Do you even know all of the answers to that question? Can you at least name what the top 10 things are that make you happy? If not, make yourself a top 10 list, with everything in order according to how much happiness it brings you, then memorize it. Knowing the things that make you happiest is powerful knowledge to have.
Why is it powerful knowledge to have? It’s simple. You can use that information to motivate yourself. You can use it to improve your mood. You can use it to brighten a bad day. And, you can use it to change your attitude.
That sounds like a lot of useful purposes to know which things bring you the most happiness, doesn’t it? It certainly is. Just consider the example below.
Do your kids bring you more happiness than anything else in life? When you’re having a rough day, try taking a prolonged look at a photo of them. Try to think about absolutely nothing. Clear your mind, and let yourself get lost in their faces. When you put the photo away and resume going about your day, you will immediately feel at least somewhat better.
Knowing how to tap into and turn on your happiness like that is an incredibly useful and powerful tool. Just received some bad news? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Didn’t get enough sleep?
Just think about your kids, your significant other, your favorite sport, your favorite vacation spot, your favorite food, or any other item that makes you happiest. The bad news will disappear. You’ll stop being grumpy. You’ll still be tired from lack of sleep, but your attitude will certainly improve, etc.
This tool is excellent for helping to attain success in all areas of life. It helps you to reduce the effect on your state of mind that outside sources can have. It helps to maintain better control over your disposition. Anything that helps you improve these qualities is going to help you to be successful in business, family life, relationships, and life in general. It doesn’t solve EVERYTHING…
This isn’t a magic potion, obviously. If someone close to you dies, or you lose your job, obviously the effect of this tool will be significantly reduced while those things are heavily impacting your life. However, depending on the severity of the situation, this could at least help to take the edge off.
Millions of people take all kinds of medications to achieve essentially the same result as this. It’s my opinion that many people take antidepressants and similar medications unnecessarily. If they were to develop certain tools for personal growth, such as this and many others that I’ve discussed in this blog, there’s a solid chance that they wouldn’t need that type of medication.
The point is, there are very few things in life that are so catastrophic that a person isn’t capable of getting over them. It simply requires the correct toolset. Knowing how to motivate yourself to get over something and move on, and knowing which things you can use to cultivate that motivation, combine for a very effective tool that should certainly be in your toolbox.
