Happiness is a Decision

It is my belief that you were born with everything you would need to develop an excellent life for yourself. One key to generating the happiness you desire in your life is to accept the fact that happiness is a decision and not a destination.

Get Real With Yourself
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In order to start helping yourself make progress in your own life, you have to get real with yourself. There can be no head games, no self-delusion, and most of all – no denial. Ignoring stuff rarely makes it go away and hoping it will disappear is just another way to lie to yourself. When it comes to personal development or any change for that matter, many times things will get worse before they get better. You need to be honest and stop lying to yourself. Then, with you newfound trust, you can begin to effect some very positive change in your life.

Change The Way You Think About Your Problem
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An old saying I have heard says you can not solve a problem with the same thinking that got you into it. Albert Einstein is quoted to have said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

Figure Out What Is Right For You
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It is very hard to be happy when we feel stuck or trapped with no choice in our circumstances. But, there are many people out there working very hard and feeling miserable every day simply because they haven’t taken the time to realize that what they are doing is not helping them to be happy.

There are some questions you can ask yourself that will help you determine what you need to do to increase your happiness. A few questions are listed here:

What Would It Take For You To Decide To Be Happy?
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The first question you could ask is: “What would it take for me to decide to be happy?” List as many answers as come to mind and don’t limit your answers – use your imagination.

What Is Keeping You From Making The Decision To Be Happy?
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The second question you could ask requires you to be honest with yourself. You need to make a list of every situation and every person in your life you are not happy with at the moment. It is important to remember to be honest with yourself because properly diagnosing a problem is half the cure. I wouldn’t want my doctor to lie to me to hide the fact that I only have a few days to live. So, let’s not lie to ourselves so we can get a grip on the reality of our lives. Then, we can begin to change it for the better.

What Is Your Happiest Moment?
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The third question you could ask can reveal some important facts for you to consider when deciding what you should do to improve your happiness. You need to make a list of every time you can remember being really happy, who you were with, and what you were doing. This list of things will help you identify some relationships you may want to work on improving and some activities you may want to do more frequently.

What Am I Going To Do To Make The Decision To Be Happy?
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As you collect a list of answers to these questions, you need to start focusing on some things that you can do to help create more of the times in your life when you were really happy. It doesn’t really matter how long it may take, just knowing you are working toward making yourself happier will in itself make you feel better about you and make the decision to be happy an easier one.

How Can I Put This To Use Today?
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Start by giving your relationships a check-up. Look at your business and personal relationships. You may find some circumstances you would like to avoid if you had it to do over again.

Now, make a list of the things you think would help you decide to be happy – if you had them and develop a plan to start acquiring them.

Then, use your imagination and see yourself as being as happy as you have ever been. What did that look like in the eye of your imagination? Remember that nothing changes without taking some action, so choose to do something every day that will move you closer to your goal. Ultimately, when people ask you how you feel or how you are doing, you can honestly tell them “I am happy!!!”

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