Most of us want the same thing in life - to be happy. But sometimes, when you're working long hours, understanding what your dream even is can seem impossible.
But one organisation is trying to make happiness a little bit easier to comprehend, then achieve.
The Authentic Life Company provides life coaching, helping people to identify what will make them truly happy before suggesting the steps they can take in order to move towards their goal.
Speaking to HuffPost UK Lifestyle, founder of the company Robert Hutchinson said: "I think the idea of not understanding who we are is quite a universal problem.
"A lot of people could really help themselves by taking time out to look at how they work and what’s important to them."
The Authentic Life Company was formed after Robert underwent a process of re-evaluating his own happiness and wellbeing.
After years of working in television for major stations like the BBC, Channel 4 and The Discovery Channel, Robert began to feel dissatisfied with his job.
"I was director of media planning, looking at the strategy of on-air communications," he explains.
"Working hours were a good eight or nine hours per day plus I had a one hour commute to work, so I didn't have a lot of time for myself."
As Robert approached his forties, he began to find the job "unfulfilling" and knew it was time for a change.
"I wanted to work for myself and I was looking at the next 10 and 20 years and considering how I wanted my life to be structured. I wanted to focus on something I was really interested in and passionate about," he says.
Robert believes it wasn't just his mind telling him it was time to leave the entertainment industry, but his body too.
"Sometimes I’d be sitting at my desk and it would feel like I was suffocating or drowning. I just really felt very visceral need to get out of there," he says.
After taking three months off to re-connect with himself, Robert founded The Authentic Life Company to help others make the transition into happiness.
"I had been coached previously myself and had a great experience, so I knew how powerful it could be," he says.
According to Robert, most of our problems stem from us not understanding who we are or what we really want.
"People just don’t time to take stock of who they really are, to consider changes in their personality and their circumstances.
"As you get into your 30s, 40s, even 50s, life has changed a lot, but you don’t really get chance to step back and think about what your life currently is and what you actually want it to be like," he says.
This idea of not being "real" or "genuine" with ourselves is what inspired the name of The Authentic Life Company.
Robert tries to help people re-discover a more "authentic" way of living by stripping things back to their true desires.
"I start by really bringing everything into the client's consciousness, getting them to think about how they tick and what's important to them.
"Once they've got a clear picture of themselves and how they want things to be, suddenly a lot of the confusion that clients come to me with goes away," he says.
Robert works with clients to create a plan that enables a "managed transition" into a new life. This limits the risk of a client reaching breaking point and losing their job (perhaps due to stress) before they are able to financially cope.
So what advice does Robert give for anyone feeling dissatisfied with their life?
"Firstly, listen to that voice in your head – if the voice is saying change, then take it very seriously and start to make plans towards the change as soon as you possibly can.
"The second step is to notice when you are being genuine – if we’re specifically talking about work, notice those times that feel right and feel good and notice those times that feel bad, awkward and inauthentic. When I used to network it would feel awkward and staged – it wouldn’t feel real.
"Then, talk abut how you feel with friends, family and colleagues and get some professional advice yourself," he suggests.
Robert is certainly a man who practices what he preaches - since leaving the world of television, Robert says he feels more "like himself" than he has in years.
"It’s a different league of happiness to what I was feeling before. I don’t have that feeling on a Sunday evening of dread and not looking forward to the week coming up," he says.
"I’m now defining success beyond power and money and status – what’s now important to me is working in a field that I’m passionate about.
"I go on holiday but I don’t feel that need to – I go on the holiday, enjoy the holiday but also look forward to coming back and continuing the work I love."
This article was first published on The Huffington Post: How To Be Happy: Founder Of The Authentic Life Company Shares His Secrets
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