7 Things you can do to be happier, right now

Hello again,

I was thinking today about how I could possibly get myself into a better mood. You see it's been a tough week for me, I'm sure you have all had those at one time or another, right? Lately that has been my experience, in "spades" as they say. No, I'm not a poker player. If I was though, let's say I would be losing money fast.

Back to my point - I really wanted to cheer myself up in a way that would be easily done, while at work, without giving the least hint about my state of mind to anybody else. I'm not one to do backflips, or go around memorizing jokes to tell at work, or anything like that. Besides I had real work to do, so those were not options anyway. But how can I increase my mood?

One - I popped in one of my favorite Cd's to start the day. You see I'm an old school rock fan, and Steely Dan is one of my favorite bands. I blasted Katy Lied on the way to work, and I'm off to a great start. It's even better than my pick of motivational CD's that I sometimes favor, too.

Two - I had to boost my energy, I was still a little under the weather I think from fighting a cold this week. That sucks but you can't curl up into a ball every time you feel a little sick, can you? Hell, no. I decided it was my chance to fight this thing, and put myself in a mental state that would create maximum positive energy, fast. How else? Create my future. When I need a fast boost of positive energy I create a vision of what my future will be in my mind in as great detail as I can muster. Let's say it involves much less work, more freedom, a nicer car, and the comfort of a large home where I can entertain my friends in style. Sound too materialistic? Maybe to some, but try it sometime. Get into the zone, where you can feel invincible. Expand your mind to make yourself believe that you can accomplish anything and everything that you dream of, and it changes the way you feel about yourself. OH, yeah.

Three - make plans for the near future, as in the weekend. Think of something that you love to do, and just do it. Drive 100 miles to your favorite getaway spot with that special someone? Just do it. Always wanted to go skydiving? Try it now, why wait until next week or next year? Tomorrow may be too late, take advantage of right now as soon as you can. Besides having something to look forward to always makes me feel better, how about you? The anticipation is worth it, right?

Four - meet some one new, and make a friend. When was the last time you just went out on the town, or out to the store, or a movie or park, and just sat down beside someone and started a conversation? It feels great, doesn't it? That is the most fun thing to do. Of course it's more fun it that person is an attractive member of the opposite sex, naturally. But whatever you feel comfortable with...no, that's not the point is it? Get out of your comfort zone for once! That's the excitement of it, believe me. Go, try it. Report back to me...

Five - do something physical that you previously thought was beyond your physical limits. I know you could get hurt, but how bad could it be? So you try roller-blading and sprain your ankle. Big deal, right? Or go find a playground and swing on the swings for awhile, looking like a large kid who may or may not be totally lucid. Or better yet, get a real workout. Go join a gym and vow to get in shape even if it kills you. Take the challenge, push yourself for once, ok? You will thank me later I promise.

Six - Ok, I'm running out here but listen up! Try putting your thoughts into words like a journal. You will find that it loosens up your brain tremendously, the experience is very freeing. Being creative after all takes us to a higher level of consciousness, which is very good for the soul.

Seven - last but not least, do something nice or helpful for someone you don't know. Well it could be someone you know too, but it's better if you don't know them, because then you likely won't ever see them again and don't "expect" any future gain from the act. Does that make sense? Helping someone just for the sake of helping them, for absolutely no other reason. Come on, if you look hard enough you will find someone. Hang in a mall parking lot for about 10 minutes, and you find some elderly person who needs help carrying something. If you are near a busy highway, drive a few miles looking for a stranded motorist to drive to the nearest gas station. Or just compliment someone, give someone an unexpected smile for no reason. Even something this small can really make someones day, give them faith in humanity again, if even for a small amount of time. And of course it's going to make you smile, too.

Think of any more? Write me!

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My Purposely Selfish Squidoo Post

Hello again,

Well it's come down to this I'm afraid, that I need post some info on Squidoo.com (one of my favorite places for free web pages) and say a few words. Why? Because I believe many of you still don't know about this site. It is a great way to get your message out there, whether you want to show off pictures of your hobby, your family, advertise for your business, tell a great story about your school or what's happening there, it's endless.

So this brings me to the "selfish" part of my post here- my links to my Squidoo pages. No, if you don't want to check them out I won't be hurt (but please, do!). They aren't all that great, anyway. Ok some are pretty good. So here they are, without further ado.

Find Health and Happiness


Make your goals do-or-die!


