Image from The Inclusion Solution
Whatever you celebrate this time of year, may it bring you joy.
May you spread that joy everywhere you go, and bring it with you into the new year.
All my best,
Barry Demp
Image from Flickr by Christopher Connell
Who would you want to be with if you were stuck in an elevator for an hour or longer?
What one person would you want to be with if you were stranded on a deserted island?
If someone calls you at home just as you head to bed for the night, who would you most want that caller to be?
Examine the qualities and characteristics of the people you identified. How does your happiness index improve by the thought of their company?
What work may be needed on your part to have others put you on their list of special people?
Image from Flickr by monnibo
My wife Wendy is very creative. She heads several women’s groups focused on crafts, including many forms of needlework.
I admire the time and attention to detail these patient women put into their art, as they literally weave pieces of themselves into their work.
Imagine your life as a quilt, with a wide variety of fabrics that you have worn along your journey. Make sure to capture all of the stand-out, deeply felt memories that have brought you great happiness along the way.
Begin today adding more happy experiences to your existing quilt, or start planning what new and beautiful pieces of art you intend to create moving forward.
Image from Flickr by Marie-Chantal Turgeon
Take a few minutes to observe the pace of life around you. Many people describe their days as busy, hectic, stressful, maybe even chaotic.
In many ways our fast-paced, multi-tasking world makes us very productive. Yet, we are often so driven we miss the stop signs that can help us fully appreciate and enjoy the moments.
Where and in what ways can you slow down your pace of life to more fully enjoy it, and experience your share of happiness?
Image from Flickr by Blondinrikard Froberg
If I double-dared you, would you be doubly happy? The relationship between risk and reward is a topic of interest to many. Stories abound in the media, especially when you examine people who have achieved great wealth or who have lost everything—sometimes repeatedly.
But what about happiness? How does an orientation to risk-taking correlate to moving the needle on the happy meter? This idea fits perfectly with the concept of coaching, in which an individual acknowledges a personal or professional future they wish to realize.
To do so, however, requires taking the risk of leaving their current, often safe and secure realities for some more desired vision they see for themselves. Not to do so is considered by many the biggest reason for a life of regret, which no one would desire.
Where and in what ways could you take a more daring approach to your days, to lead a more interesting, exciting, and happier life?
Consider picking up a copy of Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar to examine other ideas to pursue greater happiness.
Image from storypic.com
I am currently coaching an attorney who wishes to make a career transition to something far more in line with his vision and values. Ask him about what he finds distasteful about his current career and his response is clear: he does not enjoy all the fussing and fighting.
Examine your professional and personal worlds to determine just how much of your time you and others spend fussing and fighting. If the amount is unacceptable, examine the cost to your health, happiness, and overall life satisfaction.
What steps can and will you take to neither initiate nor participate in fussing and fighting? Lennon’s coaching and life is for all of us to appreciate and be reminded of just how short and precious a life can be.
I am currently reading The Art of Happiness by the Dali Lama. His teaching indicates that the purpose of life is to be happy.
Foolishly, many people pursue their happiness through extrinsic factors. Although many of these pursuits can result in pleasurable moments, rarely do they produce enduring or sustainable happiness. Wise people, on the other hand, have learned over the years that intrinsic factors much closer to home are the source of a meaningful and more enduring form of happiness.
How can you increase your own personal happiness by embracing more factors that lie right under your feet, and far fewer in the distance?
Image from Flickr by Sebastien Wiertz
A topic that comes up fairly frequently in my coaching sessions these days is aging. As someone in the middle of the Baby Boom Generation, I see that most of my contemporaries are also experiencing the “grayification” of our society. We’re dealing with aging parents and our own health and fitness related issues.
Despite all of our best efforts to eat better, exercise more, and get much-needed rest to renew and recharge, we are heading toward an entropy of life, where things begin to break down and stop working optimally.
There happens to be a new form of coaching called “Eldering.” One of its tenets is to assist people in navigating these years with more grace, dignity, and life mastery.
How can you adjust, adapt, or change yourself in relationship to those issues and situations that are unchangeable, to more fully experience a life of greater happiness and fulfillment?
Image from www.culpwrit.com
Over the spring and summer months, road construction in Michigan increases dramatically. Many people joke that we only have two seasons in Michigan—winter, and construction.
Unfortunately, the “happiness level” of many people drops considerably when the orange barrels and detour signs appear. These and other life detours—the things that differ from our intentions and expectations—will always be part of our lives. Today’s quote coaches us to make the most of them rather than resisting them.
How can you shift your perspective on the detours in your life, to claim a far greater helping of happiness each and every day?
Photo from Flickr by Jonty
If you examine the statistics related to life satisfaction and happiness, you will discover a fundamental trend. Those who are satisfied and happy consistently engage in their own life journey with a strong sense of meaning and purpose.
Far too many people lack this drive as they begin the day. They often wish parts of their lives away as they look forward to a weekend, or a vacation. In some cases, they look forward to retiring from what they experience as a dead-end job.
How can you be more of a map-maker and explorer in your professional and personal life, in order to make each day a fulfilling and satisfying journey?