Photo by: Thought Catalog @thoughtcatalog

The opposite of fear is joy. Who wouldn’t want joy in their everyday lives? How much would a fearful person pay for clarity? Probably a lot. Here are 3 steps to creating clarity to achieve joy in your life.

Write down 5 things you are grateful for in your life.
Write your 3 favorite things to do; hobbies, activities, experiences (Things you would do for free and when time ceases to exist.)
What scares you most in life? (Choices you made, those you didn’t or ones you’re hesitating to make for any number of reasons/excuses.)

This exercise is to help you create/design your most joyous life. Itty bitty baby steps in the direction of your vision are perfectly fine. There are many ways to make shifts in your life, schedule and budget to softly accommodate the path toward your life filled with clarity and joy.

Everyone you’re putting ahead of pursuing your dreams because somehow their needs are more important than your happiness, will benefit greatly from your actions. Their “needs” are simply serving as an excuse for you not following through with your personal interests. This does not mean abandon all adult responsibilities and dependents while bankrupting yourself. The moment you realize that your desires matter, is the moment just before your first step toward your new life. Wouldn’t it be nice to be an example of what a purposeful life can be by following your passion and dreams?

A great book recommendation on this subject is “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. She explains how she has changed her relationship with fear by coexisting with it and tell it what to do. Her fear has to “sit in the backseat and cannot control the music.”