Christmas Sucks

Not for me.  But it does for some people.  Many people in fact.

I just wanted to spare a moment to think about all the people who are suffering in one way or another at this time of the year.  An often invisible group of people close to my heart are those who are unable to have children.  Christmas is a poignant reminder of what is not possible for 1 out of 6 couples in Australia.

While you enjoy your festive celebrations (and please do), take a moment to spare a thought for those among us who might need a friendly smile or a heartfelt hug, or perhaps to just be left alone.

Merry Christmas everyone.  Be safe on the roads and enjoy the company of those who want to be around you.  :-)

Till next time,

Be Happy

My To Do List

Kirt and I were recently in WA taking a couple of days to travel to Margaret River in a Wicked Camper Van…  an awesome way to roll.  There's something magical about going on a road trip together.  We used to have an old Kombi when we were at Uni and the holiday trips up and down the East Coast are some of our most wonderful memories.

Anyway, taking advantage of the free time we discussed life direction, hopes and frustrations and actually made up a to do list.  These lists are very powerful (in my experience).  Its the writing of them that does something.  I think it helps to clarify the objective.  Additional planning may be required but in many cases the initial list will do.  Have you ever made a list or a plan and then forgotten about it only to find (when you stumble across the list again) that you've actually achieved or made significant progress towards doing the things in the plan/list?  I have and I've seen many of my clients experience the same thing.  Key Message.  Make a List.

Here's ours:

•   Wall stencils

•   Hang tv on wall

•   Sell stereo

•   Sort out AV equipment

•   Wall mount speakers

•   2 PAC /paint box

•   Artwork for walls

•   Sell bongos

•   Sell polar HRM

•   Sell Mercedes

•   Price Kombi's

•   Paint window sills

•   Extra payment on mortgage

•   Ski savings account

•   Read happy books and other research for "Would You Like Happy With That?' workshop

•   Learn: u-tube editing / Pod casts / Mac book

•   Build commuter bike

•   Try cross fit

•   Find spin class

•   Recover outside sofa with black covers

•   New cushions for outside

•   Subscribe to home decorating magazines

•   Kirt redo budget

The intention behind this list was activities/things that would support our investment strategy.  We've realised we need to stay where we are currently living for another few years in order to be able to move to where we'd ultimately like to live.  We wanted to simplify our life and make home a little nicer to live in.

I reckon we'll knock this list over by early to Mid Jan.  Some stuff has already happened.

Over to you now.  Why don't you take five minutes right now and write your list.  What are you going to do?

Till next time,

Be Happy.

ps.  Thanks for the advice, guidance and support you've offered me thus far.

Near enough.... is it good enough?

I've been in a difficult spot for the past few days, and am feeling less than inspired about all things life.  I've run out of work till early in the new year.  I've been sick and feeling miserable.  My diet, has slipped and I've been eating all kinds of crap.  I'm changing my training around and the days without doing any exercise are quickly adding up.  The weather has been wet and not very conducive to outdoors activity.

All of these things are critical ingredients in a happy, positive life.  Diet, food, stress mgt, meaningful activities (work), good health so it's no wonder I'm not feeling great.  

I asked my partner a question the other day.  I get it that your mindset is a choice you make in order to shift how you feel about a situation in order to change what you do about it.  Think - Feel - Do.  I get it.  The question was "How do you force the shift?"  A kind reader suggested it's not a case of 'tricking' your mind,  but rather the act of applying the alternate mindset to the situation.  I thought I'd give that a go.

Here's what I did.  

1. Recognised that flat, despondent emotions or emotional state is a normal part of life and gave myself permission to feel them (perfectionists reject these emotions and in doing so, hold more firmly to them AND judge themselves for having had them in the first place... Lose/Lose).
2. Looked for an alternative way of thinking about the situation.  To do this I pretended I was talking to someone else who just happened to be in my situation (it's funny, you often give others advice and guidance you wouldn't give yourself AND you sometimes see things differently when you remove yourself from the equation).
3. Made two lists - one was the perfectionists viewpoint, the other was the optimalists (I'll share these lists in a second)
4. Went about implementing a 'near enough' idea

So what this actually looked like for me was as follows:

1. "I'm feeling shit because I've not been exercising, and I'll never be as fit as I was and, and, and...."  That's ok Sean.  It's normal to go through ups and downs.  Accept the emotion for what it is and move on.  
2. Initial View:  "It's all gone to shit.  I'm getting fat, Christmas is coming, I should've kept up my training..... " Alternate View:  No wonder you feel bad Sean, look at your current situation.  That's ok though mate, you're only a couple of sessions away from feeling great again and yeah, the first one is going to hurt.  But don't they all hurt?  And don't you actually like that?

