The Power of Happiness
When I’m with my kids and when I feel like I’m guiding them through life the right way, that too fosters happiness. When I’m inspiring people to become their very best (like now, I hope), and when I’m teaching on stage and on camera—all these things give me a deep level of happiness. So what’s on your list? More specifically, what’s on your list today? If I were to have created this list 5 or 10 years ago, my answers would have been different. Some were materialistic, and some were embarrassing. So make sure you’re thinking about your present happiness. Also, don’t confuse happiness with goals. I still have mate- rialistic goals, financial goals, and achievement goals. I’m not stopping my evolution. But I know the difference between goals and what makes me happy. I want to make sure you do too. The search for happiness starts by thinking through and defining the term as it applies to your current life. So try this: Jot down things without overthinking them. Don’t limit your list to things you do, but also include the thoughts that make you happy, blessings that you can be grateful for, and activities that bring you joy. Write, write, and write some more! Then look back at your list and circle three to five items that you feel strongly about, and those are typically your top ones.
HAPPINESS HABIT #2: MAKE THE PRESENT YOUR FRIEND
And no, I don’t mean the present underneath the tree at Christmas time. I’m talking about the present day, the right now, this very moment you are living in. You have to make it your friend. So many of us go through life looking forward to tomorrow, to next week, to next year, instead of making friends with the right now. We think to ourselves, “When I get this promotion, when I start my own company, when my company’s profitable, when my wife truly understands me or my husband just gets me, when my kids are out of diapers, when they go off to college, when I lose weight—then and only then I’ll be
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