How much joy are you experiencing in your life right now? Do you find yourself truly enjoying each day, or does joy feel like something that will come after you hit a goal, land that promotion, or navigate through the next big milestone in your life?
For many men, joy seems elusive. Life can feel heavy with responsibilities, work pressures, family needs, and the constant juggle of trying to do it all. It’s easy for the day-to-day stresses to pile up, causing you to just go through the motions and lose sight of the joy you’re meant to experience.
I get it. I’ve been there too. Recently, I found myself in a season where I wasn’t feeling much joy. I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself to perform, not allowing any room for mistakes, and constantly feeling like I had to be “on.” That kind of pressure drains joy from life, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and stressed instead of energized and fulfilled.
But here’s the truth: you don’t have to wait for circumstances to change to experience more joy. You can start living with joy today. And not just fleeting happiness, but a deep, lasting joy that carries you through the ups and downs of life.
Here are four ways you can immediately begin living with more joy in your life:
This may seem like the "cliché Christian answer," but it’s the most important foundation for a joyful life. The Bible is clear about where true joy comes from: God. Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
If you're looking for joy but aren’t spending consistent time in God's presence, you're missing out on the source of true joy. In John 15:11, Jesus tells us, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Jesus invites us to remain in Him—remain connected to the vine—and in doing so, He promises we will experience complete joy.
If you're feeling disconnected, take an honest look at your daily routine. Are you filling your heart and mind with God’s Word? Are you giving Him space to work in your life? Make it a priority to spend time with God and watch how He fills you with joy, regardless of what’s happening around you.
We often let our circumstances or mood dictate how we show up in life. If things are going well, we feel happy. If we’re stressed or tired, we often carry that negativity into the next situation or conversation without even realizing it.
But here’s a powerful shift: joy is a choice. You can choose to generate joy instead of waiting for it to happen. Before you walk into your office, into a meeting, or even into your home at the end of the day, take 30 seconds to set an intention. Ask yourself, “How can I bring joy into this moment? How can I be a battery charger for others?”
When you approach each situation with the mindset of bringing joy, you’ll be amazed at the positive energy you create—not just for yourself, but for those around you.
One of the biggest joy-stealers is being overly focused on ourselves. We worry about how we’re being perceived, whether we’re performing well enough, or if we’re making a good impression. This self-focus can lead to stress and pressure that diminishes joy.
Instead, shift your focus to others. Walk into each room with the mindset of, “How can I serve? How can I encourage and uplift someone here?” When the mission is service, you have no reason to fear or feel overwhelmed. You’ll be so focused on helping others that you won’t have time to dwell on your own anxieties.
I love this analogy: when you’re in “selfie mode,” you miss out on the full picture of what’s happening around you. Just like trying to take a selfie while hiking in a beautiful place, focusing on yourself blocks you from seeing the bigger, more beautiful picture. Flip the camera outward, focus on others, and you’ll discover an abundance of joy.
Here’s a simple, but often overlooked, practice: spend time doing things that bring you joy, with people who bring you joy. When was the last time you did something you love? Whether it’s hiking, playing a sport, going fishing, or even just hanging out with friends—these activities recharge you and restore your joy.
Life gets busy, and it’s easy to fall into a routine that crowds out fun and fulfillment. But if you’re feeling drained and joyless, it might be because you’ve let too much time go by without doing the things that make you come alive. Make a list of activities that energize you and start putting them back on your calendar. Spending intentional time with the people and activities that light you up is a powerful way to restore your joy.
Joy doesn’t have to wait until life is perfect. You can live with joy today, regardless of what’s going on around you. My challenge to you is to pick one of these four actions and implement it this week. Start spending more time with God, set an intention to bring joy into your next interaction, plan a fun activity—whatever it is, make joy a priority. You’ll be amazed at how much it can transform your life.
I’m really excited to be with you today. I’m going to be talking about something that I love talking about. This has been something that God has been teaching me and it has been changing the way I have been approaching my days.
Today we are talking about: Joy. Living with Joy. Finding more joy in your life.
How much joy are you experiencing in your life right now?
Do you feel like you are enjoying each day?
Are you finding joy in the process and in your day to day, or are you waiting to hit a goal or for some life-changing event to find joy?
Unfortunately, this is something that is lacking in a lot of men right now. And I get it, life is difficult. You have so many responsibilities. You have so many stressors. You are doing your best to provide for your family, to give each person in your life the time and attention they deserve, you are trying to grow a business or do your best at work.
There are so many things that can pile up and cause stress and overwhelm in your life. It can be easy for these things to start to crowd out the good in your life.
It can be easy for these things to cause you to start to go through the motions. To do the same things day in and day out and not stop to enjoy the moments throughout your day.
I recently was in a season where I wasn’t feeling a whole lot of joy. I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself to perform. I was putting pressure on myself to not make any mistakes. I just felt like I had to be “on” all the time. That was putting a lot of stress on my life where I felt like I was lacking some of the joy I used to be experiencing each day.
I love working hard and going after big goals, but if you aren’t enjoying the process and living with joy as you do it, then I don’t believe it is worth it. I want to go after big dreams and work hard while having a ton of fun at the same time. I believe that it can be done! I believe that is exactly what God wants for you.
So today I want to run you through 4 things you can do immediately to bring more joy to your life!
Number 1
This might seem like the cliche Christian answer, but it is absolutely the most important part when it comes to living with joy and that is actually spending time with God on a regular, consistent basis.
There is no reason to try any of the other tactics or thoughts in this episode if you aren’t first pulling your life, purpose, and joy from the Lord…the creator of joy. The giver of joy.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
“You fill me with joy in your presence.”
Spending time in the presence of God is where joy is found.
