This is almost trivially simple, but it got me thinking. Honestly, how hard can we possibly make it for ourselves to be happy or find happiness these days? We stress out over the biggest and smallest things, and it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to find solace or peace in these modern, go-go-go times. 

Last night I was part of a Holiday Bazaar / Ladies Night at a local country club – representing Applied Happiness and the Hypnosis I do. It was fantastic. I met wonderful people, and made some really great connections with people that wanted nothing more than to just connect and be happy with it. I even ran into an old friend and got the chance to catch up a little.  It made me really happy to be connect and doing what I love. I also learned that a fair amount of the guests were stressed out and looking for things that elevate their happiness. 

So the “short n’ sweet” of it is to follow the credo in the image above. For the next seven days, give it your best shot to appreciate more, accept more, love more, feel more, smile more, listen more, and do more.  In fact, doing more is paramount to the evolution of us as a species. With that, I’m adding one more quick exercise to this.

Learn something new over the next seven days. Learn something completely different.  Then teach it to someone else. You’ll be blown away by how good it makes you feel to learn something new and teach it to another. I promise.

Learn it (watch it) –> Do it –> Teach it

Follow that pattern and let me know how it goes for you!

Share your comments below.  What simple thing makes you happy?

Technorati Tags: appreciation, awareness, being bold, gratitude, happiness, inspiration, lessons, motivation, personal power, positive thinking, positivity, reflection, wisdom

I was reading an article in Psychology Today last night regarding Self-Sabotage (I’d include the link, but the issue just arrived and there’s no mention of it on the PT site yet), and I coincidentally notice a lot of it in my life recently.  Like the ebb and flow of life itself, doubt and self-sabotage come and go in waves. One week we’re operating on pure power – like the fire inside broke through our cracks and we’re burning to reach our goals.  The next week we’re discouraged, so we find something that “comforts” us – 90% of the time that comfort ends up derailing our progress.  The derailment makes giving up look that much more appealing.

In this light, I went searching for what people use, read, watch, and do to stay motivated in the face of challenges. I stumbled onto some amazing images, and I’d like to share them here for you all to enjoy.  I think I’ll make this a regular column here. “Get Inspired” is a great piece to make recurring, right

What images or quotes do you find keep you motivated? Do you have a favorite? Share yours in the comments below!

Technorati Tags: affirmations, attitude, awareness, being bold, clearing doubt, dream, faith, goals, happiness, inspiration, motivation, perception, personal power, positive thinking, reflection, resistance, success, wisdom

The challenge has been set forth over at www.blakehammerton.com – my personal site for Applied Happiness Coaching (and hypnosis). The challenge is to be an everyday hero for 5 days (Wednesday through Sunday) and report back.  I invite you all to stand up for the common man, and practice acts of selflessness, kindness, courage and integrity.

This video blew my mind earlier this week, and it prompted the Everyday Hero Challenge.  I’m going to consider this a trial-run of the challenge. If it gets good reviews in the comments and on facebook, I’ll make it a regular event with prizes and awards.

So head over here and read about the challenge. Then leave your examples, thoughts, and heroic stories in the comments there!

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you!

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, awareness, being bold, coaching, goals, gratitude, inspiration, lessons, personal power, reflection, success, teaching, wisdom

Benny Gold: Stay Gold from hypebeast.tv on Vimeo.

Today’s inspiration comes from Vimeo (I know there have been a lot of videos lately) and focuses on Benny Gold.  He’s a NYC designer that started his own brand because it was something he loved. He felt the passion for his own creative expression, so he followed it – through the boredom of working life, and the struggles of being so meticulous. The message here: If you find something you’re passionate about, and love doing, don’t stop driving toward it. You’ll make it. Guaranteed.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all.

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, attraction, being bold, business, clearing doubt, dream, faith, goals, inspiration, lesson, motivation, personal power, success, wisdom

Neil Pasricha talks on TED about the 3 A’s of awesome in life. This is such a perfect way to kick off 2011. It’s much more than winning the Lotto (although that would be pretty awesome) or winning the Heisman trophy. It’s really the little things in life that make up all the awesomeness. It’s the awareness and appreciation of the little things that make the big things mean so much. In 2011, I encourage you all to become aware and appreciative of the little things around you! 2011 is the year to CREATE anything you want in your life.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all.

