How you feel in your daily life will determine your overall quality of life. It is precisely this that will define whether, years from now, you’ll look back and say you were a happy person or an unhappy one. That’s why we need to pay special attention to our daily emotions.

What makes you feel good? A romantic evening with your partner? An afternoon with friends? A hike in the mountains? Working on your personal project? Doing sports or painting? These are the moments that matter to you, and these are the ones you should prioritize.

Yes, of course, sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice one of them for the sake of something more urgent. But if you do this constantly, you’ll drain the vitality from your daily existence and turn it into a hollow shell of real life.

Lying on the couch or scrolling through social media can be a pleasant experience, but it shouldn’t be confused with genuine positive emotion. Happiness lies in the meaningful things that energize us and give us a reason to strive to be the best version of ourselves.

Now it’s time to reflect on what makes us feel bad and whether we have a good enough reason to let it control our lives. Negative emotion, even if we believe we’re enduring it for the greater good, will gradually poison us and ultimately leave us exhausted and permanently disheartened.

Do you have a job that’s psychologically draining you, but you put up with it for the paycheck? Spending 40 or more hours a week in an environment that’s oppressive, or with people you can’t stand, can’t possibly be healthy or lead to good results. There are always opportunities for better work and for making money; what’s more important is to focus on feeling good on an inner level.

Is there someone in your life who drags you into a toxic relationship, even though you care about them? Do you really want to keep going through this agony for years? In situations like this, you have two options—make a truly fundamental change to break the cycle of toxicity, or simply distance yourselves from each other, at least until this destructive pattern falls apart.

Negative emotions can teach us a lot, and we shouldn’t run from them at all costs. But if they take over our daily lives and bring us no insights, we’ve likely just become addicted to them and accepted them as our normal.

Look deep into your emotional world: What brings me joy? What gives me confidence? What inspires me? What makes me sad? What makes me afraid? What makes me angry? Knowing these factors and being able to manage them gives you the power to build a happy and harmonious life.