What Has Happiness Got To Do With Business?

By Graham And Julie

Have you ever been really happy? Have you ever tasted the fruit of pure happiness? Have you ever completed a task with that feeling of YES! I gave it my all. I’m really happy and proud with what I’ve done. Have you ever had that inner glow and outer radiation? But was it happiness?

You see, most of us have replaced happiness with pleasure. Pleasure is those times when you feel terrific like after eating a fantastic meal with excellent company. Pleasure is when you loll for hours in that hot bath. Pleasure is when you indulge yourself in that spa weekend. Pleasure is when you watch our favourite team play…..But it ain’t Happiness!

The bad news is that Happiness is not an emotional state. Happiness is not the feeling you get when you are enjoying yourself. It’s much, much more than that. What makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled?

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (pronounced "chick-sent-me-high-ee") director of the Quality of Life Research Centre at the Druker School of Management, Claremont, USA has spent years researching what makes us happy.

And he and his colleagues have found that happiness can only be achieved when you are totally involved in something. When, you are totally immersed. When, you are participating to the full. You know, when you are enjoying yourself so much you have no idea what the time is, what day it is, what is happening around you. You are really happy.

His research involving 250,000 people from every continent including chess players, rock climbers, musicians, people who meditate, artists, sports people and people from all walks of life shows that:

• the times when you find yourself fully absorbed in something. Totally focussed, totally immersed and totally concentrated. Whether it be at work, playing with the children or meditating.

• the times when you don’t notice time passing.

• the times when you keep going without being aware of what’s around you....The state where…… I give Graham a cup of tea and he doesn’t even know I’ve placed it on his desk next to the screen…..

• the state where you really enjoy what you are doing and when you come up for air you are totally satisfied with what you have been doing. In other words you are really connected: heart and soul. You really enjoy what you were doing.

• the times when you were reading a stimulating book and when you put your head up everyone has gone off to bed.

• the times when you are so involved playing your favourite sport, you forget everything else

that’s when you feel really happy.

Happiness is: the flow state. The state when you feel that you are on a roll. Where everything you do is effortless and just flows. The feeling you get when you completely lose yourself in what you are doing. The time, when time stops. You are in the “grove” and everything is working for you. You are in total harmony with yourself.

The irony is, that this great feeling of happiness happens, not when you are relaxing or watching TV or enjoying the company of your friends. Happiness is achieved when you challenge yourself.

When, you stretch yourself. When you are doing what you enjoy doing most. When you are totally absorbed in what you are doing. When, you put yourself out there. When, you exceed your expectations.

So what are you waiting for? You have nothing to lose. All you have to do is put those oughts, shoulds and musts behind you and follow your heart. Lose yourself in what you really want to do. Enter the flow world where:

"Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.
Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."
(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

That’s Happiness!

Go on. Go for it!

Good Luck

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com



About the Author: To improve your intuition, initiative and energy levels. Please go to: http://www.desktop-meditation.com It’s free.

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What did William Wallace say Part III

By James Kyle


So I started this series of articles with a before picture of my personal life that was about surviving and getting by, and an extreme lack of self confidence and where I was existing, not living. See part 1, here, and part 2 here. The after picture is one where I constantly push myself though limiting beliefs and have the personal strength to approach all of life’s challenges in the certain knowledge that I will do my best, will probably succeed in attaining the goals in front of me, and if not, will be accepting and non-judgmental about the outcome, simply learning from the experience and moving on. In summary, I have moved from a negative mindset to a positive mindset with regards to how I approach life.

I say this to give testimony to the fact that there is great value in devoting time to personal development and in particular the right seminar can provide key insights which bring about a more effective, productive and happier life. I have always found it strange that people will naturally sign up for courses on computer skills, car mechanics, or even flower arranging, but baulk at the idea of signing up for a course where they learn how to lead their lives more effectively. What, you would have to admit that there is something to learn, that your current way of thinking and interacting with the world is not absolutely perfect already? And in case you are still thinking this is all a bit too abstract I should point out that in terms of my working career, the changes I have brought about have given me the confidence to take on ever more demanding posts with the very practical result of significantly increased income.

A good seminar will provide tools, ways of thinking about the world, that shifts your world view. With this new world view leading to a more powerful approach to life. During the course of future articles I will look at different aspects of the shifts that occurred for myself personally. But to return to the genesis of this article series, one huge lesson for me was the Tony Robbins saying “if you can’t, you must.”

Along the way, as per the series title, we have talked about “freedom!” One of the best ways I know to bring increased freedom into your life is to be willing to constantly stretch outside your comfort zone, And to do this to the extent that “if you can’t, you must” becomes a central guiding principle in your life.

In the past for me a stretch was where I would feel the fear and do it anyway. Increasingly a stretch has become a case of looking at the fear and seeing it melt in front of my eyes as I commit to taking the stretch. In other words over time I began to master the art of taking stretches to the extent that contemplating taking a stretch is no longer a stretch! Consider the freedom and choices this brings into your life.

I have connected with an inner voice which basically invites me to choose expansion or contraction as life’s challenges comes up. This voice reminds me I have a choice and that the sensible option is expansion. I have learned to constantly choose expansion remembering that it is not the issue but the way that I relate to the issue that counts.

Some of the many examples of the results of these shift are: I have jumped into the pilot’s seat on a trial flight and flown a light plane over downtown LA; I have strapped on a parachute to go parasailing in baja California; I have been on stage in London in several plays; I have flown and landed a glider; I have been scuba diving in the Caribbean where I had the magical experience of being enveloped  and becoming an integral part of a surrounding shoal of fish. This all despite extreme ill health at times and without fear and trepidation, but rather with excitement and enthusiasm. Compare this to the above picture above and recognise that real life shifts are possible.

And how did I do this? I just took the first step of taking that first stretch. Something to think about?