4 Ways To Increase Happiness Immediately

Most self help is ultimately about discovering how to be happy.

I've read over 5,000 books related, in one way or another, to improving either my own life or the lives of others. And, in so reading, I can say that ultimately what we seek when reading such a book is to increase our happiness from one of the following things:

1. Increases in:
a. Pleasure; improving how much we enjoy the things we do.
b. Career Success; be a better boss, creating a dream job, etc.
c. Dating/Relationship finding/keeping someone special and improving how we relate.
d. Financial Abundance; making more money, investing more wisely, etc.
e. Health; being healthy in diet, weight, muscle, shape, etc.
f. Hobby/Free Time; improving certain aptitudes in recreational activities.
g. Wisdom; gaining perspective in life, philosophy, and experience.

Sometimes, our success increases when our failure decreases, so many additional books deal with decrease. Therefore, our happiness increases when we decrease some of the following:

2. Decreases in:
a. Getting rid of doubt and self-incrimination.
b. Fear; removal of fear or ways to overcome fear.
c. Blocks; removal of blocks to success.
d. Debt; ways to remove or eliminate debt or poor money management.
e. Poor relationship choices; bad dating or inter-relational habits.
f. Failure; learning from failure to turn losing into winning.
g. Disease; overcoming disease or other health ailments.
h. Time management failure; overcoming procrastination, etc.

Almost all self-help topics could be categorized in one of these sentences above.

Based upon this analysis, I'm going to give you four simple ways to increase happiness:

First, Take three.

If you wish to increase happiness, why not take the simple approach to address THREE of these at any given time. No more than three, just three. If you're having a problem with doubt, start a new discipline of confidence. Find the experts on teaching confidence and learn the essence of what they share. If you're struggling with getting in shape, take one new action that will do that for you: in my case, I've joined a new gym today that will enable me to drop the next 10 pounds in my weight management goal. Or, if you're not enjoying your career, do a career evaluation. Read a few books written by people who LOVE their career and follow some of their advice. By working on several aspects of your life and continually improving, you're creating a habit of life improvement. This habit will lead to increased happiness.

Second, What really matters most?

If you ask almost anyone who has lived a full life, they will tell you that sharing laughter and stories with good friends and family are the moments that matter most in your life. To improve this aspect, why not create special time for those you love, who add the most joy to your life, each week? Perhaps Saturday coffee with friends, or meeting for a happy hour on Thursday or Friday night? Maybe a special Tuesday dinner night that moves from couple to couple? Do something like this a couple of times a week and you'll never feel like you've missed something important. By spending time with those you love, you automatically ensure you'll be happier.

Third, simplify.

In Eastern philosophy, common wisdom is to simply "be" in the moment and experience life right now. What can you do to help you accomplish this? Can you reduce the clutter in your home? Can you make your commute shorter? How can you reduce wasted space or things you no longer use? How can you minimize time spent wastefully and replace it with things you love the most? To the extent you can accomplish some of this simplification, your life will improve and you will be happier.

Last, it may sound silly, but LOOK UP and show the sky your PEARLY WHITES.

We need sunlight and I always find it remarkable that when I make a practice to look up to the sun and show the sky my pearly whites, I automatically lift my mood. The converse is watching television. The more we watch television, where we commonly look straight or down, and let life get dictated or shown to us, we have happiness decrease. So, this last one is simple: get outside more often and spend less time in front of the television. When you're outside more often you will bump into people and have a chance to witness, create, and experience life more fully. While you're at it, why not learn something new? Tennis, golf, basketball, play an instrument, paint a landscape, whatever, but doing something outside is likely to make you happy.

So, there's a simple four-part strategy to increase happiness and enjoy your life more completely. If you find this useful, share it with friends!

Did I miss anything on your own list of happiness creation? If you've got more ways to improve happiness, feel free to weigh in on my comments page.
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Success Does Not Come in a Box at AspireNow: Seriously Fun Self-Help Radio Show

Check it out: Dr. Michelle L. Casto, Author and Life Coach talks with Scott on the AspireNow: Seriously Fun Self-Help Show this week.

Topic: "Success Does Not Come In A Box: Go from Job Stress to Career Bliss"

When: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, at 5:00 PM PST / 8:00 PM EST

Where: Call (724)444-7444 Enter 37792 # 1 # or visit http://www.AspireNow.com or http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792 to visit online and/or text-chat questions for Michelle.

Details: Tired of the "Get-rich-quick" offers flooding your email? Does an e-mail degree really mean you're ready for a new career? Get a better plan with Michelle Casto, who offers an enlightened approach to career transition in this week's AspireNow: Seriously Fun Self-Help Show. Why perform work that makes you sick and feels like you are selling your soul for money?

In this thought-provoking show where Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow.com, interviews Dr. Michelle L. Casto, the Soul coach, you will learn how to:

Break the cycle of chaos and confusion.... make this your "Turning Point Moment" towards the success and happiness you desire and deserve.

Discover how MEANING AND MONEY can go together...find out how to do it and why this combo makes your heart sing with joy.

Start living your dreams... realize the passion and balance of living your best, true self.

Find out the simple, fast, and easy way to make a SPIRITUALLY SMART career change.

Learn many more tips towards a successful career transition...determine a method to select a career coach who understands you.

And, as always on the AspireNow Show... be inspired to reach your higher aspirations!

What's great about Michelle is that she's led over 200 courses on career change the past 10 years. She's literally a MASTER at the process. Why fumble along on your own when a wise coach, with empathy and understanding, can help guide you on your path.



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I Hate Your Job

Do you hate your job?

Well, guess what? You're not alone: if you're doing the work of about 84% of the people in the world, I hate your job, too! Why? Because your JOB might just stand for "Just Over Broke" or most likely your JOB might just be something you're doing to make money, but not something you truly love! In other words, your job very well might be downright BORING! The fact is, if you're not in your DREAM JOB, as only 16% in America seem to be, then what job are you in? If it leaves more you than 30% dissatisfied, then you'd probably say "I hate my job" and frequently think your job sucks, right?

Here's a video that was created by a job-board website to imply that some jobs are better than others:



Forgive me for thinking that pushing paper is boring, or for feeling that telling lies to someone to make a sale is fulfilling to your soul, or for questioning whether getting shoved into that back-office with fluorescent lighting makes you feel happy inside. Yee-haw! Is that what you wanted to be when you grew up? At the least I can say I empathize with you hating your job.

Maybe you want higher pay, a dream job, a FUN job, or simply wish you had a way to balance work and family life AND not worry about how much paycheck is left in your month.

Is this you?

Stay tuned, though, because over the next few weeks I'll be sharing more and more insights into free ways I'm helping people in college not blow their education, helping people in jobs they hate leave them to a career they love, and blasting away the idea that you're too old, too fat, the wrong color, not smart enough, hip enough, or savvy enough to do the job of your dreams. No, I'm not advocating that you up and quit your job without a plan for the next step. I'm just suggesting that a plan is coming...

Is it too good to be true? I double-dog-dare you to find out.

Coming soon... learn "The secrets of the 16 percent..."

Other related articles you might enjoy in the meantime:

http://aspirenow.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-discover-your-life-purpose.html
http://arriive.blogspot.com/2007/11/fear-or-love.html
http://arriive.blogspot.com/2007/11/demise-of-dreaded-office-cubicle-modern.html

ONE LAST THING: If you're one of the 16% who LOVE their job, right now, then maybe you can think of a friend (or two, or three, or four hee hee hee) who might benefit from what's going on over here at AspireNow. Cheers to you for spreading the word!