Cancer, Divorce, Death and being Happy.

Being Happy is under-rated.

Beyond the health-benefits, performance-enhancement, quality-of-life improvement, mental clarity, improved decision-making ability, and "modeling" emotional intelligence (EQ can be a greater predictor of success than IQ) for your children, happiness is something more and more people are looking for.

Almost everything seems to take priority to being happy. Money, success, status, achievement, education, stability, survival all seem to take precedent. And it makes sense. It can also seem to be an income-related value. It could seem like when poverty is prevalent, the focus isn't usually happiness but survival and practical skills. In affluent societies once money is no longer an issue, people can begin to think about vacations, mental health, therapy etc. It all makes logical sense.

But here's what I've found.

Most people are familiar with the study that shows that in the US, more than $72k per year does not seem to increase happiness. That could lead to a conclusion that beneath that, money should be prioritized. Maybe. But we've also seen people or societies with the bare minimum, report higher levels of happiness and satisfaction. We tend to see more affluent people vacation or visit those societies to find some degree of happiness or to learn why and how they're happy without having what we've come to expect as a necessity.

Instead of trying to solve the problem of happiness with seeming like the answer is to have no money (which I'm not advocating), let's see what seems to happen over and over again.

Death is a major catalyst for looking for happiness. Cancer is another catalyst. Divorce is a big one. Being faced with a major decision where both options are seemingly great is the final one I see a lot. I've worked with people who are down and out, have no money, need a solution fast, etc. but the demographic I provide the largest amount of value to are those who have a major catalyst and also are in the position to make even larger amounts of money. If someone is making $70k and I can unlock 10% of mental space for them, that may equate to $7,000 of value. If someone is selling $100M and I can unlock 10% of mental space for them, that equates to $10,000,000 of value. The challenge is that the amount of pain someone is experiencing when they're at that level of financial success is compounded by the reality that the problem of happiness isn't solved yet.

My goal is that we begin to look at the happiness issue before cancer, death, divorce, or any other form of pain occurs. Unfortunately, in the years of working with the highest performers in the world, I don't know that I can even find one that didn't have a catalyst that wasn't extreme pain. So if this is you, feel free to connect. If this is not you, then you're a rare bread and let's see how I can help now.

Prioritize your happiness. Not in the way that people say, you "deserve" it. The truth is, you don't. This isn't about deserving anything. This is about a decision. This is about taking control and deciding that you want to live a life where you feele satisfied, fulfilled, and clear of what you're doing every single day in a way that when the end of your life comes, you'll know that you lived your life to the fullest and lived with purpose.

Here are 3 things you can do right now to take action towards happiness and create your life of fulfilment.

1. Take stock of your day. Where are you spending your time? What would you change? Now ask the question of how you can change it. Then... Take action and do it. Thoughts and ideas without action are useless.
2. Go to sleep with a visual movie of how you want the next day to be. You're watching mental movies non-stop anyways and most of the time you're not winning. If you're experiencing anxiety or fear or anything unpleasant, you're watching the wrong movie. Change the channel before you go to sleep and your subconscious can go to work to create with action, the movie of your life that you want to see.
3. Wake up on your own schedule even if that means waking up earlier. It's important to start your day on your schedule instead of responding to a call, an email, a text, a child, a spouse, etc. It begins your day responding to what everyone needs from you instead of beginning your day where you're in control and deciding what you want to create and give value to that day.

There are more tips in the "How to be Happy" book on Amazon by The Wizard and a few more nuggets in some of the podcasts with JB The Wizard.

If you're depressed, feel helpless, feel confused, are overwhelmed, or anything like that, it likely means you have the capacity to feel amazing on the other side of that pendulum as well. If you just don't know what choice to make then that's a mental clarity problem that can be solved with a happiness analysis and that's just a few quick steps to the solution. Take action today. You can do it.

-The Wizard

#happiness #MindfulLiving #DailyFulfillment #PurposefulLife #LiveWithIntent #PositiveMindset #CreateYourJoy #FulfillmentJourney #purpose