Happiness is a journey


The Road to Happiness

Get the power of habits

How to find more happiness

How to stay focused and achieve more

Spiritual growth and happiness

How to find success and motivation


well, there's a start for you. Hope you enjoy reading them! By the way, leave some feedback ok?

Thanks!


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References for Success? It's not what you think

Hey,

I know, it's been awhile since I've written anything at all. Shame on me! But I have been taking a break from it, working on other things. And just taking some vacation time of course, too. Of course I never stop learning, one of the things I always keep in mind is that if you aren't learning anything new your mind is probably turning to mush. And we can't let that happen, can we?

Recently I was listening to an old Tony Robbins MP3 file, something I forgot I even downloaded probably. He was talking about "creating references" in order to achieve more, something that got me thinking how much that is really true. In order to make something come true, we really have to envision it first in our minds, right? After that, we need to really believe that we can accomplish whatever it is we want to do, and imagine ourselves doing this task with complete confidence and certainty.

Creating references to our success is really about setting the stage for the picture of how our new reality will look. In order to create your future, you need to know how it's going to look, right? So why not make as many details to that picture as you can now? It's like putting together a puzzle, the more pieces of the puzzle you have in place the more that the puzzle looks like the box it came in. After awhile you really recognize things, and that makes it much easier to finish the puzzle, right? Same thing with your picture of reality - the more pieces of the "puzzle" you are trying to create, the more you will recognize your future and this will give you immense confidence that your future is really taking shape. As you get closer to the finish it just keeps getting easier and easier!

Let's put this into real life form so it's easier to understand. I knew this friend of mine who wanted to be a veterinarian, and she spoke about it night and day. How much she really wanted to work with animals, because she loved them and knew it was her "dream" job. So of course she finally made the leap and went to veterinarian school, which is really tough to get into. It took awhile, but she was very persistent and finally got in. This was the first step in her plan, because although she was around animals all her life she didn't have any formal training yet. She knew what she wanted, but wasn't totally convinced yet that she could really accomplish it. Once she finished vet school, she knew that it would take her closer to her goal of being a vet. She had to create strong references though in order to get through all of this training, because doing something this difficult was going to take a very long time to accomplish. Once she got through vet school, she had built up a huge reference that gave her more confidence in her ability to realize that dream, but she knew she still had a long way to go before the dream became her reality. After that, she had to go through an internship, and then pass a board examination to become licenses in her state. Yes, she knew what the eventual goal was and how to get it, but each step along the way was like another huge piece in the puzzle of her dream. She kept adding piece after piece, and finally it was really becoming clear that she was going to be a board certified vet, and have her own practice! When she first started, she wasn't convinced that it would happen. But as she got closer and closer, the picture was very clear.

This is just one example of how references build our confidence and create our reality, by reinforcing the picture each step of the way. Yes, it takes time to create a new reality for yourself. But that's what dreams are for, aren't they? Check out my new retirement blog here: motivation in retirement Thanks!

Create happiness = don't ever settle for less than your dreams!

Hello again,

Do you settle for less in life? What I mean is, if you can’t reach the highest goals you have set for yourself, do you just “give up” on them and settle for whatever you can get? It’s a very common phenomenon, but one I don’t think many people realize that they are doing. At least not consciously, if at all. Why would you give up on the dreams that you have? If you knew in your heart that you could not possible fail, and that every dream or goal that you wanted bad enough would most certainly come into being with enough effort, what would you really create in your life?

Notice, I didn’t say what would you “wish for” – because that automatically implies something like sprinkling fairy dust around and closing your eyes, hoping for the best. I don’t know if you were told, but those who wish for things rarely get much out of life. Don’t believe me? Other than some movie on TV or a kids channel, have you ever known someone to wish for something and it just came true? I didn’t think so, me neither. As kids we wish for things, not being mature enough to realize that you have to actually take action to thing happen in life.

But so many people, even when they realize this equation, don’t have enough belief in themselves to follow through and reach the goals and dreams that they really want in life. Why? I think many times we settle for less because we just don’t believe it’s possible to reach our goals. Or if you do believe it, at least a little bit, trying again and again with nothing to really show for it becomes to much of a burden. How many times have I seen people giving up on their dreams, when they could have been only a year or two away from having it all!