Here are my lists as they relate to the above situation

Perfectionist:

• I need to go on a strict diet with one cheat meal per week - rigid restriction.
• No alcohol
• I'll do crossfit 5 x per week starting immediately
• Swim 2-3 times per week 
• Casual MTB or Road Bike ride each weekend

Optimalist:

• Try to get along to 3 crossfit sessions/week until I get a feel for it and my body get's used to the different movements
• Do at least one swim each week, even if it's just doing some cruisy laps with the pullboy
• Get on the bike at least once each fortnight, weather permitting

Which list do you think is going to work better for me?  As I read them I still struggle to let go of my perfectionist tendancies.  I want the first list.  Thats where I'd like to be.  Problem is, now is a very difficult time of year to go on a strict diet and to avoid alcohol.  Nor will I want to avoid those things (causing conflict).  Also, I changed my training focus because I didn't have enough time AND I was carrying small but persistent injuries.  And Whammo!  I replace 7-10 sessions a week with 9.   So lets assume I opt for list 1.  Chances are that I won't be able to do 5 crossfit sessions in my first ever week of doing it (I did my first workout last week just prior to getting sick and I was sore for 5 days!!!).  Because of my time restrictions it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to train twice a day for a few weeks anyway, so the swims would pretty much all fall over and my weekends have been very social (and wet) so riding bikes is unlikely too.  

So, imagine how that would make me feel?  Yup, like crap.

I'm going to try list 2 and see what happens.  I'll let you know.

Here's one quick example of how my different thinking is slowly shifting some of my behaviour.

Saturday arvo - been threatening rain all day.  Dog needs a walk.  Sean desperately needs some exercise.  BTW - regular exercise has so far proven to be the one absolute essential in my mental and stress management.  Funny thing is, the more I actually need to do some exercise, the less likely I am to seek it out.  A couple of days of decadent eating, drinking and no exercise and it's the last thing I'm likely to want to do, despite so desperately needing it.  I'm getting better at recognising this and just getting out there.  Letting go of the idea that every session has to be a PB too.  That's helping.  So anyway.  Decided that if it rained I'd take the dog out and we'd go for a cruisy run and enjoy the puddles (he loves the water). 

Well it didn't just rain, it pissed down.  So much so that people were coming outside to watch the rain and they all got a good giggle when they saw me dragging my very reluctant dog outside in the biggest downpour we've had in awhile.  He really didn't want to be outside.  A couple of guys in a truck even took the trouble to roll down there window and laugh at me as they drove past.  

Anyway, the dog soon got into it and was leaping in puddles and sniffing wet smelly things with abandon.  Because it was wet, it was cool and there was no-one on the bike paths so I could let Buddy off the lead which he loves.  It turned out to be one of the more enjoyable runs I've had in a long time.  Go figure.

So.  The exercise was the two lists.  Making a perfectionists list and a 'near enough' list and trying to implement that instead.  I'll report back but the theory suggests that with my near enough list I'm more likely to get some traction and 'get into action' which in turn may actually snowball and take me closer to the first list with less stress and more enjoyment.  And if it doesn't, it doesn't really matter.  At least I'm doing something.

Here's the activity as I read it.  The process is about compromise between the different priority areas of your life so as to not take too much on and get overloaded.  I varied it a little to suit my situation but I think it worked.

Make a list of the important areas in your life (I focused on one area).  Try categories such as professional, family, romantic, friends, health, travel, hobby, finances etc.  First note under each category what you would ideally like to do and how much time you would ideally like to spend.  Then, for each category distinguish between the part that you can give up and the part you see as indispensable.  Write down the indispensable activities under your good enough list.  For example, under work your ideal might be 60 hours a week.  Given the other constraints and desires, that may not be realistic.  Good enough for you might be 40 hours a week.  Here's what those lists look like for me.

