What is your secret to happiness?
The holiday… is finally over. The parties… are almost done. Its time to head back to the drawing board and plan another year of working your ass off, towards another AWESOME YEAR.
Have you written your New Year’s resolution?
Studies show that the physical act of writing it down daily is a commitment that brings you closer to actualizing it. If you think about it, all our expectations, hopes and dreams boil down to one simple concept, HAPPINESS.
I shall kickstart this series by sharing with you my new year resolution, which can be summed up in one sentence, To bring happiness to others and myself DAILY.
So what is the secret to happiness?
This is a question that has baffled intellects, philosophers and Great men. Now I am no self help guru, and neither have I achieved Nirvana in any sense. I still have many a bad days, when I feel lazy, unmotivated and lousy.
In society today, with the detrimental impact of social media, reduced quality human interactions and social isolation, mental wellness issues are rapidly coming to light. Human beings are social beings and no amount of facebook, instagram or whatsapp can replace that.
Being especially driven to help people Look and feel their very best, in the past few months, I decided to embark on a Happiness Study. I wanted to explore the SECRET to happiness. I researched books from the Holy Bible, Purpose Driven Life, and poured through autobiographies of Oprah, Richard Branson, Mother Teresa, teachings of philosophers Socrates, Plato, Confucius and writings of motivational gurus, Les Brown, Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy. In the end, I have summarised it to 5 basic principles. I shall share 3 of them today.
My New Year resolution: To bring happiness to others and myself DAILY
Question is, how do I plan to achieve this?
Here is my plan, the 5 awesome steps.
5 awesome steps to Happiness
1. CELEBRATE: It is so important to appreciate your life, to love yourself and express gratitude. Many of us are going through the motions in life, stuck in a rat race and rushing from one point to the other.
So what can we celebrate?
A simple exercise to help us would be to write down 3 things you are grateful for, every morning.
2. GROW: Continue to learn and build yourself up. Learning is lifelong. With knowledge and experience, we mature, see things from a clearer perspective, and are better able to help others.
So how can we grow?
In my mind, it is through education. I dont mean academic education, but education in the general sense. Through reading, attending courses, workshops and learning from our mentors.
3. GIVE: The concept of giving is to use our God-given gifts we possess to help the people around us. It could be to use our time, talents, expertise to contribute to society. True joy comes when we can exercise our PASSION and use it to serve others and help them grow.
So what can we give?
A simple exercise would be to identify your strengths, talents, and what you like to do. Then link up with community service agencies and offer your expertise FOC.
4. CONNECT : Being in touch with family and friends. Life is all about building relationships with people. So communicate, communicate, communicate.
So how can we connect?
Woohoo, just arrange a simple catchup over coffee. Nothing beats a face to face communication. NOTHING.
5. SPIRITUAL: Many of us are self absorbed with personal success. We forget that we are here for a deeper, greater purpose, one far beyond ourselves. We need to develop a deeper relationship with God. And understand that we are all here for a purpose, which is to do GREAT work for GOD.
So how can we be more Spiritual?
Through consistent and persistent prayer, speaking to God and meditating on his word.
So to summarise in a sentence, my 5 steps would be to Celebrate, Grow and Give daily, Connecting with the awesome folks and the Good Lord.
Remember, DO or dont do. There is no try. When you made up your mind, DO IT.
I think this quote was from YODA lol!
So I hope this article serves to plant the seeds of happiness in you. May you continue to look and feel your very best. Together, lets make this world a happier place for our generation and the next. Happy New Year!
Dr Daniel Chang 2019
