Living Life My Way

The first part of living our life purpose is to know what we want to do with our own lives.

After we've figured that out, we sometimes are left asking the question, "Now what?"

Can you relate?

Well, I think this problem has to do with living life on our terms; or, living life my way. That's the song Frank Sinatra used to sing, My Way. For example, you may have already decided the next step for your life. You know what actions you will take. You know what you need to do to be successful. And at least you have a grip on the daily things you feel will best take you there.

Then, the voice of a friend, a parent, an authority figure, or even a random stranger enters the picture and says the dreaded: "You should do this...(fill in the blank)"

Do you let this comment confuse you? It is hard when people who we've trusted to raise us, protect us, have fun with us, or even help us make money in the past offer advice counter to that which we believe best for our own life.

If we're going to be successful in living our own purpose, then we need to listen to OUR voice. We need to listen to the voice of SPIRIT (God) in our life. We need to listen to nature. But listening to these other people is actually to live according to THEIR AGENDA for us. Perhaps you owe someone money. Or, someone else struggles to imagine the risks you take. Or, they just don't understand what you're trying to do.

In any event, I encourage you to put your full resources into your life purpose. Do not go about this bashfully. Do the things you must do to earn money to provide for your family. And, if that is this new purpose, you've got to figure out how to bring in money as quickly as possible, or risk putting the ones you love in jeopardy. I don't recommend doing that. It is best to moonlight until you have enough money saved up to launch, or until the second business is proving it can sustain more than the first. Otherwise, you may have to downsize expenses to make sure you can make ends meet. Whatever the case, do whatever you have to do to take care of business.

In the case of many people, they choose a path and then struggle to figure out ways to earn money. Look at the people who are most successful in this business you are entering. Examine how they succeed. Copy those things that help them succeed. Then be different in the ways you must to provide your own unique services.

Focus on living life YOUR WAY. In career, hobby, relationships, and family, the actions we take in how we manage our daily affairs determine much of our success. So set up your schedule and take action in such a way to create immense success in your endeavor(s). Don't be your own worst enemy; instead, be your own best ally. Then, ally others to your cause!

Living life my way is an extraordinary feeling. It is much more satisfying than living life for others, or according to the agenda of others. So, do it YOUR WAY. And enjoy the journey!
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Life In The Craziest Places

Have you ever found life in a place that surrounds you?

As I write this question, I remember this photo my brother took in the California desert, where he illustrated this one yellow flower, shooting up from the desert floor, somehow finding a unique and barren position to proudly spring forth a lovely bloom of yellowish white petals. No other flowers competed for attention. This one flower not only survived, but apparently flourished in such an odd place!

Well, last week, I noticed the swallows seeking out the eaves and rafters (in lieu of trees) for their nests. They build nests in the same places annually. My condo resides right where they like to lay their eggs to hatch in the nests. They make nests out of sticks, leaves, dirt, and water (they make a mud-pack using the water from the pool). For a look at what their nest is like, check out this video:



Pretty funny, huh?

Anyway, I encourage you to seek out life and interact with it. I talk to my swallows every day when I come and go. Every part of life is there for us to enjoy, if we merely take the time. It is a valuable aspect of "life purpose" to interact with other creatures in nature. Enjoy!
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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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