Are you crazy? You mean I have to work for years to reach my goals in life? Some people work hard for many, many years before coming close to their dreams. But the magic formula is if you don’t give up, you will eventually reach your goals. So how do I keep going, even in the face of little or no progress for long periods of time? Well for one thing, when you finally decide for real what you truly must have in life, not just what you want, then you take the next step and commit to it. Do you remember the scene in the original Star Wars movie where Yoda is teaching young Luke Skywalker to find his power? I will never forget his words, when Luke says “I will try”. Remember Yoda’s answer? There is no try, only “do”. That is the mindset you must have, that is what’s called a commitment! And that shouldn’t be a hard thing to do once you finally decide that you have had enough of “wishing”, enough of “trying”, and you are going to finally get serious enough to just “do”. It will change your life, like getting hit with a bolt of lightning square between the eyes. You will never settle for less again in life.


Visit us at find happiness here

Happiness - is it still possible when everything seems to suck?

Hi again,

Yes, I know. If your life sucks in a big way, then trying to be happy every day isn't just a chore, it's damn near impossible. At least for most people, anyway. You lost your job? Yeah, that is truly one of the biggest problems right now facing people in this country. What to do about - every single day is like waking up to a huge elephant in your living room. How do I know? Oh, I've been there myself of course! Not recently, but at a time when my life was sort of falling apart at the seams. I was in the middle of a divorce, losing my house, losing custody of my son most likely, and then got laid off from my job. How much worse could things get, right? I guess I had my health, but that's about all. If it wasn't for the kindness of a few friends and my parents, I would probably have been homeless.

So you are in the same boat? I hope you aren't, but if you have lost your job recently then the last thing you need is to get depressed about it. If you lose hope, you lose everything. In my opinion, anyway. That is the one thing I never lost when I was at my worst - I always knew in my mind and my heart that things would get better again. I figured it would take awhile, and it did. But if you lose hope you will take on a different approach to everything. Have you ever seen someone who is obviously depressed in public? You can tell, can't you. By the way they carry themselves, by the facial expressions they use, by their body language in general, they convey a total loss of interest in life. Can that possibly be a great way to help yourself in any way? I'm sure there are some people that really can't help themselves in any way, due to real medical issues, or mental illness. But unless your one of those, you have no excuse to be giving up on yourself. Give yourself some credit! You have amazing mental powers to do whatever it takes, right?

So I guess what I'm trying to say is if you are in a bad situation, you must make a decision to get started today and not only think positive, but consciously decide that nothing will stop you from turning things around. You know you can do it, because if other people can move on from their problems so can you. Think creatively, find help from friends or even strangers if you must, do whatever it takes to turn things around. You will find another job, you will get back whatever it was you lost, but only if you decide that you will. Remember, giving up isn't an option - so don't even consider it! Get back on the horse and ride, ok? Things can and will get better, they always do.



Visit us at financial planning in retirement

Your Comfort Zone - aka The Dream Killer

Hey there,

You know, we all want to be happy. If at all possible, ecstatic! Am I right? Of course, you can only stay in that state for so long though. After awhile, even the greatest vacations end. Then, you are back to reality my friend. That brings me to another point - the "comfort zone". Are you pretty comfortable right now in your life? Well, maybe you shouldn't be. Let me explain why.

Are you doing things on a daily basis that cause you discomfort? I’m not talking about real pain, just things that make you try harder, break through fear barriers, and in general cause you mental distress. If not, then you aren’t growing as a person – and probably never will! Ouch, what a slap shot, sorry about that. But it’s true!
The fact is that most people want to be successful in life, but never stop to think what it will really take to get there in their chosen field. If it means going back to college for 2 years of night school, could you do it? If it means to start your business you would need to work 16 hour days for a year or two (or more), could you do it? How about if it meant reading a book a week for about 6 months in order to really master a new skill? If you aren’t prepared to do any of those things because they are outside of your comfort zone, then you can forget being successful. I guarantee you will never reach your goals in life. Unless your goal is to be ordinary.

Yes the biggest dream killer by far is the dreaded “comfort zone” which most people live in their entire lives. And the funny thing is that people just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that people who have reached some success get tons of time to just relax, but only because they’re earned it! If you haven’t built a successful business, or in some way built a career that allows you mucho free time, then you are stuck in the grinding world of nine-to-five like everyone else. So how comfortable is that? Not very, if you ask me.

So what can you do about it? Well, find a way to make something happen in your life, build a business around your favorite hobby. Or write a book and publish it. Or take a course in stock trading and become an expert at that, working on making enough money to retire. But rest assured, if you don’t take massive action that puts you way out of your comfort zone, you will never be successful at much of anything. I promise – and I don’t make many promises! Visit us at our new retirement blog: earn extra income in retirement

Find Happiness by focusing on the wins

Hello again,

This is going to sound a little silly, but what do you like better – winning or losing? Ok, we all like winning. Kind of a no-brainer, right? So why do so many people focus instead on their losses in life instead of the wins?

