t always work. You may have to try again with other options or give up.

It is better to work on something that fails if you are passionate about it instead of going all in only for the money. So if you have a passion, follow the golden side hustle narrative. Otherwise, abandon it immediately.

4 — The Infinite Motivation Narrative

As for productivity, infinite motivation is another of those narratives which can be as strong as dangerous if not managed correctly.

You need to stay motivated and pursue your goals if you want to achieve them. Nobody is arguing about that. But in the end, the pursuit itself should give you the right amount of motivation that you need. Otherwise, it means your goals are insignificant. So rethink your goals instead of your motivators.

Meanwhile, we all struggle with procrastination. And sometimes, we need that little boost that pushes us over the starting line. So you can use facilitators to enhance the effect of motivation and avoid burning out, but these tools are useless without a clear purpose and willpower.

So stop searching for the infinite motivational tank that will make you happy and victorious. Read about motivational facilitators and enhancers, and use them when needed. But don’t force them into your routine, or they will have the opposite effect.

5 — The Eternal Happiness Narrative

Many couples split because they couldn’t get over a bad period. It happened to me too.

In the extreme consumerism society, we are so committed to finding eternal happiness that even throwing away relationships has become common sense.

Nobody plays the long game anymore, but everybody seeks long-term rewards.

Still, no matter how much you try, you will never get rid of the sad and awful moments in your life. So following the eternal happiness narrative is the worst way of finding it.

So stop stressing out over anything. Live your life one step at a time. And stop searching for a solution as soon as a problem appears. Sometimes you need to give it time and acquire new perspectives before finding the best solution possible.

Final Thoughts

The narratives you build will shape the life you will live. And if you genuinely believe in something, you should pursue it with all your strength.

But if you wish to achieve something only because somebody else did it, and they seem happy, you are sentencing yourself to an empty life. So abandon any of those five narratives if they are not something you truly believe:

1. The 9–5 narrative
2. The golden side hustle narrative
3. The perfect productivity system narrative
4. The infinite motivation narrative
5. The eternal happiness narrative

They won’t make you live a happy life, even if everybody wants to sell it to you.

Cover photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash.