Are you happy? The question seems simple enough. But when you really take the time to assess your level of happiness, you may find you're out of balance and you could be wondering how exactly you can fix it.

The truth of the matter is that a happier life means many things to different people. According to the 2016 Harris Poll Survey of American Happiness, only a third of Americans reported that they were, indeed, happy. And a General Social Survey identified what is called "happiness inequality" in the United States, which means that in our country levels of joy differ across racial, economic, and gender circumstance.

There are certain things that are universal which, if you give up on them, you will find your version of success. Sometimes, to become successful and get closer to the person we can become, we don’t need to add more things — we need to give up on some of them. You can give up on some of them today, while it might take a bit longer to give up on others.