by miami | Oct 18, 2006
Last post I was down. Now I am on the way back up. It feels SO good to be going up.
Remember I said the cool thing about being down is the relativity of being up. It is so true. I think also that being down brings with it a consciousness all it’s own of “why am I down” and “what can I/will I/must I do about it?”
From those thoughts come actions. Conscious thinking always brings actions.
This morning I spoke for a hour to 500 high school freshman and their teachers (more…)
by miami | Oct 16, 2006
Sometimes I go on and on about finding happiness and contentment where some might think I am just bubbling with joy every minute.
Not exactly.
You see, surely I am not that much different from you. Are you bubbling with joy every minute!
This weekend has me thinking this morning I would love to just pack and leave! Hit the road. Go do something new! (more…)
by miami | Oct 13, 2006
Finding happiness is a subject I am passionate about.
A lot of people share that passion, and I search them out wherever I can.
For the last two years I have also been studying internet marketing from some of the best minds on the interent. One of the best is John Reese.
John created an information product, rolled it out over a perios of time and created over $1 million in revenue – in one week.
John is a cool guy. He shares his knowledge well, and often and I enjoy his articles and his newsletters (paid subscription $99 a month!)
Today he released a video I highly recommend to you. He shares a system he used to go from over $100k in debt ot a slef made millionaire. and he shares it for free. No strings attached.
Click here to get the video. It is an hour long but worth it. He gives some great simple advice and three steps to happiness and success.
I think enough of it to start tomorrow!
http://www.marketingsecrets.com/newblog/
Miami
by miami | Oct 7, 2006
We are talking about an email conversation with a former client turned friend who has given permission to use our exchange on finding happiness on the find happiness now blog.
If you haven’t read it, you might want to read the previous post to catch up.
One of his answers to the question of being focused (to be able to make progress) was this:
He said: So that I can earn a stable income and raise my self esteem back up to where it should be. This will pretty much eliminate my depression.
This was my comment back to him:
Here is my comment about self esteem, and this is almost the core of a lot that I do as a personal coach. What I hear you saying is that your ‘mood’ or happiness is tied to something other that internal. This is IMO a huge mistake and this is why. You will never be satisfied with outside measurement of success – only inside. Happiness, self worth – in fact any feelings must come from your own making and not be determined by outside influence.
I believe with all my heart that you can and will get this sooner or later. This was THE lesson that turned the corner for me after we had moved here(1999). I was absolutely broke, I had declared bankruptcy, lost $35,000 in savings, and knew no one at all. I didn’t have enough money to get into a place to live. All I could think was “what was wrong with me?” With some coaching help, one day I got it. And it really wasn’t just one day – it was over time looking back.
You can do it too. It is simply a mind thing. And you are a hell of a lot smarter than I am. You just want to analyze it – just like you used to do with everything we discussed when we coached.
Well THAT exchange set him off.
He wrote (he has lately taken up meditation):
“simply a mind thing”, a tad of an understatement. I will whip this, but I had 27 years of the wrong habits and thoughts. I think it is unrealistic to expect an instant fix. 18 months ago I wasn’t sure I would even survive, that’s how bad the depression was. Analyzing your thoughts and understanding them is what Buddhism is largely about! And I defy anyone but an actual Buddha to be happy and complete with absolutely no income in modern society. I have no desire to be a monk.
And my answer:
I have trouble with your statement because it seems you are equating happiness with income. Income can certainly make you more comfortable – but happy? I don’t think so. Just my opinion from personal experience (as you know I have and have not had money in my life) and from being intimately involved in coaching over many people – lots of them having issues around this same subject. This is the experience that gave the content for the book. (BeDoHave -Find Happiness Now)
And finally another exchange we had I hope might shed some light for you as well: We were discussing what exactly he was going to do. (Accountability)
He said:
I plan on hitting it again this week with a lot of time and effort.
I wrote back:
So – if I may ask – what exactly is your plan? Have we ever talked about tribes? Ask me sometime. Consider this: we move at the speed of the tribe we are connected to, and invested in.
