Since we are dealing with the mind in this series, I think it would be prudent of me to share with you what I have recently learned about happiness and how it is connected with the mind.

Happiness is a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. The quickest way of being happy is to decide to be happy. Tell your mind to be happy. Do not put conditions to your being happy. Just resolve to be happy today, not in future.

Many personal development or self improvement blogs such as this one, and even books, seminars, tapes and workshops teach you ways of attaining success. They propose that following their doctrine will make you happy. Fortunately for you and I, there is a faster way of being happy, and that is by conditioning your mind to be happy.

You do not need to drive a Ferrari to be happy. You do not need to married to be happy. You do not need to have a degree to be happy. You do not need to be out of debt to be happy. You do not need to be in good physical condition or health to be happy.

I have found myself postponing my happiness many times in my life. I told myself that I will be happy once I score highly in my high school exams. I told myself that I will be happy when I graduate. Then I told myself that I would be happier when I start my own business, get a life partner or buy this or that.

Unfortunately as I achieved one goal in my life, there was always something more to do. For years I traded my present happiness for the hope of a better tomorrow. Many ambitious people like me end up making that mistake. Have you been limiting your present happiness until you achieve a goal or something happens? Have you postponed your happiness my friend?

I started this blog to be able to inspire my friends to be the best they can be. But I have other goals for it too. I want this blog to become popular. I want people to know about it, visit and leave comments. I want to build a thriving online community around this blog, for like minded fellows like you and me to meet, discuss what is happening in our lives and encourage each other. However, it is not an easy job. I have to put in hours upon hours, maybe even years, to make it all happen. I could postpone my happiness to the day my ideas and hopes become reality. But instead I choose to be happy today. I choose to be happy that YOU are reading this today. It is easier and better for me to rejoice with each new reader or commenter on this blog, than to wait for a million visitors that may or may never come.

Let us now look at how you can have a quick path to happiness in a few areas of life.

1) Health & Wellness

Many people who are out of shape (read fat or obese) postpone their happiness until after they get to their weight goals. It may take months or years to reach your desired goals in how you look. Why waste that time by being unhappy, in the hope you will be happy once you lose the weight? Many fat people avoid socializing, buying themselves nice clothes and being confident. They tell themselves that one day soon, they will live their dream life and be happy. If you are in that position my friend, my advice is really simple. Quit dreaming and be happy today. Life is too short to be lived in future tense.

2) Work (Jobs & Careers)

It is very easy to postpone happiness until you get a particular job or career. It is also very easy to postpone happiness to until you quit your job if you are unhappy with it.

We spend at least a quarter of our lives working every day. Why be unhappy at the job? Why ruin 25% of your life with something you can mentally control (in many cases)? You can control whether to be happy or not. It is a state of mind. Look at the glass as being half full in regards to your job and you may increase your happiness.

3) Financial Freedom

I believe that money can buy happiness if you know where to shop. But I also believe that in some cases, the money we come across the more problems we get. The best you can do is to de-link your happiness from the size of your bank account. It is easier said than done, but always bear in mind that you are not your money. You will still exist even without money. Be happy even when you have crippling debt. Have a plan for financial freedom and work to meet your financial goals and obligations, but do not let money come between you and happiness. You deserve more out of life.

4) Home & Family

You do not have to wait until you buy your own home for you to be happy. You can be happy whether you are married, single, with or without kids. Strive to be happy regardless of the home or family situation. Do not postpone your happiness until you make major strides in your home and family life.

5) Relationships

Relationships are like butterflies. They go through different phases and cycles. Learning to be happy at each phase of a relationship can save a relationship and even help the relationship thrive. What kind of relationships are you in (friendships included)? Are you happy or are postponing your happiness?

What a Fisherman Taught A Wall Street Guru about Happiness

I was once told a story about a Wall Street guru who made a bunch of money and decided to take a holiday to a Caribbean Island with his family.

He met a fisherman who showed him and his family around the Island. They got to talk about various issues. The Wall Street professional told the fisherman that if only he was ambitious like him, he would achieve a lot in his life.

Wall Street Guy: If I were you, I would get a couple of people to help me with the work, sell the fish to a bigger merchant, re-invest the profits and get a second boat, then maybe a third and a fourth boat.

Fisherman: Oh man! And what would you do with all them boats?

Wall Street Guy: I would be making so much money and would use some of that money to find out all I can about selling to bigger markets like the United States.