Category	Ideal (Perfect)	Good Enough (Optimal)
Work	60 hrs / week	40 hrs / week
Friends	Daily get togethers	Once a week catch up
Exercise	1 Session every day	3 - 5 / week

Till next time, 

Stay Happy.

ps.  the discipline of writing this blog is really helping to clarify my thinking on the topic so thanks for listening.  I'll share the theories on reflective writing later on but so far it's helping me AND it's not feeling like a huge amount of work.

I sometimes wonder whether I'm kidding myself.

Seriously.  At times I think it would be easier to surrender to the whimsical, to just journey off and explore.  Explore what exactly I don't know?  Not sure it really matters.

Have stopped doing the gratitude list.  I'm still thinking about gratefulness but a fair chunk of that is guilt for not writing it down.  The discipline of coming here to write this is helping to focus me but for most of this week (despite being productively engaged)  I've been feeling flat.  I am telling myself it's ok, and I am sick.  Recovering quickly from the flu but Monday and Tuesday with a head full of snot in front of 15 course participants was not fun.  Hard to marshall the energy it takes to work with a group like that.  I think I did ok though.

Got an easy day tomorrow and I plan to venture out to do a bit of light exercise.

It's been about 3-4 weeks of a pretty solid break from training, relaxed diet and having some drinks.  I'm now starting to feel shit and the shitter I feel the harder it is to think about exercise (here's a perfectionist tendency coming on).  What makes it hard for me is that I know it's going to feel harder than last time and I won't be able to train at as high an intensity.   An optimalist would accept that and go along to 'participate'.  In doing so they begin the reversal of their situation.  Me on the other hand, put it off another day and make it even harder for myself when I do go back.  And feel guilty for delaying.  Crazy shit hey?

Anyone else do that or am I the only completely screwed one?

Ok.  Perception vs Reality.

If what we see is interpreted based on our perspective (values, knowledge, preferences, culture, age etc) then we get to choose how it's going to make us feel.

If I get by a car I'm appreciative it's not a truck and will use the convalesce to write a book.  Perspective.
Different guy, different thinking, same event.  Laments his good fortune, slides into depression doesn't attend physio and severely limits his own recovery.

Get the idea?  Good.  Now I'm an advocate of this.  I truly think it's "The Answer".  But it's got a catch.  While I can force myself to look for another, more positive perspective (or perhaps just a healthier one, it doesn't have to radiate rainbows)... and I do.  I find it difficult to maintain the perspective and not slip back into the original frame of mind.  Question.  How the heck do I do it so it sticks?  You see the benefits of this alternate way of thinking about the event are only available if you genuinely accept the alternate paradigm (way of thinking).  In my experience, rapid and enduring changes of perspective happen in an unexpected, sudden, often painful or embarrassing way.  Like a near death experience, or loss of a loved one.

How do we 'trick' ourselves into accepting the replacement mindset?

Till next time,

Be Happy

You can't negotiate with nutters.

This was a throw-away line a senior executive shared with a group of managers in a workshop I was facilitating.  Everyone laughed (as was expected).  The real import of the message however was not lost on me.  Despite all the hard work, good intentions, and varied approaches Managers (and us) bring to establishing, maintaining and correcting relationships with staff (and others) - sometimes you really have to recognise when you're dealing with a nutter.  And that's ok... so long as you don't beat yourself up about it.

In a similar vein, one of the secrets to my own happiness that I've picked up is that you can't please everyone and if you can, then not all of the time.  Letting go of this expectation for me opened up a whole new way of being with people.  It meant that I didn't take it personally if for instance, someone didn't like a suggestion or an idea I had.  Or, if I'd been working on a task or project and it met with varied responses.  Of course, I need to take feedback on board, but being prone to feedback overload that would often end with me trying to make sense of multiple, completely disparate viewpoints and forgetting that I was the professional engaged to resolve this lack of clarity in the first place.  In a worst case scenario I would present to or be with a person in a way that I THOUGHT they would value, benefit from or appreciate.  I wasn't being real, or not really real anyway.

Accepting I can't please everyone is not that same as saying "I no longer give a crap."  You still do your good work, still consider multiple perspectives and approaches, still work hard for a good outcome and relationships.  By letting go of trying to please everyone it made it easier for me to stick to my values and professional expertise and as a result I'm actually able to implement more as I'm less paralysed by the alternative viewpoint(s).

So, before you go too much further in 'that' relationship....  Are you sure you're not dealing with a nutter?

Till next time

Be happy

ps...

I'm still going with my gratitude list.   Here are some excerpts from today.

