Happy people consider the future

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."

... you have 2 options:

• You can complain about it and hope it magically changes.
• You can set out to make a change.

If you are unhappy you owe it to yourself to make a change -- life is too short to delay any longer.

The primary factor in resilience is having supportive relationships, inside and outside the family. 

Close friends, family and loved ones represent our social support; they encourage and motivate us, and let us know that we aren’t alone.

The way we view a potentially stressful situation can either make the crisis worse in our mind or minimize it. 

Reframing things in a more positive way can alter our perceptions and relieve our stressful feelings.

National surveys find that when someone claims to have 5 or more friends with whom they can discuss important problems, they are 60 percent more likely to say that they are ‘very happy’.
Excerpt from the book Finding Flow.

True friends really are worth their weight in gold. Check in regularly with close friends (around every two weeks).

Self-esteem is good for confidence, but self-esteem that is bound to external success can be quite fickle. 

Think of yourself less and avoid the trap of tying your self-worth to external signals.

• Tell everyone what you plan to do and talk about your goals. Tell friends, employees, and employers your intentions and you won’t want to let them down. 
• Start documenting and sharing your journey. A blog or vlog where you share the projects you’re working on and your progress will encourage you to get things done. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator and simply can’t resist the temptations of things like Facebook and Youtube, it might be time to cut out temptations.

There are tools such as Rescue Time, SelfControl and Focus that will temporarily block access to distracting websites like Facebook. Less aggressive tools such as Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator and Distraction Free Youtube will allow you to have access to Facebook and Youtube but block the distracting parts of these websites (such as the newsfeed).

When thinking about social currency, understand that you have value.

You may not be able to pinpoint what is valuable about you. But everyone has value. You can be worth $1, or you can be worth $100. The decision is yours.

Your circle of influence can play a large role in building your social currency.

Before you can build strong connections, understand that connections don’t just happen by chance. Everything you say and do is going to impact your relationships with people, and no one will want to form any type of relationship with you if you don’t demonstrate some type of value (demonstrated by what you think and how consistent you are).

Curiosity creates a longing to know more, do more and be more.

To have a successful life, you have to cultivate your sense of wonder and be curious about what the future might hold. Curiosity helps you see any situation as an opportunity for your advancement and learning.

It improves your ability to prioritize and it makes decision-making easier.

It also provides commitment: it's usually hard to commit to something that has no foreseeable future.

If you view things as unchangeable, then nothing can change for the better. By thinking outside the box and questioning the status quo, you’ll constantly be considering how you could improve something.

Thinking outside the box can expand your worldview, allowing you to have a greater perspective on the events in your life. When you’re willing to consider alternative ways and points of view, you can find more potential solutions.

A greater perspective can make you more receptive to different ideas, which means that you won’t be limited by a small worldview. 

Flow is when you are so consumed by a task or activity that you lose track of time, for instance, gardening, reading, or watching a movie. It's an optimal experience that can make you happy. Flow can be achieved in almost any activity that requires prolonged mental effort.

Seek out daily happy habits. Your brain will build up expectations of being happy and will rewire itself to seek more happy habits.

Research reveals that small and regular positive experiences have a greater impact on your life satisfaction than a few notable events of achievements.

Expressing gratitude can make you feel better about yourself and your life. It can make you feel more grounded, humble, and connected to the world around you.

People often feel pressure to listen to complainers because they don’t want to be seen as callous or rude.

Avoid this by setting limits and distancing yourself when necessary. Ask complainers how they intend to fix the problem. They will either quiet down or redirect the conversation in a productive direction.

Difficult people drive you crazy because their behavior is so irrational. 

Distance yourself from them emotionally and approach your interactions like they’re a science project (or you’re their shrink). You don’t need to respond to the emotional chaos -- only the facts.

Money is related to happiness. If you don’t have enough money to feed your family, more money will more likely increase your happiness. 

But once you have met all of the basic needs, money is less influential.

People are happiest and perform their best when they are actively engaged in what they are doing. 

To find happiness in your work, the key is to have projects that take you just outside of your comfort zone.