Where Happiness Begins

My clients frequently ask me how to find happiness. Over the years I've noticed that a common characteristic of people who are happy is self-awareness.

Self-awareness is a deep understanding of who we are. It literally impacts how we treat ourselves and others and what kind of life we live. Let me give you a real world example to illustrate what I'm talking about.

Person A says he is a happy go lucky person that always is having a great time. He has a lot of friends and says he's confident and an optimist. He lives a life that looks great to everyone on the outside but, when he has to think about it, Person A is deeply unhappy. He has unresolved issues in his life that are so difficult that he refuses to look at them. So person A appears happy on the outside but inside he is constantly struggling to ignore and cast aside the demons he carries. This type of person is not living a life of self-awareness because he won't even begin the process of understanding who he is in order to move forward. He chooses instead to live a live of superficial happiness based on appearances.

Person B, on the other hand, also has issues that hurt him deeply and made him unhappy. He also appears happy to the outside world but his happiness comes from a very different place. Person B decided years ago to look at the things that brought him pain. He worked very hard to acknowledge his past and create a plan to move beyond the hurt. When person B is alone he feels genuinely happy because he has actually moved past the challenges in his past. This type of happiness is far more genuine because the person has literally worked through the things that made them unhappy. His happiness is real because it's based on his deep self-awareness based on facing his hurts.

Genuine happiness comes from deep inside us. It is a level of existence that we achieve only when we work through the challenges from our past. I'm not suggesting that we live in the past, only that we acknowledge the things that hurt us earlier in life and then develop a plan to move forward.

Everyone deserves to live a life of genuine happiness, the kind that comes from deep inside. Those who are truly happy have left the burdens of the past in the past. Think about it as the difference between living your life with the burden of carrying a giant monkey on your back and never getting rid of it versus letting it go and living a much lighter and energized existence.

Self-awareness is not about being selfish or self-indulgent, it's about understanding who you are and constantly working on becoming the best person you can be. Those who choose to be aware of whom they really are reap the benefits of living a genuinely happy life.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Your Purpose in Life

We achieve great things by setting goals and following through on them. By doing this we live a life of purpose where we control our own destiny. Here's what some smart people have to say about purpose.

Peter F. Drucker:

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.


Epictetus:

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.


Helen Keller:

Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.


Robert Byrne:

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.


Henry David Thoreau:

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.


When you consciously decide what you really want, and work to achieve it, you reap the rewards of living a life of purpose.

Have a purposeful day,

Guy
Life Coach in Reno

The Key to Happiness

Many clients have told me that the key to happiness is to do what you love. It is amazing what happens when we follow that voice inside us that guides us toward what we really want to do with our lives. Here's what some smart people have to say about the topic.

Albert Schweitzer:

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.


Denis Waitley:

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.


Allan K. Chalmers:

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.


Benjamin Disraeli:

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.


Buddha:

Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.


Happiness springs from your own growth and self-fulfillment. It is the result of understanding yourself and doing the things you really love.

Take care,

Guy
Reno Life Coach