• It was a tough day at the office (sick, travel, challenging group) so coming home to an enthusiastic welcome from Kirt and Buddy was delightful.
• I'm grateful for my co-facilitator today who took care of so much behind the scenes stuff.
• I'm grateful for all the great managers I've had.  You know who you are Carl.  ;-)
• I'm grateful for the people who want to help you succeed and work hard to make it happen

How are you going?  Still at it?

Are you a boiling frog?

I'm sick.  :-(

I seem to have come down with the flu or some such thing.  I'm not really surprised, although I don't get sick often.  It doesn't seem to serious.  Its moving through it's stages quickly so that's a good thing.

Anyway, it got me to thinking.  I'd made a prediction recently about a friend.  He's been working his ring off for 24 months, the past 10 of which have been more stressful as budgets were tighter and work more sparse.  Still busy though.  He's now in Brasil enjoying an 8 week break as he and his wife go back to visit her family for the first time in 5 yrs.  I told him to watch out as he might get sick in the first week or so.

Have you seen that before?  You work (or train) hard and then go on holidays (or taper for a race) and bam!  You get sick.  I'm sure you have.   Here's why.

Let's say you take a frog (don't do this, take my word for it or read up on it) and drop it in a glass of boiling water.  It'll jump out.  Immediately.  If however you pop it in a glass of cool water and slowly raise the temperature, degree by degree.  What do you think will happen?

The frog will stay in the water.  It won't jump out.  The frogs skin and nerves that measure heat aren't sensitive enough to note the small (1 degree) changes in temperature so it doesn't register.  (I'm probably getting out of my depth scientifically now so I'll leave it there).

Humans, similarly, don't notice the gradual build up of our stress.  In this case the stress from our environment and how we choose to think about our lives.  So, when said friend goes on holiday and completely drops his work (stress) related activity, his body will realise that the time of self-preservation and survival has passed and it can now start to work on repairing itself -in this case fighting off the infection, or re-building after prolonged exposure to stress.

Did my gratitude list again today.  That's 3 in a row!  You guys are helping me to do that, so thanks.

I'm noticing that's its a bit easier to jot things down if I take the pressure of myself about 'what it might sounds like'.  I feel like I'm more engaged by the activity, person or thing that I'm grateful for which is a good thing.

Till next time,

Be Happy

So, what have YOU got to be grateful for?

Yesterday I spoke about comparisons, and why they can sometimes be a bad thing.

Here's a common technique that I'm trying out that is about making positive reflections on our lives.  It's about practicing gratitude.

Most of us don't actually have to think too hard to find things that were grateful for.  Whether it's our health, our home, friends, family, the shiny bike we ride or whatever.  The problem is that we are trained to seek more.  We're conditioned by advertising to aspire to a shinier bike, a bigger home, a flashier holiday.  As human beings were prone to something called status anxiety too, so the advertisers tell us that the Jones' have more, do more and are more than we are.  They prey on that human tendency somewhat.  And when we focus on these things that perhaps we can't have, we feel bad about ourselves.

Perhaps what's even worse is when we aspire to that new car, we get it and very quickly the shine wears off.  What a shame.  I drive a beautiful Mercedes.  I got it brand new.  What do you think I notice when I get in it?  The comfy leather seats, intuitive phone integration, comprehensive safety features?  No.  I look at the model that's next up the line and focus on my smaller engine, less fancy wheels and lack of GPS.  What a crying shame....  (gee I'm actually embarrassed writing this).

Anyway, enough of that.

The Gratitude Journal.  This process or technique is about refocusing your attention onto those things that you're grateful for.  I've been recommending this exercise in many of my workshops for some time now but have not yet really implemented it myself.  At least not consistently, which is where the benefit lies.

Here's how to do it:

1. Get a pen and piece of paper
2. Pause and reflect on your day (or your life) - focusing on all the things you're grateful for.  Even if you think nothing good has happened to you today I'd beg to differ.  Consider... "I got hit by a car today".  Grateful Reflection... "Thank god it wasn't a truck!"
3. Write these things down.
4. (Advanced)  Share them with somebody.
5. Do this daily.

My Observations.

This is what I noticed as I started to write the list.

• If you start with your life it might be easier to find things to be grateful for but at some point you'll need to shift the focus to your day.  Otherwise you'll find the ideas may start to become 'stale'.
• Just start writing, even if it's silly little things to begin with.  Don't judge yourself, just write.
• This requires discipline.  I find it hard to sustain the practice.  Perhaps anchor it to something that you already do consistently, like eat breakfast, or brushing your teeth.