Blake

Technorati Tags: attitude, awareness, awesome, being bold, goals, happiness, lesson, love, personal power, positive thinking, reflection, success, video

A lot has happened in the last month (I deeply apologize for my absence, by the way). One recurring theme for me has been the struggle I see other people having with the almost universal truths of life. They’re hard, but they certainly don’t mean the end of the world as we know it! I’ve worked with clients and companies in the last 30 days that really just needed to be sat down and told “how it is” for their own good. After doing so, I discovered that it was invigorating for us both. Without further delay, I want to present 10 hard truths in life.

1. You Cannot Fight Reality / Nature - It is none of your business how trees grow, how the sun rises and sets, or which way the wind blows – we’d feel pretty silly arguing with nature, right?  Yet we feel completely justified telling people (both those we know, and those we don’t know) what they should and shouldn’t do with their lives.  The reality is that people and nature are going to carry on with or without your input.  What purpose does it serve to spin your wheels trying to change everyone and everything around you?  Hell, I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
   
2. Someone Will Always Have More – That’s right, somebody will always have more, be more, or do more than you.  Get over it.  There are 7 billion people on the planet.  It was more than bound to happen.  The silver lining to this hard truth is that your desires are unique in what they will bring you.  For example, someone else may have more money, but you have more time to spend doing what you enjoy.  Maybe that wealthy socialite you envy hates what he does for a living, or is stretched so thin for time, he envies you!
   
3. You Are Going to Fail – No kidding, it happens.  Life is about experience and the lessons that come out of each one.  You’re going to totally bomb certain activities and skills once or twice.  Some things you may excel in, while others you might struggle or fail miserably.  Understand the key point to remember through all of this: you failed, but you are not a failure. Humans are mistake machines!  Hooray for being human!
   
4. Some People Will Love You… Some People Will Not - You cannot please everyone.  If you would, please read that again.  Did you reread it?  No?  That displeases me.  So what!  If you set out to please everyone you come in contact with, you’re going to find your life is much, much harder than you could ever have imagined.  Expectations are frivolously high at times, and there truly isn’t anything you can do to satisfy everyone all the time.  If someone doesn’t love you, it doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person or unlovable; it means that person doesn’t love you.  That 1 of 7,000,000,000 people on Earth doesn’t love you.  That’s billion, my friend.  You’re still loved.
   
5. Nobody Can Change Your Life Like You Can – As a coach and inspirational speaker, I completely advocate the application of tools and resources available from the self-help and healing industries, but I cannot stress enough that not even the greatest resource will help you if you don’t step up and take action. A great example is the Lottery.  People in debt win the lottery, change their lives immediately, only to end up in exactly the same debt a few years later.  Why?  They let the resources make surface changes, but the core was still the same.  When you set out to change your life, your success rate is exponentially higher than if you decide that (fill in the blank) can/will change your life.
   
6. Nobody Thinks About You as Often as You Do – Or as harshly.  We are our biggest, most unforgiving critics. We’re also blessed with such a detailed memory – bringing up regrets and mistakes we feel we made from years ago.  When you hesitate before taking action because you worry what others might think, remember it won’t make a lick of difference to them by the following week – maybe even the following day!  We all make up stories about how we think other people see us.  As an experiment, write down some names and how you think they view you on one sheet of paper.  On a second sheet, write those same names, but ask them how they see you.  Compare those answers and see just how judgmental you are to yourself.
   
7. None of This Will Matter Tomorrow – Have you woken up the morning after a rough, emotional night and felt completely different about it?  Have you ever felt (maybe even a little) like the world was crashing down around you one night, and the next day you felt more grounded and in control?  The gossip, drama, relationship quarrels, and heated emotions you feel today won’t matter tomorrow.  See point #8 for more…
   
