Step 1 – Discover Yourself
There is a purpose in each of our lives. We may need to dig deep within ourselves to find out what that purpose is, but the clearer our mission is, the better are our chances of accomplishing it. Each day is a new day, a day that brings fresh learning about ourselves and our environment. For this learning to happen, we need to be alert and reflect on our experiences. We are bound to learn at least one (if not several) powerful lessons daily, if we are fully conscious of what is going on around us. Every choice we make shapes our destiny. Therefore, let us make wise choices that are consistent with the type of destiny we are aspiring to.

Step 2 – Maintain Positive Attitudes
We’re all gifted and blessed in our own unique ways. When we treasure who we are and believe in our inherent capabilities, we find that the world also starts to believe in us. When we are willing to bet on ourselves, the world will bet on us as well.
A blessing comes our way daily. Some people may appear to receive more blessings than others. However, the more we focus on what we have and what we are receiving daily, the more blessings we attract. So counting our blessings not only makes us focus on the positive things in our lives, but also creates the energy for multiplication of these blessings.

Step 3 – Discover & Hone Your Life Skills
Our happiness comes from focusing our energies on the things that we identify as important in life and that are aligned with our mission. If we try to do too much, our priorities become jumbled, which can lead to confusion, frustration, and unhappiness.
The more we involve ourselves in activities that carry the greatest meaning and value for us, the greater are our chances of experiencing real growth. This may mean giving up some, perhaps many, of the things we are habitually involved in. By doing fewer of these non-essential activities, we free up more time for the essentials. We increasingly focus on areas that are consistent with our goals, objectives, and purpose in life.

Step 4 – Build Healthy Relationships
Our relationships with our close ones play a big part in our lives. When we have healthy relationships filled with love, respect, dialogue, and learning, we experience abounding happiness.
Effective communication is a prerequisite to happy and fulfilling relationships. This entails open, sincere, and respectful dialogue and keeping our minds clear of bias and presumptions. Effective communication is more than just words; our actions communicate far more than our words do.

Step 5 – Let Ethics and Values be your Guide
Our deepest joy comes from living an ethical life.  Unethical living may bring temporary happiness, but it will be short-lived. Deep within each of us is a soul that is pure, which is why when we engage in pure activities, we experience happiness.
Think of ethics as the backdrop against which we paint the picture of our lives. They are the foundation upon which we build the smallest and greatest of our accomplishments. Our ethics are like the number zero in our lives. We can only count numbers because there is a zero. Similarly, ethics are the foundation of our living; everything else we do emerge from them.

Step 6 – Awaken your Spirituality
When we work with honesty and integrity with a view to supporting our family and contributing to society and those who are less fortunate than we are, our work becomes connected to spirituality. If we study hard to make the world a better place, our studying becomes connected to spirituality.  If we nurture our children and provide them the ethics and principles to guide their decisions and the self-esteem to believe in themselves and their abilities, then our caring for our children is connected to spirituality.  These are some ways in which we can translate our material actions to spirituality. Spirituality does not just exist in places of worship; it is right in our midst, in everything we do from dusk to dawn.

Step 7 – Enjoy the Ride

Working on the first six steps in this gives us internal contentment of having lived to our full potential and living an ethical and empowering life, but it is the seventh step that brings about the fun and joy of life. The seventh step without the first six can bring about a limited happiness, but lasting and sustained happiness comes from working on the first six steps whilst savoring and enjoying the process.
Every moment is a priceless blessing. Happiness is not a destination, it is a process. Life is a journey to be savored every step of the way.