I'll share today's list with you in a second.  

Here's a variation for Busy Workers.  We tend to judge our performance by the amount of work left to do.  In my experience the volume of work we face is a veritable tsunami and we'd never get through it all if we worked 24/7 as there's always more around the corner.  Once a week, preferably on a Friday.  Stop and reflect on your week and make a list of all the things that you DID get done.  How does that make you feel?  

My Gratitude List for Today

I’m grateful for…

·      The opportunity to sleep in on some weekday mornings

·      My wife Kirsten, who is so supportive of me… always

·      The chances I was given as a child

·      The possibilities in my future

·      The affection of a devoted pet – Buddy

·      The support I receive from my wonderful friends

·      The chance to work with groups of people who want to become more effective managers

·      To be able to make myself a great coffee

·      To be able to earn in income from something I like doing

Feel free to share your ideas with me.  It maybe a good way to get started?

Till next time,

Be Happy :-)

Why Comparing Can Be A Bad Thing

When we compare we're only seeing part of the picture.  We make assumptions and inferences about the data we see.  Depending on your head space this can sometimes be a bad thing.  For instance...

You're at a party and you see a really fit person eating whatever they like.  You know you work hard on your diet and don't get the same results they do eating junk food.... result.  You feel bad.  What you don't see is the behind the scenes stuff.  All the good food they normally eat, or the hard work they do every day of their life.

You see a guy driving a nice Beemer getting out to play tennis early on a Friday afternoon.  Inference - they live a charmed life, why can't I have everything like that too...?  What you don't see.  The crippling lease agreement he's in and the 60 hr weeks he normally works to pay for it... AND you've seen him on his one week holiday.

The person with the beautifully cleaned house.  How can they work, raise children AND find the time to clean?  What's wrong with me?  I'm no good because I can't do that too.  What you don't see - their exhaustion at the end of the week and the stress they are under to keep it clean.

The above are just some of the things I've heard talked about.  There's undoubtably millions of others.  What inferences and assumptions are you making about others and then comparing yourself negatively against?

Be careful of making comparisons.  ESPECIALLY if they make you feel bad about yourself.

I did this.  A lot.  I'm working on reframing these observations now and thinking about what might be behind the scenes in a way that makes me feel better about myself.  It's actually motivating me to do the things that might actually help me to achieve some of the things that I want.

I now try to focus on the input or effort I commit to an activity or task and make judgements about that instead.  I'm letting go of the focus on outcome or result and am actually both feeling better about things and making more progress.

Last example.  I've been wanting to blog and use social media to support my business for sometime now but when reading some of the popular blogs and looking at some of the successful marketers I tended to compare my beginner level of knowledge and skills.   Recognising I couldn't do what they were doing (at least immediately anyway) I wouldn't try.  My change of focus has meant that I've literally just started to play around and as a result:

• I'm up to my third post
• I've implemented some Facebook advertising
• I've found ways to customise my Facebook home page (not uploaded yet), which in turn has led to the development of some marketing/promotional material about the program I've been procrastinating about for 18 months.

Result = progress over the past three days that I've not managed to do in 18 months!!!!  I'll have more of that please.

Till next time, 

Be Happy.

My Happiness Mission

The Pursuit of Happiness

To live, laugh, love and cry with the mindset that ALL experiences are, or can be, part of a productive, meaningful and enjoyable life.

To share my experiences in the pursuit of my happiness so that others may also benefit.

I vow to relax my grip on the outcome and to celebrate the journey, wherever it takes me.

The above was written after reading "Being Happy - you don't have to have a perfect life to lead a richer, happier life" (Tal Ben-Shahar).

Much of the book focuses on the differences between perfectionists and optimalists and it demonstrates quite clearly and convincingly that the latter group actually achieve more than those who aim for perfection and either:

• Never start because you can't fail what you don't attempt.... or, 
• Achieve great things and then aren't happy with or despite them

I'd never thought of myself as a perfectionist but I identified with many of the characteristics.  See how you stack up.

Perfectionists have been described as "those whose standards are high beyond reach or reason, people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment" (David Burns, 1980)

Now compare this with Optimalism.  Optimal is defined as the "best, most favourable, especially under a particular set of circumstances."   In finding the optimal Optimalists acknowledge the constraints of reality, that there are inherent limitations in being human and that we must all make trade-offs in life.