Gotcha thinking now, huh. You are probably saying “but I never focus on losses!”, right? It would seem that way, but if you consider our underlying thought process, any time we set out to try something new, or perform a difficult task, in the back of our minds we have this little voice saying “don’t mess this up again, like last time”, or “please don’t embarrass yourself again” or something to that effect. It’s like we’re priming ourselves to fail, almost. For me, it happens when I have an important project to complete at work, and I’m under pressure. I know what I’m doing, but at the same time I know if I make one little mistake, or leave something important out, I will be chastised by the boss. Or worse yet, something will effect the company bottom line and I will really hear about it! But if I know what I’m doing, why does that sliver of doubt have so much weight?

Another way we sometimes focus more on negatives instead of the positives in life, is just about anytime we try to make an improvement in our lives. Whether it’s interviewing for a new job, applying for a loan for a home or new car, or working on a new relationship that we have want so badly to work out. Our belief system kicks in, and before you know it there’s that little voice again saying “I don’t deserve this, really”. Maybe you have learned to ignore that little subconscious voice, but you know it’s still there, right? And the thing is, that voice seems to be louder when we’re about to do something really important to us. I think there is a direct
correlation to the negative voice and the importance of what we are doing!

Ok, here’s an example…I was planning my daughters birthday party recently, and wanted to have it in a local park. Great place for party’s because you don’t have to clean up! Anyway, I suddenly got this scary thought…what if it rains?! Oh, no! What then? It will be ruined! Just it was…never before. That’s right, we had her party there last year, and it was perfect weather. So what was I worried about? That little voice kicked in big time! Why do I listen.

From now on, when I hear that little voice, I’m going to train myself to immediately think of the opposite. That’s right, if a negative pops into my head, I will immediately think of the exact opposite and how that situation is much more likely to happen! So instead of getting rain for the party it will be totally gorgeous. Instead of making a mistake or being late for that project at work, I’m going to nail it and get a huge raise. Instead of being tired when I go to the gym tomorrow, I’m going to say “wow, I’m so energetic today, where’s it coming from?”. And it will all be true, because I planted another little voice, one that’s positive all the time. Make it a habit, and I will be totally set!

It may sound ridiculously simple to say you’re going to do that, but it really can be done. If you have a habit of thinking of the worst that may happen, just focus on the positive things that happen in your life. Pretty soon you will notice more and more positive things happening, and realize that your focus is changing your reality. Focus on the “wins” in your life, and you will most certainly have more of them. I promise…

To your continued success and happiness!

Visit us at find happiness here

3taky5dxme

More success tricks I've learned recently

Hello again,

You know sometimes I surprise even myself. I've read probably close to one-hundred self improvement books, worked on being more focused and productive, and just as I'm starting to think maybe I have it down things go into overdrive. Let me explain...

My last post I was blathering on about being unfocused, right? Ok, so I really took the time to find a few new ways to solve that little problem, because 1) my job is really changing, and it's harder and harder to "fake" working anymore...lol 2) I can really see myself working from the house very soon, it's becoming clearer and clearer to me...Alas, my bank account says "NO", so I keep working anyway. Then I get this brilliant idea to make a checklist, and so I start making a list of things I need to do with my business on a daily basis. Starting out slowly, it's now up to about 18 things! I need to do these every day, too. So I give it a shot, right?

Wow, that was just what I needed! It was as if my life was automatically brought into focus for me, no longer sitting in my chair at the computer wondering what to do next...I have a list, so I just go down the list, in order, and do each little thing one by one. Pretty soon I'm almost done, and I've accomplished more in 2 hours than I've done for quite some time. It actually works! Yeah, I know. That was supposed to be the plan, duh. But really, it's like a fog has been lifted, and I see myself getting much more done. This after trying to put short-term goals in writing, which only "half" worked because when I didn't quite reach my goals I would be somewhat disappointed. With the list, it's like a daily reminder for me to do each thing, one by one, until completed. I take notes on certain things that for whatever reason can't be done, then make sure they are done the next day.

I truly recommend this method to anyone, start a list of tasks, with the date, name of the task, notes for specific tasks (such as writing stats, numbers, additions), and any other column if you want. Do it every day! This has to be the rule, if you start missing a few days you won't make it a habit, and it won't be of help. I'm not usually the anal retentive type, but this has got my attention. Let me know if anybody out there has used this technique before, ok? I would love to hear other success stories!


