The effects of personal loss, stress, betrayal, and numerous negative emotions can be devastating for your emotional and psychological well-being. To be truly happy in the hectic, downright unfair modern world and preserve your inner flame through these challenges can seem like an insurmountable task at times, but that doesn’t mean that you should give up.

That said, people love to say that you should simply choose to be happy and everything will sort itself out – a method for achieving happiness that never really works. Instead, you need a concrete plan of attack, a set of steps that will allow you to accept what has happened, discover your pain-points, and eliminate them from your life. Here are the five steps that will help you achieve just that.

Get up, get out

If you wondered what one of the worst things you could do in this trying time is, it’s to do absolutely nothing. Letting negative emotions fester inside of you with no verbal or physical release can have a deeply negative impact on your emotional and psychological well-being, which is all the reason you need to get up, get out, and start exercising.

Regular physical exercise has been shown over the decades to have a profound impact on mental health, as well as your overall physical condition. It all works synergistically in helping you feel better over time and lead a more vibrant, energetic lifestyle. Before long, you will be ready and willing to take the next step.

Escape to an unfamiliar setting

There is nothing quite as powerful and rejuvenating like a change of scenery and a change of pace. Getting out of your typical routine and thus the proverbial rut by simply taking a weekend away to a neighboring town, region, or country even, can really help you banish the negativity from your mind and soul, and leave everything that troubles you to dissipate into the unknown.

This needn’t be a complex undertaking, as you simply need to book your accommodation and find a cheap car rental, such as Avis Car Hire, in order to find a vehicle that fits your road trip needs. If you feel like you need more than a long weekend to rest and recharge then, by all means, take the whole week off from work, turn off your phone, and just soak in your new surroundings. Remember that this needn’t be an urban escapade, as you can also take on a grand exploration journey of the surrounding countryside.

Note down your key motivators

Whether you take on this next exciting step while you’re still away exploring the unknown or if you’ve been waiting to come back home, you’ve made the right decision. People tend to give out terrible advice to those who are suffering, and one of these is that they should think about the things they are grateful for, remind themselves of the things that motivate them, and just make a change for the better. What a load of hooey.

In reality, becoming emotionally and psychologically able to even begin to think about what makes you happy in life is a grueling process. Only by getting yourself out of the rut and starting to enjoy life one minute at a time can you start to notice the shimmers of light in the blackness.

This is why the aforementioned steps are so crucial because they will lift your spirits up just enough to allow you to start thinking about the future. Now that you’re finally able to breathe again, you can put pen to paper and note down the things that make you truly happy. These should concern your professional as well as personal life – leave no detail behind.

Build your daily mantra

The next step towards falling back in love with your life is to transform the key motivators you’ve noted down into your daily mantra. Remember, the mind influences the soul and imbues your entire being with a sense of worth and happiness, so reminding yourself of the positives in your life can completely change the way you feel and help you thrive.

Your daily mantra should be a sort of a poem, although it doesn’t have to rhyme, that will encompass all of the things that make you happy. It can also be a single word if that’s all you need. Now, memorize this poem by heart, and let it be the first thing you say to yourself in the mirror in the morning. Let it be the wind beneath your wings.

Make a plan, don’t look back

The last step is quite simple, but it will make all the difference. Now that you have successfully banished the darkness from your life, you need a clear battle plan that will help you realize your dream. It can be quite easy to fall right back into the abyss if you don’t know what your next step is, so set yourself clear personal and professional goals, make them time-bound, and remember to never look back.

Falling out of love with yourself or your life, in general, can be devastating. Instead of letting the emptiness consume you for good, you can follow these steps that will slowly take you on the road to self-actualization, one simple step at a time.