10 signs you're not as happy as you could be

In 2016, I thought my life was pretty good.

I had a job I was hella proud of and had spent my whole life working towards. My weekends were filled with nights out and lunch dates with friends for months in advance. And my husband and I had just bought a house together and were on the way to getting a cat.

Life doesn't get better than that right?

Thing is, I didn't realise how many ways I was unhappy day-to-day.

Or, to be totally honest, I thought those little upsets were normal. I genuinely didn't think life got much better.

So I've created a list "10 signs I'm not as happy as I could be", to help you see if there are ways you're missing happiness in your life.

I've gone from experiencing most of these every single day, to now, where if I experience any of them, it makes me pause and go "hang on a minute, what's off to make you think or feel that way?".

Check it out, do you experience any of these?

10 signs I'm not as happy as I could be

1. I have no self-confidence. Tasks at work that I've done a hundred times and I'm more than capable of completing, make me feel anxious.

2. Everything feels urgent. That card I keep forgetting to post? It doesn't matter that it's 9pm, it needs to be posted NOW.

3. My to-do list is totally overwhelming. I have no idea where to start or to how to get it all done.

4. I take everything super personally and am easily offended. One jokey comment about how much washing there is to do and I think I'm a horrible lazy person.

5. I start trying to micro-plan everything and reject any spontaneity. So no, we absolutely can not stop at Tesco on the way home for more milk.

6. If something doesn't go exactly as planned, I can't cope, snapping at people close to me. I mean, we said dinner would be ready at 7.30pm, it's now 7.35pm, so it's totally reasonable to be cross.

7. Perfectionism goes to town and I need everything to be done a certain way. The peas take 2.5 mins to cook and they've been on the hob for 3mins. What. The. Hell?!

8. I find myself thinking of worse case scenarios. Not seen the cat in 5 minutes? She's totally dead somewhere.

9. Simple decisions are difficult - do we have fish and chips for tea? Or salad? Fish and chips with salad? Left overs? Gahhh!

10. I feel relief when completing something difficult rather than pride because I'm just so happy it's over and that no-one died.

I now know that these are all things that mindful living can change. And I know how to quickly get out of the funk and back to my happy place.

So instead of feeling overwhelmed, stressed and desperately trying to think my way out of overthinking, I feel relaxed, in control and calm.

And more than that, I trust myself. I have confidence in my ability to handle anything, which of course makes it easier to stop micro-managing every little thing.

So today, have a little look at the list and see which ones you're experiencing on a daily basis, and then let me know in the comments which are your biggest ones. Because in order to change something you have to be aware of it.