There is no way

to happiness.

Happiness IS the way!

Stop looking for the finish line. Watch your feet. Happiness is not the destination. Happiness is the journey.

If you’re having trouble getting that message, it’s because you’ve consciously or unconsciously chosen to set yourself up to get brainwashed into thinking that nothing of any value exists besides the future. Well, in fact, dwelling on the past that’s over and can’t be changed is equally neurotic to being focused on the future that hasn’t yet come . . . and may never!

This futures mindset is a common occurance with salespeople who live to reach and exceed their weekly and monthly and quarterly and annual goals. Nothing wrong with goals that are specific, realistic, flexible, due-dated, and written. But the blind pursuit of any target that doesn’t measure up to all five of those criteria is simply a futile wish-list chase into fantasyland.

Talk with a car salesperson to get a better perspective on how happiness gets lost under reckless abandon to achieve a rigid inflexible goal at all costs.

If a goal is flexible, for example, and it’s clearly not going to be met, it needs simply to be changed — change the amount, the time period, the process, the methods, etc. Effective goals are not meant to be etched in concrete. Meaningful targets are always moving. Effective goal achievers move with them by glancing ahead and staying firmly anchored in the present.

What makes focusing on the future unhealthy? It quickly and easily turns away from being a positive and constructive direction when it stealthily tip-toes over the line into worry. Worrying is a complete waste of time and energy. It produces absolutely nothing except negative stress which rapidly produces illness.

Okay, you’ll grant me that worrying is worthless, so if that’s the problem, what’s the solution? It’s not a magic answer because each of us handles stress differently. So here’s a list of the most common solutions that most people tend to practice in one form or another. Try what sounds right for you, and what seems practical at the time.

Then keep trying until something works, but don’t quit on yourself!

Yoga; swimming; jogging; workouts; walking; singing; dancing; deep breathing; massage therapy; crafts; playing with a baby; playing with kids of any age; playing with pets; keeping a journal or diary; visiting another close environment (woods, beach, etc.); reading fiction; watching a cartoon; drawing/sketching/painting; fixing a meal (if this is not something you usually do); listening to music with your eyes closed . . .

The point is to know when you’re starting to feel stressed (this can be the most challenging part of the solution) and then to stop whatever you’re doing and do something different for a minute, an hour, a day . . . whatever’s appropriate for you, now.

# # #

FREE blog subscription Posts RSS Feed

Thanks for visiting. Hal@Businessworks.US God Bless You!

Write that book!

Sing that song!

Change that battery!

Txt that msg!

There is no such thing as the right or wrong

time to take a step on your own behalf.

You are after all, the only one who will take a step on your own behalf. Oh, you no doubt have others who will get up to bat for you, and fill in when you’re preoccupied or not around. But –in the end– you are the only one who understands you (or has the potential to) and the only one with a clear vision of your business pursuits.

That translates to you needing to cultivate, practice, and boost your Action Attitude daily. Having a bias toward action doesn’t mean you need to adhere to some maniacal schedule of rushing from one thing to another 25 hours a day (and the clue to whether you fit this madman-paced lifestyle is wishing that you had 25 hours in a day!).

Making an Action Attitude be as important an ingredient in your life and your business pursuits doesn’t mean always being on your toes; it means always thinking on your toes.

Except perhaps during a ceremony, a religious service, or on the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped, some action is always better than no action! 

Having a bias toward action means always thinking and deciding in favor of forward motion regardless of delays or disarming or frustrating circumstances. It means never being lazy, except maybe on vacation. Action combined with trust is the foundation for leadership that makes a difference. 

No one travels to happiness or success by standing still. Why? Well, besides the obvious, it’s worth remembering the basic tenet of Gestalt-based teachings, that happiness IS the journey and success IS the journey. It is not a place to end. It is the process of getting there. We make that process happy and successful by having an Action Attitude.

I recently read someone’s business mission which stated in part, “Success starts with education followed by motivation.”

Not in this lifetime. Not in this country. And certainly not in the business world.

Success starts with an Action Attitude.

And as we all know from stories of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, that their accomplishments had very little –if anything– to do with education.

Now, don’t all you teacher-types go getting your bowels in an uproar. I consider myself an educator as well as a writer and business coach. I taught part and full time college for 13 years. I designed and delivered management training workshops for 20 years. Educational achievements have little to do with life or business success.

My happiest and most successful students were typically lousy test performers with great drive, ambition, and a burning desire to make their ideas succeed. Most dropped out of formal classes and worked their way into experience levels that they parlayed into building and growing their own enterprises. Most have made a real difference in business, and with charitable contributions.

Winners don’t dwell on either the starting line OR the finish line. They pay attention to concentrating on each step they take. So having an Action Attitude means first and foremost being tuned in to “the here and now” present moment, every passing moment, as much as possible, throughout as many waking hours as possible, each day.

It is an Action Attitude focus that produces meaningful

and satisfying lives and productive, rewarding businesses.

931.854.0474 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!