Perfectionists reject failure, Optimalists accept it and recognise that it's a natural part of life and the experience is directly linked to success.  Perfectionists expect their path through life to be direct, smooth and trouble free.  Optimalists know differently, that there will be setbacks, failures, disappointments and more.  There ability to rationalise these as part of a normal (real) experience sets them apart from their counterparts and means that while disappointing, these experiences (or the avoidance of them) are not debilitating, limiting and stifling.

Till next time,

Be Happy.

My Happiness Mission

The Pursuit of Happiness

To live, laugh, love and cry with the mindset that ALL experiences are, or can be, part of a productive, meaningful and enjoyable life.

To share my experiences so that others may also benefit.

I vow to relax my grip on the outcome and to celebrate the journey, wherever it takes me.

The above was written after reading "Being Happy - you don't have to have a perfect life to lead a richer, happier life" (Tal Ben-Shahar).

Much of the book focuses on the differences between perfectionists and optimalists and it demonstrates quite clearly and convincingly that the latter group actually achieve more than those who aim for perfection and either:

• Never start because you can't fail what you don't attempt.... or, 
• Achieve great things and then aren't happy with or despite them

I'd never thought of myself as a perfectionist but I identified with many of the characteristics.  See how you stack up.

Perfectionists have been described as "those whose standards are high beyond reach or reason, people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment" (David Burns, 1980)

Now compare this with Optimalism.  Optimal is defined as the "best, most favourable, especially under a particular set of circumstances."   In finding the optimal Optimalists acknowledge the constraints of reality, that there are inherent limitations in being human and that we must all make trade-offs in life.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with but one step...

Hi.

My name is Sean.  This is my first post and the beginning of what I suspect will be a life long journey.  There's a reason I'm sharing this with you which will become apparent shortly.  But first, a little about me to help you know where I'm coming from.

I consider myself fortunate and I have many positive things in my life.

• I'm healthy.  
• I have a great relationship with a loving partner.  
• I have good friends.  
• I am financially secure.  
• Both my parents are alive and live nearby.  
• I work for myself and work flexibly on things that interest me.  
• I have several hobbies which I'm able to pursue.  
• I get to travel reasonably regularly.  
• I'm university educated with a degree in psychology. 
• I have many choices and options in my life. 
• I live in a nice home.  
• I'm safe and free from threat and danger. 

I'm aware that a staggering percentage of the worlds population would consider themselves fortunate to have just one or two of these things... in some cases just one.  And yet, despite all these things I suffer from a malaise.  A constant questioning and second-guessing of my purpose, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with my life.  And the scary thing is.... I'm not alone.

In my work I offer coaching, consulting and facilitation services to individuals and organisation seeking greater engagement.  That is the connection between an individual and the work they do.  There is a lot of merit to being engaged by the work you do.  If you're not, then I'd encourage you to read on.  Some of what I'm going to share with you may be of benefit.  If not for you right now, maybe later.. or  perhaps for someone you know?

Over the past few years working with people on engagement I've made some observations.

• Engagement at work is not always about work.
• High expectations often lead to disappointment.
• People often have unreasonable expectations.
• Lack of clarity contributes to dissatisfaction.
• Abundance of opportunity makes it harder to choose.
• Many people are not as happy as they'd like to be (especially ay work).
• Self help books often create more pressure than they relieve.

This blog is about my experiences in putting into practice many of the practical and applied techniques I've been reading about and researching.  I plan to share with you what works and what doesn't.  I will talk about the challenges to the exercises and will invite contributions from you on how to overcome them.  I also invite you to share your experiences with me.  

Make no mistake.  This blog is about my experience (dare I say 'journey'...).  Take from it what works, chuck out the rest.  By committing to regular posts I'm using you to hold myself accountable.  I know that knowledge is one thing.  Application of knowledge is something else entirely.  I know that I will not get to maximise my personal happiness without application.  

Buddhism suggests that our purpose is the pursuit of happiness.  They reason that happier people are more likely to help others.  They will be healthier and less burdensome on the planet, and in order to be happy will likely live a life in closer alignment with many Buddhist principles.

I'm hoping that as I work on my own personal and psychological development, that my example may inspire or help others.  Time will tell....

Until next time,

Be Happy