Fisherman: That’s one big market. It would be very tiring selling to all those people.

Wall Street Guy: You won’t have to get tired, in fact you could go to the bank and borrow against your business and expand it with other people’s money.

Fisherman: I fear other people’s money. I won’t sleep well at night if I owe people money.

Wall Street Guy: A lot of people run their businesses with other people’s money. You could even make a killing by listing on the stock market and retire rich.

Fisherman: What kind of money are we talking about here?

Wall Street Guy: Millions. Untold millions.

Fisherman: And what would you do if you had those millions?

Wall Street Guy: I would retire to a nice island with my family, spend my time relaxing and fishing.

Fisherman: And why do you want me to go to all that trouble just to end up where I am, doing exactly what I am doing?

Sometimes we take the long road to happiness. You may be chasing the wind with some dreams. Take a moment to reflect on what will really make you happy. Cut the fluff and just be happy. The road to happiness does not have to be that long.

Summary

A beautiful mind is one that gets results. Many people do things to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. In other words people do things in order to be happy. Do yourself a favor and find the quickest way to happiness. Hint: It is all in the mind.

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If a person focuses only on what is wrong in his life, he is surely going to find something. Negative thoughts are self fulfilling prophesies. It was only when the preacher snapped out of the negative thoughts spiral that he started experiencing healing in many areas of his life and body. His teachings went straight to my heart. He was a living testament that the mind is a powerful healing agent.

In the United States, efforts to articulate the relationship between the care of the body and the state of the mind, morals and emotions date back almost 200 years. Respected psychologist and philosopher William James wrote in 1902 that “mind-cure gives to some of us serenity, moral poise, and happiness, and prevents certain forms of disease as well as science does, or even better in a certain class of persons.” A positive mental attitude, just like an apple a day, will keep the doctor away.

Dr Deepak Chopra, M.D, wrote the book Perfect Health, the first practical guide to harnessing the healing power of the mind, which became a national bestseller in the US. He teaches that though we experience our bodies as solid, they are in fact more like fires that are constantly being consumed and renewed.

We grow new stomach linings every five days, for instance. Our skin is new every five weeks. Each year, fully 98 percent of the total number of atoms in our bodies is replaced. Your thoughts are more real than your body. Freedom from sickness depends on contacting our own awareness, bringing it into balance, and then extending that balance to the body.

Positive Thinking and Health

Your mind is very powerful. You become whatever you think about or envision. Positive thinking means changing the predominant thoughts in your mind to pleasant and empowering thoughts. Some people think of it as self hypnosis, while others think of it as a way of connecting with the mystic of the universe. If you populate your mind with positive messages, you will see a fundamental shift in your fortunes, feelings and outcomes.

The father of Positive Thinking Dr Vincent Norman Peale wrote that you must “Formulate and stamp indelibly on you mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. And hold this picture tenaciously. You can’t ever permit it to fade. Over time your mind will develop this picture, brighten the detail. Never doubt the reality of the mental image, because doing so is dangerous. The mind also tries to complete what it pictures. So always picture “success” no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment”.

Your mind has a tremendous impact on the recovery process. If you ever find yourself sick or disabled but have a sound mind, use your mind to will yourself back to good health or help you cope with the situation. If you want to achieve a level of fitness or quit some vice like smoking, start by visualizing yourself leading a healthier lifestyle. Good health begins with the mind and manifests in the body.

Summary

You become what you think. Positive self talk and attitude can help you achieve your healthy living goals. The thoughts that are constantly running in your mind will affect your moods and behavior. Your moods affect your choices. Your choices affect your health.

I hope you have enjoyed and were inspired by the mind series. Here is a quick recap on some of the things we have looked at in this series.

A Beautiful Mind

Many people spend more time at the gym or beauty parlors, than in taking care of their mind.  To succeed in life, you and I need to have beautiful minds. A beautiful mind does not just happen; it has to be made that way, through training and practice.

If you develop your ability to reason, see life from different perspectives, think positively etc, you will be better suited for success. Your mind helps you control your luck and prospects in life. Your mind helps you control your emotions and actions. A beautiful mind leads to success.

The Joy of a Winning Mindset

A winning mindset will bring joy to your life. If you think and behave like a winner, you will win and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Have a winning attitude and you will enjoy success.