Take an honest look at your life, are you consistently spending time with God? Are you filling your heart and your mind with him? Are you listening to him? Are you giving him space to work in your life?
You know this is something that is important to do as a believer, but sometimes common knowledge is not common practice. If you feel like you need more joy, you must connect to the source.
In John 15, Jesus talks about the importance of being connected to the vine. He says to remain in him. To remain in his love. This is the famous passage of Scripture where Jsus says he is the vine and that we cannot bear good fruit unless we remain in him.
Right after saying this, in verse 11 Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
The way to find fullness of joy is to remain in Jesus. It is to spend time with him. It is to stay connected to the vine.
I hard to take a hard look at my life and ask myself if I was truly giving God my focus and attention. I had to ask myself if I was filling my heart and mind with his Word or was I filling it with everything else. The honest answer was that I was putting other pursuits above him and was not spending enough time in his presence.
When that is off balance, you are always going to be missing the fullness of joy.
If you want more joy in your life, make a commitment today to start spending more time connected to God.
Number 2
You must choose to generate more joy in your life. Seems obvious right? Let me tell you what I mean.
Think about the last room that you walked into, did you put any intentional thought into the attitude and energy that you were going to bring?
Think about last time you got home from work, did you take time to think about how you were going to love your spouse, your kids, or your roommates?
How often do you think about the kind of energy you are bringing to other people? How often do you think about how you want people to feel when you are with them?
Most of the time, we let our mood and current emotions dictate how we treat people or how we show up in certain situations. It’s usually pretty unconscious. You had a great day…you show up to your next meeting in a good mood and usually bring a pretty upbeat attitude.
But if you had a tough day, or you’re feeling tired, or you’re hungry, it’s easy to walk into the room with more of a negative attitude. If your focus has been set on negative things or things that you don’t have all day, it is going to be hard to come in and bring the joy
There are typically three different types of people:
Which one do you want to be?
I’m sure if you had the choice, you would choose to be a battery charger right? I’m sure you want people to feel loved and energized when they are with you.
If that’s the case, then you need to get more intentional about it. When I coast in here and let my circumstances or emotions dictate how I treat people, I often can fall into being neutral or being a battery drainer.
So here is the practice, before you get out of your car to walk into the office. Or before you stand up at your desk to walk to a meeting, take a quick 30 seconds to set your intentions for the next activity - ask yourself - how can I bring the joy? How can I be a battery charger in this situation? How can I have the most possible fun in this situation?
God has blessed me with so much. God has done so much for me. God loves me like crazy and put my on this earth for a reason, how can I bring the joy?
This simple practice will change your life! I promise you.
Number 3
The third practice goes hand in hand with the last one. If you want more joy in your life, you need to focus on others.
Rory Vaden has a couple of phrases that have really stuck with me.
He says, “There is no reason to be nervous, when the mission is service.”
And “There is no reason to fear, when the mission to serve is clear.”
I have found this to be so true in my life. When I am so caught up in how I look, how I’m going to come across…will people like me, will they think I’m good at what I do…do they think I’m funny…and so on
When I’m so focused on myself, it can be terrifying. There is so much pressure to perform that it can make each situation feel intimidating.
But when you just come into a situation and think about how you can love and serve others, those fears seem to go away. When I am talking to someone with the mindset of how do I inspire and encourage this person, I’m really not concerned at all about what he or she is thinking of me. I’m listening intently to what they are saying and looking for opportunities to show them I truly care about them.
When you walk into a room, seek to be the most interested person in the room instead of the most interesting person in the room. Be the most interested.
That will take so much pressure and stress off of you and it will make people love to be around you.
I love to hike. I spent a lot of this summer hiking some of the tallest mountains in Colorado and had the chance to go to Glacier National Park and Yosemite National Park.
I have gotten some amazing photos on these trips. When I have the camera facing out, I can easily get great shots of the scenery. I can zoom in on what I need to or zoom out. I can make sure I’m getting the perfect angle and getting good light.
But then when I flip the camera around and try to get a selfie with this amazing scenery. The pictures are never near as good because my big head is covering half of the scenery. It’s hard to focus on the right things, get the right angle and sunlight. It’s really hard to show the fullness of the what I am seeing because I’m also trying to get my face in the photo.
I think it’s the same in life. When we flip the camera around in life to ourselves and start to focus on ourselves more than others, it ruins the picture.
When I’m in selfie mode, I am missing out on everything God is doing around me. I am missing out on deep friendships and the chance to impact people.
When you aren’t experiencing much joy in your life, take the camera out of selfie mode and put it on others.
Number 4
This last one is going to seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many times it’s not actually common practice.
Are you spending time with the people who bring you joy and are you doing the activities that bring you joy on a regular basis?
When I work with my clients, I have them make a list of the activities that recharge them. They will come up with things they enjoy doing with family, with friends, and then activities they like to do on their own like fishing, hiking, running, biking, getting on their motorcycle, golfing…a whole list of different activities.
When we have that list, I will ask them when was the last time that you actually did that activity?
A lot of times, this is an eye opening question. It is so easy to get caught up in the routine of work and life that you don’t end up spending time doing the things that you love to do.
If you don't’ feel like you are experiencing much joy and happiness in your life, take a look at where you are spending your time. If it has been too long since you did the activities that you enjoy with the people that you enjoy, this is also a great place to start.
Pick one and get it on the calendar! It’s amazing what can happen when you start engaging in the activities that make you come alive and feel energized.
To recap those four actions:
My challenge to you is to pick at least one of these actions and put it into practice this week! Schedule time with God, set your intentions before walking into a meeting, get a fun activity on the calendar.
Pick one and get started. You got this!
I hope today’s training was helpful. As always, I would greatly appreciate you sharing this training with others that you think it might benefit.
Thanks for being here today. Go live a life you are proud of by living intentionally!