Visit us at the happiness place

Are you unfocused? How do you know

Hello again,

I have been working on many different areas of my business the past several weeks, and it dawned on me that maybe I wasn't being as focused as I should be. Like a dog chasing rabbits, I get distracted every time a new one pops into my line of sight!

Of course what mean is that I work on one website for awhile, then check my email, get distracted and check some new "trick" to get more traffic, then go back to what I was doing...you get the picture. Why can't I just focus on one thing until it's done?
I'm quite sure I'm not the only person that does that, whether you have your own business or not. If you just get distracted while doing one task (cleaning house, making dinner, sorting laundry, whatever) without finishing it, it's kind of frustrating isn't it? How do we combat that?

Maybe the answer isn't to stop getting distracted completely, but to at least cut down on the frequency? I'm trying out a new technique myself, but if anybody has any suggestions I would be glad to listen to them. Here is my battle plan:

1. Set a time limit to your task - "I will work on _____ for at least 30 minutes". That way you at least have a conscious plan in mind, rather than nothing at all.

2. Realize what is distracting you most, and STOP doing it - for me, checking email is like a habit. I know, it's insidious. It can be stopped though! I will check my email only X times a day from now on, and only at set times of the day. This will stop me from being so casual about it. I know in my mind there's nothing that can't wait, so make it wait while you accomplish the more important things.

3. Prioritize every thing - set up a daily list of priorities! I know, what a freekin' pain, right? But just think how much more organized you will be, and how much more work you will get done. Every morning, rise and shine - then make your list. And stick to it! Some priorities may change depending on certain circumstances, but at least you will have a PLAN. Yes, a PLAN! Don't like broken records? Well then, just do one thing... make a PLAN!

4. Most important of all, make time to play! If you are all business, and no fun, sooner or later a part of you will hate yourself. Huh? No, you will hate your life at least and won't be very happy. It's a part of my life's plan to be successful and happy, both should be equal. So do yourself a favor and live life, don't work yourself to death. Nobody every said on their death bed "I wish I would have spent more time working...."

Hey, I still expect some suggestions from the "crowd" so please, follow up! Holla back! Give me your 2 cents worth...?


Visit us at the happiness place

Too much about money? no way! way...

Good day,

Alright. Since I've been searching for the past week or more what's up with my low productivity level, and wondering why I'm not seeing the results I want, it occurred to me. Perhaps I'm putting too much emphasis on how much (or little?) money I've made so far, and too little on how much I've actually accomplished. I guess I have blindly followed the theory that says we have to envision the amount of money we want to receive,and then go out and put your dreams into motion and it will eventually come to you. Or something like that. Anyway, I think it's too hard for my subconscious to figure out what specific steps I need to do in order to create $20K each and every month, so I have to put in some specifics.

I know that goes against all the law-of-attraction visions that they tell you to burn into your brain, but at this point I need concrete steps in this ladder of success. For me, getting 50 more articles published in the next 2 weeks, or finishing 20 Squidoo lenses on my newest product niche are more relevant than saying "let's shoot for x number of web visits" - which is pretty much what I've been doing. I consider that if I get x number of website visits, I will be able to make y amount of money, give or take. However, the first step should be to be specific about what steps it will take to get those visits, and go from there. This is just one example of my new list of goals, short-term at least, that have been revamped completely.

I believe this is what has been the reason that I have been unproductive lately, something was not right and I couldn't figure it out. I just needed to change my focus a little bit, which is usually the problem when I don't quite know why things aren't working. I'm going to focus on more short-term goals for awhile, making a weekly list of things I need to get done, and let the long-term money goals take care of themselves. This way if I can get the little things done each day, which will add up to bigger things each week, I should be able to gauge how much progress I'm getting more specifically. Adjustments will need to be made, but the list should not change much each week. This is why it is so critical to write your goals down, in as much detail as possible, so if things aren't going well and long-term goals aren't being met, you will certainly know why. As they say, the devil is in the details!

With that said, I realize that summer is here and I will have many distractions that will rip me from my goals, both short-term and long-term. So I guess my alter ego, the one that is more fun-loving than me, will win once in awhile. So be it, I need some distractions once in awhile, eh? Wasn't it Lennon who said "life is what happens while we're busy making other plans"...

so, let's get busy! Learn more about money here: financial planning in retirement