8. Your Life Really is One-Day-at-a-Time – This is a hard truth because we all seem to plan, plan, plan for the future and worry, worry, worry about the past. You cannot do anything about the opportunity you feel you missed 10 years ago. Let it go. Likewise, planning obsessively for the future is equally as paralyzing.  You have today to make choices and experience those triumphs, mistakes, successes, and failures. You can reflect on the past to extract a lesson or two, but regretting and worrying is a heinous waste of your time and human potential. If you plan to have one amazing day at a time, you’ll get much more out of life.
9. Yes, Sometimes it Really is You – This one is hard to take for some people.  Let’s be honest here, some of us keep getting into situations and relationships where bad or unpleasant things happen, and we blame everything and everyone else.  Please take a seat for this next sentence. “It’s not me, it’s you – Let’s not be friends.”  The truth is, patterns don’t lie.  If you have a history of attracting these men/women/animals/dead-end jobs/bad-luck, it’s your history and your problem.  Before jumping into the blame-game, take a look at your pattern.  I’ll bet if you change something you’re doing, feeling, or attracting, you’ll change everything else. Please see #5 for instructions.
   
10. By God, You’ve Actually Got to Do The Work – If you want things to happen, you have to take some action.  Nobody wants you to succeed like you do, and nobody is going to care if you don’t make it happen.  Life will go on, the seasons will change, and the world will keep going without you.  Wishing, hoping, intending, or praying for great things is a nice emotional action but won’t get you what you want.  Again, we turn to the Lottery example.  You can lay awake and dream about winning the lotto, praying every night for it, and hoping you’re the next multimillionaire, but if you never buy a ticket you don’t stand a chance.

I know these truths can be a little harsh, but you’re not doing yourself any favors by ignoring them. I present these out of love.  I love the truth that we can have, do, or be anything our heart desires. I also love that some of you will take great action steps in your life.  I love to hear about them!  If you have other truths of life from your own opinion or experience, please feel free to post them in the comments below!

Peace, Love, and a Million successes to you!

Blake

Technorati Tags: attitude, awareness, being bold, judgment, lessons, perception, personal power, reflection, truths, wisdom

Click The Image to Vote!

We’ve been nominated for Intuit’s Love a Local Business competition to receive a $5,000 grant for our upcoming project! It would be incredibly powerful to win this grant and be entered into the drawing to possibly receive an additional $25,000 in grant money. Holy cow! We could really change some lives with that kind of capital!

So there are plenty of ways to get the votes in. Click the image at the top of this post and your vote will be counted. You can also head to our Facebook fanpage and click the link there. Even cooler, however, is to text in your vote!

Text happiness to 244326. There will be an automatic reply where it will ask for your name, and another reply asking you to say why you love Applied Happiness. That’s it! It’s totally FREE, and almost too easy not to do.

We are truly grateful for the love and support we’ve received in all our community projects so far, and with this grant money we’ll be able to start and finish even bigger and better projects. Send this out to everyone you know, and let’s get this started right!

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, being bold, coaching, dream, fund raising, gratitude, happiness, success

Daniel Pink is one of the greatest speakers on motivation on Earth. It’s not so much about getting people motivated, as it is about the science of human potential and what motivates us to tap into that. We’ve all worked a job we didn’t like in some form or another, and I’m willing to bet one of the attributes we didn’t like was the incentive structure. This is a phenomenal talk on motivation in the corporate environment – why traditional incentive structures don’t work. It’s animated so enjoy, learn, and get motivated!

Technorati Tags: Autonomy, awareness, being bold, Daniel Pink, inspiration, motivation, personal power, Purpose, teaching, video, wisdom

Have you ever noticed people that jet-set across continents, whether for business, pleasure, or a mixture of both, never seem to lose grip on what they want? They have a clear vision of what they are looking for, and nothing seems to phase them. They’re not chasing a dream – they’re choosing and declaring what they want. Are you choosing what you want, or chasing a dream?

Here’s a better way to look at it: are you consciously choosing life and power, or are you falling victim to circumstance on your journey to your dream destination? Do things happen to you, or do you make things happen?  This is the elemental difference between reacting to life, and responding to it.  While they sound similar, they’re actually worlds apart.  Reacting to life is knee-jerk, emotional, and often comes with blame and elected helplessness – i.e. “it wasn’t my fault that didn’t work; there was nothing I could do – it’s your fault.”  Responding to life is taking responsibility for your place and impact in the world around you. It’s about noticing what is trying to emerge in every interaction (good and bad), and what energy and choice you made, and can make to impact it further.