For instance: the’tribe’ called society moves very slowly. Yes?
the tribe called the church moves faster but still slowly.
the tribe called the “Phillips” moves very fast in relation to these two.
the tribe called “Miami’ moves at light speed.
I believe with all my heart I have the ability to change instantly. Does it work all the time? Obviously not. What tribes are you invested in? Just curious.
I sincerely hope you have benefited from these excerpts of a conversation. If you have something you would like to say – we would love to hear it!
Email me at miami@bedohaveu.com or leave a comment here on the blog.And don’t worry – be happy!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, find+happiness, finding+happiness, tribe, focus, vision
by miami | Sep 30, 2006
I have something special coming here on the blog in the next few days. Several people have graciously given permission to use their stories to help understand some of the basic lessons taught with the free tools gift available on the site.
The first example comes from a former coaching client turned friend who contacted me during the move of the list lately to tell me his story.
In a way, his story is very similar to many I have heard.
How many times are we given (often for free) tools, tips and techniques to do whatever it is that we want to do?
Then how many times do we NOT act or use those tools?
My client, let’s call him Paul, had called me looking for some life direction. He was drifting a bit, not happy in what he was doing, not making enough money, going through a divorce, and fighting for custody of a child.
One of the first things we worked on was his definition of success and his values. These exercises are crucial to being able to create the life you want.
How would you ever be able to create your life if you do not define the life that you want?
Defining what success is for you and defining your top four values allows you a clear platform from which to make decisions. We must understand that all the individual choices and decisions we make each and every day all add up to the creation of our lives.
Paul worked hard on his definitions and made some hard choices based on those definitions to begin to crawl out of the hole he felt he was in.
And he did crawl out. When we ended our official coaching agreement, Paul had made some great strides in self confidence, focus, and understanding the process to achieving his stated goals.
So what happened between then and when he wrote me last week?
Let’s go though that tomorrow!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, tools, happiness+tools, unhappy, success
by miami | Sep 22, 2006
Tell the truth, I am getting a bit sick of experts! They are people like me and you who get quoted and then everyone takes their words as gospel.
BS. I am getting too less young to be taken in.
I do read a lot about happiness, and finding happiness (after all I have to keep up so I can be an expert too!) and when I do I find there is nothing that has not been said in the last 2000 years or so.
But anyway here is an excerpt from an article in the penningtonpost.com (wherever that is!) by Nancy Pickering talking about one of my favorite people Charles Shultz. (author of Peanuts)
We cannot expect to live in a state of complete happiness, say the experts. We should expect our happiness to come in bursts, for, after all, happiness is an emotion that gives us direction. We can’t always have our compass pointing in one direction. There are other emotions that direct our lives.
However, several truly happy moments a day are within reach. The recognition of and impact of those moments can only be determined by the person experiencing them. While you may smile when you walk barefoot through dew-laden grass on a sunny morning, someone else might cringe and find the experience “yucky,” to quote a famous grouch. So, taking a page from the “Peanuts” gang and Maria’s “favorites” list, I compiled the following short and personal “Happiness” collection – the smell of coffee brewing (I don’t drink it, just love the smell) and knowing the one who brewed it has been there for me for more than 40 years; flowers blooming where you don’t expect them; children giggling; toddler hugs; a real letter (not an e-mail); someone who says thank you; someone who smiles; finding a penny; walking in the rain; planting something; sewing something; knitting something with real wool; baking something; writing something; phone calls from my children and grandchildren and line-dried, clean sheets at the end of a busy day.
No matter how short-lived our happiness moments, they all benefit our well-being. So, in the middle of a hectic, frustrating day, it pays to pause and find some happiness close at hand. According to the experts, it may just affect your emotional compass and send you off in the right direction.
The Pennington Post – Happiness is…
Don’t forget to sign up to get notified when something is posted here. You really want to know because –
For the last three years I have been steadily (well off and on anyway) working on a project soon to be released. It will be a limited release and might well offer the opportunity to change a life. I will offer it first to my readers before taking it out to the web.
All you have to do is sign up for the rss feed or the free Two Steps on the sidebar at the top.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, find+happiness, Charles+Shultz
