Monthly Archives: December 2010

How you think and what you do.

This is where to focus your happiness  energies. Working in this area will move your baseline of happiness up that sliding scale and accounts for 40% of your overall happiness levels.

But where to start?

This week, change only this one thing.

Quit yer complaining!

This one thing will change how you think and what you do. Truly.

To help you out on this deceptively simple task, put an elastic band on your wrist. Each time you find a Negative Nelly phrase coming out, snap it. You’ll rewire your brain pretty quickly.

(No, you cannot snap someone else’s elastic. This is about how YOU think and what YOU do.)

When you tame those negative tendencies, you change how you think (less negative stuff = more room for happier stuff) and what you do (feeling happier = more positive strides in your life).

Do it for the next few days. Take note of how your view of the world and your life changes. If you slip, forgive yourself and get back on track. I look forward to hearing about your results.

               Make a list of what you think would make you happy.

 Does your list look anything like this?

•       A new relationship
•       More flexibility at work
•       A new job with more money
•       An extra bedroom
•       A more attentive spouse
•       A baby
•       Looking younger
•       Relief from your bad back
•       Losing weight
•       Your child doing well in school
•       Cure from an illness or disability

If it does, congratulations you’re normal. These are the most common answers given to the question what would make you happy.

Unfortunately for you, none of these will increase and sustain your happiness level. Everything on this list is circumstantial and humans are very good at adapting to circumstances. Overall these sorts of things only affect your happiness levels by 10%. Piddly stuff.

So what to do?

Consider the characteristics of the happiest people on earth:

•       Devote time to family and friends, nurture and enjoy those relationships
•       Comfortable expressing gratitude
•       First to offer helping hand
•       Practice optimism when imagining their futures
•       Savour life’s pleasures and live in the present moment
•       Make physical exercise a daily habit
•       Deeply committed to lifelong goals & ambitions
•       Have their share of crises, stresses, and tragedies, but use poise and strengths in coping in the face of challenge

All of these entail how you think and what you do. And THAT accounts for 40% of the happiness pie….

Not only will your happiness levels increase, you will be able to better sustain them. How you think and what you do.