Many people throw around the phrase, “everything happens for a reason,” electing to acknowledge that there must be something at work below the surface, but moments later find it impossible to see meaning in seemingly random events they don’t like.  I ask what the difference is.  It feels like it’s a type of selective responsibility – one in which you can claim power in accomplishment, but relinquish the responsibility in disappointment.  Look, if you’re not in command of your life, who is?

Wanna change it all?  Tired of struggling to find a better way? Do you want to actually reach those lofty goals?  Do you want to make it happen without relying on the miracle of a winning Lotto ticket falling in your lap?  Take responsibility for your life – your actions, choices, thoughts, judgments, dreams – all of it.  The good, the bad, the ugly – it’s your life, and you’re at the wheel.  Instead of chasing down what you want and reacting to the obstacles before you, choose the life you want, and respond to those same obstacles – this is the art of turning foes into allies, hurt into help, and rags into riches.

In everything you do, you’re committing to one thing or another.  Everything you give permission to (saying yes), you are also denying permission (saying no) to something else.  When you are chasing a dream you just can’t seem to reach, you’re saying yes and no to everything along the way – yes to failure, no to success; yes to struggle, no to learning; yes to familiarity (same old story), no to change / uncertainty etc.

So I leave you with an assignment:

1. With every interaction you have with people, places, things, events, circumstances – everything. notice what choices you’re making, and what you’re committing to.  Is it what you want? Are you choosing or chasing?
2. If (and when) something doesn’t go your way, immediately take a deep breath and ask yourself what is trying to emerge.  Are you going to respond and choose, or react as a pawn in the game?

I can’t reiterate this line enough:  It’s your life and if you’re not in command of it, who is?

“Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet. Audentes fortuna iuvat.” – He who feared he would not succeed, sat still. Fortune favors the bold.

Blake

Technorati Tags: attitude, attraction, being bold, choice, dream, faith, goals, lesson, personal power, reaction, reflection, responsibility, success, Virgil

Free Coaching Session!

With 2010 coming to the half-way point in the next couple of weeks, are you happy with where your year has taken you?  Are there things you’d love to change, improve, increase, or achieve?  Maybe you would only like a little clarity about where you are and where you feel you’re headed on this crazy winding road.  Have you had a day where you left your office for some lunch and thought, “what am I doing?” or “is this really all there is?” or even “man, it would be so incredible if I could only (fill-in the blank)”?

Coaching is such a powerful place to turn to when you’re looking for some insight and fulfillment in your life.  Maybe you’ve looked into getting a coach, but you doubted your ability to afford it…

GREAT NEWS!

We’re giving away 30 minute coaching sessions!  No, really, we are!  F-R-E-E !

Not only are we giving away the first 30 minute session, we’ve discounted our fees to help get you closer to your dream without taking away your savings!  Head to the contact page and send us a message to set-up a free coaching call (or face-to-face meeting), and take us for a test drive!  If you feel like you could benefit from having your own incredible coach, we are offering 30 minute sessions for $25 each for the first 90 days!  Imagine as much as 12 complete weeks of personalized attention, focus, and support to help you discover your best self and show you how to create S-M-A-R-T action plans to get you moving forward.

FOR PEANUTS!

For those of you thinking, “C’mon, there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” truly, there’s no risk. No contracts, no gimmicks, no strings, nothing. The time is yours,and the decision after your session is yours. No hard sell. No fine print. NONE.

Head over to the assessment page and see what you, personally, come up with. They’re free too. If you find some area of your life you might like to improve, we would be more than happy to give you the free session to touch on it. Call 847-754-9615 or send a message our way to set-up your FREE session today! 

As a bonus for signing up for your free session, we’ll send you the Applied Happiness Inspired Action Workbook at no charge! This 30 page workbook will help you get a head start on what motivates you, and what might be holding you back from getting what you want.  This is $10 value, absolutely free.

Don’t wait! This offer only runs through August!

Call or write us today, and discover what a coach can add to your life!

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat – Fortune Favors the Bold.

- The Applied Happiness Team

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, awareness, being bold, clearing, coaching, gratitude, happiness, lessons, love, personal power, positive thinking, success, teaching, wisdom