Be Happy – An 8-Day Happiness Program

I have created for Oprah.com an eight-day mini-version of the Be Happy program. I have selected eight exercises for you, one for each day, to be completed over eight consecutive days.  I recommend that you give each exercise at least 15 minutes a day.  If possible do this program with a buddy, as this will give you a chance to get into some rich conversations and also offer you extra support.

Here is Day One for you:  Click HERE to see the entire course on Oprah.com

Day 1:  Defining True Happiness
What is your definition of a happy life?  Are you living it?  Do you remember to include yourself in your definition?  Think carefully on this because your definition of happiness will influence every other significant decision in your life.  For instance, if you think happiness is outside you, you will turn happiness into a search, a pursuit, or a destination; whereas if you know happiness is inside you then happiness becomes a compass, a guide, and an enabler that helps you to live a rich life.

Be Happy Exercise:  There is a world of difference between searching for happiness and following your joy.  Your first assignment is to reflect on the question “When am I at my happiest?” Identify what inspires you, nourishes you, and fans the flames of joy within.  Being clear about this will help you to be true to yourself, to be honest, to make better choices, and to have the courage to say a big YES to what really matters most to you in life.  Say “YES” to joy today.

Being a Leader

For the last two years the Success Intelligence team has been running a leadership program for 1,000 people. Today, Ben Renshaw and I are facilitating our sixth event for these leaders. Leadership is evolving now. One of the key messages of our program is: leadership is no longer the prerogative of a few; it is the responsibility of us all. 
 

Some people switch off when they see the word “Leadership”. And yet, real leadership is relevant to everyone. In essence, leadership isn’t just about titles, positions, pay grades, and a job of work; it’s much more interesting than that. Leadership is about how you show up; living from your heart; and allowing yourself to be inspired. Leadership is what helps you to “take a lead” in your life so as to create a life you want to live. Here are three more thoughts for your consideration:

1. Success is being yourself: How you show up – in your relationships, in your conversations, in your work, in your life – has a tangible influence on how you experience things. How do you feel about the idea that success is being yourself? The law of attraction begins with an understanding that you attract what you are being. Daring to be yourself is the key to attracting great things in your life. 

2. Success is being the goal: Leadership begins with an awareness that the world is an effect; not just a cause. The world would not be the way it is, if we were not being the way we are. “Being the goal” means you have to be what you want. For example, if you want more love, be more loving; if you want deeper friendships; commit to being even more of a friend. Whatever you want, be it.

3. Success is being even more of who you are: What you bring to a situation is what you are experiencing. If you think something is missing in a specific situation (a relationship, a conversation, a conflict) – it might be you. To attract more of what you truly want you have to be willing to be even more of who you really are. Where, when and with whom could you apply this principle in your life?

Being Available

I’m sitting on a plane. Seat 11D. Up above the clouds. Over the Atlantic somewhere. I’m going to the I CAN DO IT Conference in Atlanta. I feel sad to have left my family for the weekend, but I’m also happy to be participating in another wonderful Hay House event. I’m experiencing one of those poignant moments in which I sense a beautiful orchestration to our lives. As Hafiz says, “This place where you are right now God circled on a map for you.” So I say “Yes” to this wonderful journey. I say “Yes’ to this life. And I say “Yes” to making myself available to all good things.

When you make yourself available to inspiration,

inspiration makes itself available to you.

When you make yourself available to joy,

joy makes itself available to you.

When you make yourself available to peace,

peace makes itself available to you.

When you make yourself available to love,

love makes itself available to you.

When you make yourself available to your spirit,

your Spirit makes itself available to you.

When you make yourself available to God,

God makes God available to you.

When you make yourself available to Heaven,

Heaven makes Heaven available to you.

Becoming a Dad

Today our daughter Bo is five years old. Bo has been nearly five for a whole year now, so we are all super excited. Being a child is such a big adventure, and so too is being a parent. Below is a rough draft of a poem I wrote, called Becoming a Dad. Some poems are born all at once, and others become poems over time, just like children and parents become themselves over time.

You don’t just become a dad

once.

It happens many times over with

the same child.

When your child is born, you

become a dad.

And when you take your child home

for the first time, you really

become a dad.

When you rock your baby to sleep

in the early a.m. hours, you

become a dad.

When there is no one else to clean

up the sick, you really

become a dad.

And when she smiles at you,

not just with her lips, but with her

eyes and her heart, you are

anointed and blessed and you

become a dad.

Across the years, in every moment

that passes, you become a dad,

and you are given a chance to be

who you really are.

One day, as you sit there, waiting

for a business meeting to begin,

or something, it hits you. Really

hits you. Between the eyes. “I

am a dad.”

A real dad.

And as you smile to yourself, your

heart takes off, like a big balloon,

floating high into the sky.

Disappearing into Love

Happy Valentines to you. Here is a poem about love that encourages us to make every day of our life a celebration of love. I wrote it last week, and read it out for the first time at our Personal Best workshop in London last Friday. I hope you like it:

When they ask you what is your
religion, tell them that it is
love.

And if they ask you what is your
politics, tell them that it is
also love.

If they ask you what that means,
you can tell them your
philosophy is love.

If they want to know anything
else about you, tell them your
favourite occupation is
loving.

And don't forget to tell them
that your nationality is
love.

And that even your blood
group Is love.

Not everyone will stick around
to hear what you say next,
but fear not.

Family and friends may get busy
so as to pretend to forget what
you just said.

It’d drive them crazy now to know
that their blood group is also love,
that their nationality is love,
and that the real work of their
life is love.

One day they will give in, and then
their philosophy will be love,
their politics will be love,
and their religion will be love.

Love gets us all in the end.
We all of us disappear back into
love eventually.

Success in 144 Characters or Less!

Over the next five days I am co-presenting Coaching Success with Ben Renshaw. This program explores the essential principles and practices at the heart of the Success Intelligence project. The night before a workshop is always an interesting time. It’s as if the workshop has already begun. The effect of the next five days is already working on me. I feel excited, and nervous. I enjoy the anticipation, and I am anxious to get started. I notice a sense of curiosity, and also a knowing that the whole of my life is going to benefit because of what happens over the next five days.

In essence, Success Intelligence is a meditation on the question “what is success?” On Coaching Success we will look again at what true success means for each of us. One of my favourite exercises is creating definitions of success in 144 characters or less (where did I get 144 from?!). This exercise is quite a challenge. You have to be focused, clear, specific, and direct. Initially, you may draw a blank. Your first attempt may not be that great. Never mind. Keep going. One of the benefits of meditating on “what is success?” is that you will get clearer.

My success in 144 characters (or less): Success is being present in my life, living from my heart, thinking the thoughts of God, and allowing the grace of the soul to steer my course.

Your turn.