Everyone is looking for happiness.

Welcome back to my pages, I look forward today to helping you along our journey together. Today we’ll take a look at what it means to be happy. Whilst you read this, take time to think about your own life and how you can relate to this. I would be very happy to receive any emails about what makes you happy, or please write your comments below.

We are socialised to believe that the person with the most material possessions or highest community status is the most successful. We are taught to be “destination seekers”, defining success in terms of events that will occur or tangibles that we be acquired sometime in the future. We believe that when that which we strive for is accomplished, we will have arrived at the destination called “success”, which we hope will bring us happiness.

Everyone is looking for happiness, but happiness is not a goal or destination. It is a state of being.

Imagine spending most of your life and / or career working very hard to climb the ladder of success, and suddenly when you reach the top you realise that your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. And then you wonder : “Is this it?”

So why does this happen?

One possible answer is that you focused on something that doesn’t truly bring you joy and fulfilment. You thought you’d be happy when you achieved a certain goal, however, you were mistaken about how you would feel when you arrived. Achievements and acquisitions are common and excellent by-products of true success. However, being happy is not becoming rich, knowing the right people, being perfect, falling in love, or succeeding in your job. Happiness is a state you have to acquire first, if you intend to have fulfilling, harmonious and lasting relationships and success.

Your own happiness will always reflect your life, and that includes your relationships.

When you are naturally and truly happy with yourself you will attract success more easily in both your business and personal life. It is one of life’s irrefutable facts that when you are not truly happy in yourself then no-one, absolutely no-one, can give you happiness.

We’ll continue looking at this subject of being happy on Monday. For the moment, have a think about what unrealistic expectations you might have of yourself and others in pursuit of happiness.

Best wishes,

Tumi

No-one ever succeeds without a clear sense of purpose.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I would like to continue on the theme that we started last week about our purpose in life.

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction” John F.Kennedy.

Let’s first answer some questions together.

What is purpose? Purpose defines why we exist, whether that is as individuals, or as organisations or as communities.

How does purpose relate to values and vision? Values are the beliefs that you hold as an individual, organisation or community; whereas vision is your dream, it tells us where you are going. It is your overall sense of direction.

Have you ever heard of a saying “If you don’t know where you are heading, you’ll end up anywhere?” So without purpose you don’t really have a clear destination, and how then can you achieve the desired outcomes for your life?

Thomas Carlyle said “A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the toughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road”.

Good preparation and planning starts with a clear sense of purpose, values and vision. Living in purpose puts you in a state of ease, also referred to as your own flow, which allows for greater prosperity, success and fulfilment.

Have you ever had a moment in your life where everything fell into place?

Have you ever had a moment in your life where everything fell into place and where everything was working for you? A time when you loved your job, had a great relationship, were in great shape and feeling healthy and strong? When you were in control of your finances? Chances are you were living in your flow. And when you are in your flow you can achieve greatness!

Flow is a state that the world’s most successful people are in; people like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Richard Branson, They live according to a purpose that drives them to offer the best of their talent and passion in order to serve. And their approach to life consistently brings them wealth and fulfilment.

Purpose resides in your heart.

Purpose resides in your heart. No amount of books and seminars can reveal what your purpose is. Everyone can find their purpose by following a process that requires you to look deep within yourself. The answers are there and when you make this discovery your life changes. Your world also changes because the more connected you are to your purpose, to doing exactly what you are passionate about, the more you will be of service to others.

I’ll be back here on Thursday and we’ll talk about being happy and what that means. Meanwhile, please use the comments box to let me have your feedback about our journey so far. I am happy to receive your specific feedback about the content and frequency of the pages. Or if you would like more information about anything we have discussed so far, please ask me.

Best wishes,

Tumi