Choose Happiness

Happiness is a choice, a frame of mind largely independent of circumstances. You can find the happiest of people in the humblest of circumstances and the sourest of people who could not be more pampered.

And nobody would contest that happiness is tightly correlated to success socially and professionally, in the long term and for the short term.

Below are a few nuggets of wisdom I’ve gleaned from happy people.

1. Believe that happiness is a choice and choose to make it happen. Here’s a recipe below.
   1. First, choose to be happy. Feel deserving of happiness – no matter what you did in the past, where you think you fall short today.
   2. Next, know what it takes realistically to make youreslf happy. What’s the (smallest) delta between what you have/do/want now and where you’d like to be?
   3. After that, confirm that it’s a practical and doable objective.
   4. Then create an incremental plan to get from here to there.
   5. From there, consistently believe that your choices can bring you the happiness you’re seeking.
   6. Continue to proactively make those choices even when the road isn’t easy.
   7. Include others in your journey.
   8. Celebrate along the way.
2. Know yourself well and accept who you are, while also stretching the envelope for who you can become – but only if it helps you become happier and more fulfilled.
3. Be grateful for all you have, rather than focusing on what you wish you had. People could waste their lives waiting for something to happen…
4. Be proud of who you are and what you can do. Nobody’s perfect, and comparing yourself to others more perfect than you can easily lead to unhappy and unwelcome thoughts.
5. Bring positive energy to people and tasks around you – all the time, every time, especially when it’s really challenging to do so. But be authentic about it – don’t force it.  As a corollary, let go of people and things that bring you down. Many of us are burdened by tasks and obligations which bring work without joy and appreciation, without delivering intended results.
6. Be purposeful in what you do, and align it with what you’d like to accomplish.
7. Be resilient. Nobody succeeds and wins all the time, every time. Use every failure as a stepping stone to success. Embrace failure as a badge of courage.
8. Be compassionate to those who are not like you, and those who don’t agree with you. Be curious about how they are different than you and in what ways their viewpoints are different than your own.
9. Forgive yourself for past perceived infractions. Forgive others for same.
10. Be curious about what you don’t know, about how things work, how things will change. Complacency in what you do, overconfidence in everything you know will not lead to a happiness outcome.

As a final thought, be self-aware enough to understand and implement the thoughts above. Embrace the opportunity to read and process new information and new people, especially when it makes you uncomfortable. For embracing change is a road to happiness.

Best of luck in your quest for happiness.

Don’t wish for an ocean, for an ocean is too large. Do wish for the right droplet of rainwater and appreciate the life it brings to you.

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