The average man’s ejaculate is 280 million sperms. Only 1 is required to make a baby. If you are reading this it means you won a nearly impossible swimming championship. Even champion swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe never had to compete with that many people at the Olympics. Always remember that you were once a winning sperm. Even when faced with life’s difficulties, remember you were born a winner.

The Amazing Power of “Why”

A beautiful mind asks why things happen. Do you have a beautiful mind? What kind of questions do you ask yourself? What kind of questions do you ask others?

Asking the right kind of questions helps us have clarity of purpose, inspires thinking and problem solving. Questions are the fuel for action. They help us get off the zombie state and move us to action. Asking questions also helps us be accountable, and at the same time helps manage expectations.

The kind of questions you ask yourself determine  your destiny. Ask yourself the right kind of questions today and experience a shift in your mindset and fortunes.

Concentration Precedes Success

Concentration means intense mental effort directed at a specific objective. It also refers to great and constant diligence and attention. It is very difficult to succeed without concentration. A mind that concentrates is a beautiful mind. It is a mind that will get results and give you power to overcome challenges.

Concentration means focusing on a single idea or action with intensity. Concentration helps you solve problems and come up with the fastest path to attain your goals. Avoid the fallacy of multitasking by completing one task before embarking on another. Be aware that information overload can be a drain on productivity.

The Value of Specialized Knowledge

Getting specialized knowledge and skills will give you an edge over people with only general knowledge. Time and effort spent in gaining specialized knowledge pays handsome dividends.

General knowledge is wonderful and very impressive. Knowing the names of all countries in the world is general knowledge. Knowing the names of leading brands of mobile phones is general knowledge. General knowledge may set a good foundation for your success, it will get you through the door, but you only get real results by acquiring and applying specialized knowledge.

Gaining specialized skills is a good way of enhancing your prospects for success. Specialized knowledge is actionable and will give you more confidence and make you more relevant in the market place.

Speed Reading For Prosperity

Speed reading is a collection of reading methods which attempt to increase rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention. Improving your reading speed can help you get more out of life. It is a valuable skill to have and would be well worth your time to acquire it. Imagine if you could double or triple your reading speed? How would that affect your success?

We have to consume increasing amounts of information to gain an edge. Those who can read quickly and accurately excel more in their studies and careers.

The more successful you want to become in the information age, the more likely you will be exposed to a lot of information. Being able to read, understand and apply information is critical for success and prosperity in a knowledge economy (information age).

Live Courageously – Put Fear in its Place

Fear is an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight). Fear is a powerful force, but a beautiful mind does not let fear become its chief guiding force. Fear prevents action and modifies behavior in ways that slow down your journey to victory. Fear has its good side; it just needs to be put in its right place.

Fear has its place in survival and behavior modification, but it can paralyze progress. Successful people should learn about fear and manage it, and even harness it to get the results that they want. Understand fear and put fear in its place. What kind of fears do you have? Are they limiting your success? What can you do to face or address your fears?

The Quickest Path to Happiness

Happiness is a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. The quickest way of being happy is to decide to be happy. Tell your mind to be happy. Do not put conditions to your being happy. Just resolve to be happy today, not in future.

Many personal development or self improvement blogs such as this one, and even books, seminars, tapes and workshops teach you ways of attaining success. They propose that following their doctrine will make you happy. Fortunately for you and I, there is a faster way of being happy, and that is by conditioning your mind to be happy.

A beautiful mind is one that gets results. Many people do things to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. In other words people do things in order to be happy. Do yourself a favor and find the quickest way to happiness. Hint: It is all in the mind.

Summary

You can harness the power of the mind to turbo charge yourself to success. Do not let fear paralyze you, instead focus on your desired outcomes, and take action.

Aspire to develop your mind every day by learning from others, through reading and challenging yourself. Ask yourself the right kind of questions. Asking the same question over and over will only provide the same answers. Be prepared to ask yourself hard questions regarding your success.

To be able to prosper in education and careers, you will need to develop your concentration and speed reading abilities in order to be able to acquire actionable knowledge. Remember that the power of any knowledge is in the application.

I hope you were inspired by the “Mind Series”.

The mind is a powerful component of success. I dare say that it is all in the mind. If you can win in your mind, it is very likely that you will win in the physical realm.

Please share this blog post with your friends who may not be reading the blog yet. Thank you for all the comments and visits to this blog.

I would love to hear your thoughts (by commenting) not just on this blog post but the entire mind series.

Kind Regards

Daniel Ngari