I got this morning feeling happy and positive, because the night before, a client, Daniel, informed me that he is positive about my proposal. And so, I made breakfast, I played nice music to get everyone “in the mood”, and I decided to send an inspirational sms to my team. At noon, I heard from a colleague that our competitor had won us to a bigger deal with another client. Suddenly, everything around me seemed to go wrong, everything seemed to “not” work out anymore. I wanted to do more, to win bigger deals, I knew I could do it! At that moment, I was not happy, I had forgotten about Daniel.

I believe similar scenarios as above happen daily to most of us. Happiness varies from person to person, but by definition, it’s an “emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.” There are many times where we experience intense joy in our lives, but it’s an emotion that comes and goes depending on the occasion. For example, you might feel such joy at your wedding, birth of a child, promotion or any other grand event.

But the secret to a happy life is contentment, which is defined as a state of satisfaction. It’s so easy to get caught up in life that we forget to be content with what we already have as we constantly fuel ourselves to achieve more. As we continue to push ourselves to new heights and limits, we often forget about just being happy with what we’ve accomplished so far. Once we can realize this, happiness just comes naturally.

To help be content with life, here are a few tips I “try” to live by:

1) Be grateful

Being grateful for what you already have in life is key to contentment. They go hand-in-hand. A person who is grateful has learned to focus on the good and positive things on their life and not what they lack or don’t have. Instead of focusing on how they can achieve more, they look at current achievements and are satisfied with what they are. Keeping a list of what you’re grateful for can help you remember that you are lucky to have what you have in life. And the next time you focus on what you don’t have, refer back to the list.

2) Change your attitude

If you’re always thinking “When I ____, I’ll be happy” or “Until I _____ , I’ll be satisfied,” then you lack contentment. Stop waiting and just be happy with what you have. Your happiness is solely up to you and not based on things you’ll get in the future. If you want to be happy now, then just be content with everything now. This is an important lesson everyone needs to learn.

3) Don’t let material acquisitions determine your happiness

It’s so easy for us to go out and buy things when we are unhappy, looking to material things to fill a void in our life. Sure, these things will make you happy for a short time, but in the long run, you’ll end up with no money and lots of debt. Stop trying to buy your happiness. Next time you’re feeling discontent, hide your wallet and try to figure out why you’re feeling this way and remember all the good things that you do have and that should make you happy.

4) Be content with what you have, but still grow as a person

You should always strive to grow, learn and discover, while being happy with what you have. Once you stop trying to find happiness with future achievements or purchases, you’ll realize that happiness is just being content with everything in the present. But don’t become so content with yourself that you can’t find room for improvement since contentment doesn’t mean complacency. Don’t stop growing as a person.