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

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

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

I have made it so far through the book, that it’s about time I started getting the word out about it. I am asking for help in getting it published and on store shelves.  The additional funds will be used to get the new Suicide Prevention and Life Celebration charity started.  These are exciting times, and I would be honored if any one of my readers became a contributor.

“The Unlimited Landscape – Exploring the power within you” is about the journey to that ‘more to life’ place we’re all searching for. Sometimes it’s a quest for success. Sometimes it’s a search for deeper meaning in the world around you. Often it’s a combination of many things. This book is an experiential piece – filled with exercises and lessons to guide you in discovering your potential, and explore that power. It is written with humor and sarcasm because that’s the kind of guy I am – as if we needed another sarcastic writer in the world, right?

The book is really a stepping-stone for Applied Happiness, and myself. I am raising money to get the book published and on shelves, but I’m also using any additional funds to put together a charity for Suicide Prevention and the celebration of life. I feel in my soul that the emotions in this project, and the passion of the positive paradigm, will make the future charity possible – and I would be honored if you were a founding contributor to our success.

Please check out the fund page by clicking the book cover image above. There are incentives to donors as well. We have three packages that allow you to receive some great gifts for your donation. Check them out!

Peace, Love, and a million successes to us!

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, coaching, fund raising, goals, gratitude, love, personal power, positive thinking, success, teaching

“Once an old woman came to Buddha and asked him how to meditate. He told her to remain aware of every movement of her hands as she drew the water from the well, knowing that if she did, she would soon find herself in that state of alert and spacious calm that is meditation.”

“Water, if you don’t stir it, will become clear; the mind left unaltered will find its own natural peace.”

Sometimes we get so caught up in the rattle of everyday life that an overwhelming blindness washes over us. We’re blind to the true nature of the world around us, our place in it, and what we really want for ourselves. We are so in tune with the ‘noise’ that the voice inside becomes inaudible, and we often end up somewhere we don’t feel we belong. Some of us lose our way from time to time, right?

Stillness is such a powerful tool for reconnecting to that little voice. When the mind tunes out the noise, and instead, listens to the calm repetition of breathing, the soul can often take the moment and speak up – often with such clarity. Mindfulness meditation is an easy way to reach this stillness. I personally use an activity (one in which I can focus, and be on autopilot) as a catalyst to stillness. I wash and wax my car to ‘tune out’ the noise.

The calm I get in slowly covering the car in soap and rinsing her clean is immense. I’ve done this a few hundred times, so it’s nothing I really need to concentrate on, but I couldn’t have a conversation while doing it either – and why would I want to?!? I let my mind slowly shut off by focusing on the movement of my hands across the paint, and the shine that I reveal. Before long, I can hear my heart telling me how satisfying this activity is, and what parts of my life it also feels satisfied. I get a chance to really reflect without the rattle of my mind coming into play. This stillness of my mind is priceless.

In the Karate Kid movies, Mr. Miyagi puts Daniel(son) to work by having him wax the car and paint the fence. This not only teaches him Kata Karate movements, but it introduces him to stillness and mindful meditation. It’s often in the stillness that we come to great realizations. It’s almost cliche now, but how many times have you fallen in love with someone in the stillness between the two of you? Think about it!

The homework this time is to practice stillness, my friends. If you know how to meditate, please do that and listen to what your mind and body say when you tune the ‘noise’ out. If you do not know how to meditate, try to simply sit quietly with your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing only. Concentrate on breathing slowly in your nose, and out your mouth. Soon enough your mind will unravel from its grip on the rattle, and you’ll find peace. That’s where you’ll also hear that inner voice speak to you. It’s incredible what he/she has to say sometimes.

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

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, awareness, Buddha, gratitude, happiness, lesson, love, peace, stillness, teaching, wisdom

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

On this very special day, I want to give very deep thanks to my mother, and all the mothers in the world. They’ve given so much to us all, and without them, there wouldn’t be life. I am so blessed to have a brilliant, savvy, sarcastic, and sincere mother to keep me on my toes, and keep me moving forward. I wish everyone could know the kind of love in my family. Wish your mom a Happy Mother’s Day, and tell her how important she is. Even if she’s no longer with us, voice your love to the sky.

Happy Mother’s Day, Moms!

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

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, gratitude, love, mother's day

Earlier today I was speaking with a friend of mine about perspectives and the power of a positive outlook. It’s amazing how powerful the phrase, “it’s all going to be okay” can be when it comes from the mouth of a trusted friend or family member. Words like these help to frame a perspective that nothing is inescapable, and that pain is temporary. It’s all about attitude. She and I shared our perspectives and attitudes on life for a bit, and the Chuck Swindoll piece on attitude suddenly came to mind.

It’s such a great little piece of inspiration and perspective to have fresh in your mind as often as possible. In fact, it’s posted on the bulletin board in my office. I highly recommend printing it out and posting it somewhere you’ll see it often!

ATTITUDE by: Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.”

It’s such a great little nugget of perspective! Last year I remember watching Michael J. Fox’s television show, The Incurable Optimist, and feeling this overwhelming sense of gratitude for the beauty and inspiration in the world. It is still powerful to me, and my outlook has changed even more since that moment. It’s all about attitude and experience. The attitude of gratitude, as stated many times throughout this blog, is probably the single, most powerful key to fulfillment and happiness in life.

Spend some time today completely flooded in gratitude or appreciation. It’s really a beautiful life if you stop and take notice!

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all! I’m incredibly grateful for all of you, and your priceless support!

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, gratitude, happiness, swindoll