Why?

Why do you do what you do? The answer is simple, and it's the same for all of us. To arrive at this simple, yet powerful, answer, ask yourself the one word question "Why?"

Do a little experiment. Next time you are about to undertake any particular activity ask yourself why you are doing it. You're getting ready to go out for a run - why? You're settling in for the evening to watch your favorite TV show -- why? You're changing jobs, going back to college, moving, retiring, marrying, divorcing -- why, why, why?

Your first answer will not usually be your real reason, so keep asking why. Eventually, as you peel back the layers of reasons, you'll find that the motivation for each and every activity is the desire for happiness.

Or as consultant Kristi Royse puts it," In the end it turns out that we're all taking different paths in pursuit of the same goal -- happiness."

Which path you choose is ultimately not that important. What is important is that in walking it you are happy, that it in traveling it your heart sings! Because if your heart sings, it will not only sing to you, it will sing to others as well.

The happier you are, the happier others around you will become. It's a selfish-altruistic sandwich. Very scrumptious, very nutritious. Enjoy!

Find out more at:

http://linked2leadership.com/2011/02/22/the-business-of-happiness/

Happiness Outside In

You have dinner with friends, you play a couple of highly competitive sets of tennis, you watch the sunset over a lake, at a flea market you find the perfect desk chair for next to nothing, and you're happy! So, what the hell do I mean when I insist that happiness begins within?

All those externals, as well as a million and one others, seem to make you happy. And indeed they are very pleasurable experiences. What they do, however is not make you happy, but help you tap into the vast reservoir of happiness that exists deep with in you. They are your pathways into the happiness that waits patiently and always for you to discover it.

So, please continue to do those things that make your heart sing. And even add more paths to happy to your repertoire. The more externals that lead you to an internal state of happiness, the better off you are.

But don't rely upon any of them exclusively. For when the friends aren't available for dinner, and the tennis courts are frozen over, and the sunset is covered by clouds, and the flea market offers up nothing but used DVD's and tube sox from China, where will you find happiness? Within. In your soul, in your heart of hearts, where it truly always resides.

Enjoy the world and all it has to offer! But remember that is the experience of life itself that is the real source of happiness.

Nothing Makes You Happy!

"This music makes me happy."

"The sunshine makes me happy."

" You make me so happy!"

We both hear and make statements like this all the time. And, with all due respect, none of them are true. Nothing, or no one, "makes" you happy.

You enjoy certain types of music, sunshine, and specific people. When you are in the presence of those stimuli you tap into your innate, internal happiness.

It's more than just semantics.

If someone or something can make you happy, then, the opposite is also true -- someone or something can make you sad, angry, or depressed. If you believe external stimuli control your emotions, and thus the quality of your life, you are at the mercy of whoever or whatever enters your life. You have given up your power.

People who believe that their emotional well being is controlled by externals spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find the ideal and the perfect. They are always searching for the jobs, homes, people, and experiences that will "make" them happy. Their search is fruitless and never ending.

The truth is, you are happy. Happiness is part and parcel of your very nature. You can enjoy the externals, be they people, places or things, but you can't count on them. They all crumble, fade die, or go away. As will you.

But until then, you can be happy, merely by tapping into the current of life. Be happy, don't chase happy. And happily dance to the music, bask in the sunshine, and love the one you're with.

What Charlie Sheen Don't Know About Happy

Charlie Sheen, the Poster Boy of Pleasure, seems mighty unhappy lately. He's got it all -- talent, good looks, fame and fortune, and yet, he continues to flame out in epic proportions. (OK, maybe he's lacking in intelligence, but really you don't have to be Einstein to be happy).

In case you're just coming out of your winter hibernation and have missed Charlie's antics, here are a few signs of unhappiness that he's displayed:

* Overindulging on regular and consistent basis

* Wasting resources (talent, money, connections, etc.)

* Attacking others, whether verbally or physically

* Displaying a profound lack of gratitude for his good fortune

* Generally being an asshole

And while it's easy to point fingers at a Hollywood bad boy, the same signs apply to us all. If you're displaying any of the symptoms listed above, you're somehow out of touch with true happiness.

Charlie's approach seems to be if you're unhappy, pile on the pleasure. The only problem is: That approach doesn't work. Massive amounts of pleasure do not produce long term happiness, or even short term happiness.

Happiness begins within.

It's as simple as that. If you're unhappy don't go chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, go within. Find the source of your unhappiness and your natural happiness will return. Remove the clouds and indeed the sun is always there.

So, what's the real lesson here, what can we learn from Charlie's continued meltdowns? Having it all isn't what it's all about. Whenever you start to think, "I'd be happy if..." you know you're on the wrong track. Any happiness that is predicated upon externals is not true happiness.

That's it. We'll let Charlie be our negative role model, we'll learn from his mistakes (OPM -- other people's mistakes -- is one of the most cost-effective ways to learn), and, of course, we'll wish him luck in finding his own happiness post haste.