Finding happiness in life is not something we rush off to search for; authentic happiness is right here inside us. It's what we think of our own lives and how we feel - not what someone else thinks happiness is. What makes you happy may not make me feel happy. Thank goodness really; we don't all want the same things, the same experiences, the same partners.
But can we learn how to become happy? Yes we can. In our hearts we know how to be happy. We can choose moment by moment how we want to feel. It's partly a matter of focusing on what makes us feel good, and sometimes even seeking a little help.
“The purpose of creation is
the expansion of happiness”
– Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D. the University of Pennsylvania.
In order to create happiness Dr. Seligman's research focuses on 'Positive Psychology' - positive emotions, virtues and strengths. In order to discover what your virtues and strengths are Seligman has created a comprehensive 240 question 'signature Strengths Survey' which is used to measure how much positive emotion you experience. When you have identified your individual strengths they can be nurtured from now on, with benefits to your health, relationships, and career. “The life-changing lessons of Authentic Happiness help us identify the very best in ourselves, so we can improve the world around us and achieve new and sustainable levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.”
“Authentic Happiness is a must read for two groups of people: anyone interested in a deeper, sophisticated, more integrated treatment of the Positive Psychology movement; and those people who struggle for greater contentment in their daily lives. This book can make the world a better place for all human beings. I intend to buy it for all of my friends who have visions of a better world.”
—Don Clifton, co-author of "Now, Discover Your Strengths"
“Martin Seligman is the leading spokesman for the new movement of positive psychology, which focuses on mental health rather than mental illness. In this most helpful book he identifies characteristics and strategies of people with positive outlooks and explains how you can cultivate and experience authentic happiness and other desirable emotional states more of the time. Professor Seligman makes me optimistic and authentically happy about the future of psychology.”
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Authentic Happiness Coaching
Based on the research from his book Dr Seligman worked with Dr Ben Dean to develop a program to train mentors for Authentic Happiness. Coaching for happiness can help you to identify your strengths and virtues, and to focus on these for deeper happiness.
Just Google Authentic Happiness Coaching to find a qualified coach near you. (You can use the google search bar below)
Need help in choosing a Personal Coach? Read this before you spend a lot of time and undertake expense.
How to Be Happy
It's all in your head. You create it yourself according to Professor Dan Gilbert, Harvard, author of “Stumbling on Happiness”, who says that happiness is truly a state of mind, and is subject to subtle emotional and psychological compensations that build our outlook on the large and small events that impact our lives.
We are wired to be happy with our lives, even if it means we are creating our happiness out of the scraps of disappointment or even tragedy. Watch this video with Dan Gilbert - Happiness is all in Your Head.
“Start making a list of things to be grateful for. Start with that because this shifts your energy. It starts to shift your thinking. Where before this exercise you might be focusing on what you don't have, you might be focusing on your complaints, and you might be focusing on whatever the problems are. When you do this exercise you start to go in a different direction, you start to be grateful for all the things that you feel good about.”
The more grateful you are, the more you have appreciation of beauty and excellence; the more hope and optimism you develop. These feelings create greater passion and enthusiasm for life = happiness How to Make a Gratitude Journal
“We don't give thanks because we're happy. We are happy because we give thanks.”
Douglas Wood
“Many people in Western culture are striving for success. They want to have the big home, they want their business to work, they want all of these things. But what I've found in my research is having those things certainly doesn't guarantee what we really want, which is happiness. And that's when all those outer things come. They don't come from going after them first to get happiness. It's backwards. You go for the sense of inner joy, of inner peace, of inner vision first, and then all the other things from the outside appear.”
Quotations about searching for happiness and creating happiness and joy can help you appreciate whether or not you really are happy already.
"If you don't think everyday is a good one, just try missing one."
Cavett Robert
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful"
Herman Cain
"It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has"
Henry Ward Beecher
"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions"
Albert Einstein
Learn about Life Happiness from Mike Dooley
"It's through the pursuit of my goals and dreams that I learn my lessons and even greater secrets about life and myself.
As far as fun and meaning go in my life today, by most standards I've been doing pretty well..." - Taken from Mike Dooley's bio at www.tut.com
I believe Mike Dooley is a true master when it comes to life and happiness.
