Color Your Life Happy

Graphic designer, Stefano Sagmeister, finds happiness in design.

Listen to his story. Then tell us what makes you happy.

When I saw this statement on a list of lessons learned by a rookie entrepreneur, it reminded me of a day during my doctoral studies.

 We were on a very tight budget while I took classes and studied to finish my doctorate. We were making a big financial sacrifice when I quit my job to become a full-time graduate student. Fortunately we were able to pay our mortgage and keep our 3 children healthy and fed, but many other things had to wait in line for their turn.

I was driving an old car that I wasn’t sure would start each time I got in it.

One morning that I was scheduled to give surveys to teachers at an inner city junior high school it started pouring down raining. I pulled on my leather boots, darted between raindrops and jumped in the car. It started! Great!

When I arrived at the school I stuffed the stack of surveys under my raincoat to keep them dry, grabbed my purse and equipment I needed for the testing and rushed toward the building.  Just before I reached the door I stepped into a puddle of water. When I pulled my dripping foot from the puddle I discovered the heel of my right boot was broken off.

In order not to be late for my appointment, I limped down the hall and made it to our meeting on time.  With damp clothes, broken shoe and dampened spirit, I proceeded as professionally as possible.

Boy! That morning sucked big time.

I share this story because sometimes in the process of promoting positive thinking, encouraging inner joy and sharing tips for happiness people get the wrong impression.  Folks wrongly believe there is some way to master the art of creating perfect days. Not!

• Some days are going to suck.
• One day your head will be the perfect landing for bird droppings.
• You will lose your keys.
• Your child will lie to you.
• Someone will lie about you.

And on and on.

Being happy and claiming your inner joy is not about preventing these bad things from happening. We have absolutely no control over the weather or what others do, just on how we react.

How do we get past these sucky days then?

• Be grateful for what did go right. (My old car got me to and from my research appointment.)
• Choose how you react. (I eventually laughed at my rainy day adventure)
• Cry if you want. (Tears are Nature’s cleansing treatment.)
• Make note of what you learned. (Don’t wear leather boots in the drenching rain.)

A number of decades have passed since this event. Wouldn’t it be a shame if I had let singular event steal my joy and color my life sad?

What bad days have you survived by taking control of your reactions? Share your story.

Do you sabotage your own plans to change? So many of us do by setting up a massive, long-term plan that our subconscious just can’t embrace.

Example: a plan to lose 100 lbs is a wonderful goal, but is much more manageable if thought of in small increments such as 1-2 lbs a week.

You see, as soon as you announce a weight-loss plan to your body it starts to fear it will starve and makes its own plans–storing up for the famine. But if we take small attainable steps our body will cooperate rather than resist.

Since any such plan requires changes in our habits and daily behavior, it’s so much easier to change one small thing than to try to turn our world upside down in one day.

Get ideas for making small meaningful changes in your life starting today and in small ways:

• How to Strip 10 Years Off Your Age  
• A Fail-Proof Way to Reach Your Goals
• Widen Your Comfort Zone

The biggest secret to success is that there is no secret. But there are some common traits and behaviors that successful people seem to share.

Richard St. John shares what he has learned about success from hundreds of interviews with successful people. Watch this 3 minute video where he’ll share what he discovered.

Life-enhancing ideas often pop up in unlikely places.

This occurred to me while watching the movie “The Ball” one of the short films chosen to be shown on Pangea Day. In the film, thousands of children in Mozambique found a way to use a product that clearly was not the manufacturer’s intent. Business people like to call this repurposing, but for these children it’s just a practical way to reach their goal.

As children, many of us found ways to create fun play time with simple items and techniques just like the children in the movie.  As we grew up, however, we often opted for not-as-good, but ready-to-go alternatives.

Those of us living in cities and towns with easy access to a multitude of products and services often trade money for saving time and enjoying convenience.  The more money we have the more we trade. In the process of easy fixes, perhaps we lose something. (Read my contradition here.)

People with limited means and/or access are forced to be resourceful and clever, but perhaps in the end are happier with their simpler more straightforward lives.

Enjoy this cute movie. Then think of resourceful, low-cost, clever ways to reach your goals and enjoy a simpler, happier life.

The Internet is loaded with wonderful articles, stories and tips for improving your life. I’ve gathered a few links to give you a shortcut to the inspiration from other authors and bloggers.

Times Change–A Short Story on Looking to the Future 
Cameron explores how we look at music and other things differently in retrospect.

20 Questions You Need to Ask Your Surgeon Before You or Your Loved Ones Have Surgery 
Millions of Americans have surgery every year and most of it is elective. You will not only want to read this, but also pass it to your friends and loved ones.

Stop Using the Rewind Button and Visualize What You Want
When you start making changes in your life whether for good or bad, your subconscious will kick into survival mode. Find out what to do.

Who Wants to be Rich?
What do you think is at the top of the list of what most people want?

Ghandi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World
Guess what you have to change first in order to change the world

14 Reasons to Become More Conscious
Going beyond spiritual issues, these tips are about enhancing your daily life.

4 Reasons You Should Meditate and How to Get Started
Once you grasp how meditation positively affects your life, you won’t have trouble getting started.

How Your Income Grows as Your Personal Development Grows
Discover how income and personal development are related.

 Why Your Loved Ones Want You to Fail
You’ll be surprised at some of these reasons.

Six Steps to Become Assertive and Nice
Yes, you can do both at once.

Jonathan Field’s Best of the Web Roundup
For more inspiration and entertainment, check out the 20+ links Jonathan has rounded up

Even though we live inside our own skin, we seem to know others better than we know ourselves. Why this is true could fill volumes, but more important is what to do about it.

I just read a blog post titled “4 Tips to Finding Yourself,” by Joan Schraum at her blog Accelerating Momentum. Joan gives these four tips:

1. Discover what you really want. 

 This includes choosing jobs, relationships and living situations that suit you, not please others. Trust that your life is unfolding perfectly.

2.  Accept your mediocrity.

 ”Good enough” is good enough.

3. Create a vision board.

The movie “The Secret” has popularized vision boards. Have you created yours yet?

4. Change your thoughts.

To do this you must change what you say to yourself.

Read Joan’s full article here.