30 Minute Routine That Will Condition Your Mind For Happiness

I am a happy person so I can tell you that having a happy day every day is not an accident, it requires work on your part. I want to share with you my system of being happy everyday. The key to my happiness can be
summarized in my 30 minute routine that conditions my mind for happiness.

How to Condition Your Mind For Happiness in 30 Minutes
Every night before you go to bed and as soon as you wake up in the morning you should declare out loud "Today is going to be a Great Day!" When you declare that you are going to have a great day it is at that point that your happiness begins.
After you declare out loud that you are going to have a great day, the next thing that you have to do is work towards having a fantastic day. You can work towards having a terrific day by following these three simple steps. The three steps are: 1. Read inspirational scripture 2. Listen to inspirational music and 3. Laugh

#1 Read Inspirational Scripture
The most important thing that you can do to have a great day is to include God in your plans. In the morning take about 10 minutes of your time and read inspirational scripture. Psalms and Proverbs are great scriptures to read to help you start your day off to a great start. You can also read inspirational quotes, a poem, or a chapter from a book that inspires you.

#2 Listen to Inspirational Music
After you spend 10 minutes reading your inspirational scripture, the next thing you can do to ensure that your day goes well, is to spend 10 minutes of your time listening to inspirational music. I enjoy gospel music because it centers my attention on God, however, you can play any type of music that you desire. You just need to make sure that the song of your choice gets your juices pumping.

#3 Laugh
The third step in your 30 minute routine is to just laugh out loud for 10 minutes. Laughing helps you to release all of the negative forces of the day which may attempt to hinder you from having the best day of your life. Laughing is great because if you are able to laugh then you know that whatever happens in the course of the day is not that serious.

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Take the Happy Test

How Happy Are You?

I just recently purchased the book "Happy" by Dr. Ian Smith. You may be familiar with Dr. Ian Smith from the Celebrity Fit Club. In the book "Happy", Dr. Ian Smith asked the question "Where are the happiest people in the world?" Well my first response was California, Hawaii or Florida.

Maybe I am a little bit biased but for me, wherever there is the combination of sunshine and ocean there is also happiness. Well as I continued to read the book, I became aware that America is not even close to being the place where you would find the happiest people in the world.

The happiest people in the world are in Denmark. Yes, Denmark! The reason that the people who live in Denmark are considered to be the happiest is because they place more emphasis on doing things that brings them joy such as spending time with their families and other meaningful activities.

On the hand, the reason why people in the States do not fare high on the list of happiest people are because they place emphasis on chasing money and material possessions which means working long hours of work. If you are at work most of the time then you do not have any time to pursue the things that will make you happy.

Take The Happy Test

Dr. Ian Smith, also stated that  much of your happiness is genetic. Yes, genetic!He said that their is a set point  for your happiness and this point varies in people. Your set point is sorta like a weight set point. You can alter your happiness set point some, but not dramatically. How do you feel about this statement...

Your ability to experience happiness is also based on your environment and how well you are able to respond to your environment.


Take the Happiness Test and Measure Your Happiness
The "Satisfaction with Life Scale" is a test created by Psychologist Ed Drier. This test is a list of 5 questions that will help you to get an idea of you level of happiness

7-Strongly Agree

6-Agree

5- Slightly Agree

4-Neither agree nor disagree

3-Slightly disagree

2-Disagree

1-Strongly disagree

___In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
___The conditions of my life are excellent.
___ I am satisfied with my life.
___So far I have gotten the important things that I want in my life
___If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing

Add up your scores and compare the total the the table below

• 35-31 Extremely satisfied
• 26-30 Satisfied
• 21-25 Slightly satisfied
• 20 Neutral
• 15-19 Slightly dissatisfied
• 10-14 Dissatisfied
• 5-9 Extremely dissatisfied

Dr. Ian Smith "3 Step Happiness Plan"

Dr. Ian Smith offers a "Happiness Plan" to help you improve your happiness set point.

Step #1: List five things that are meaningful in your life but are not money or material possessions

1._______________________________
2._______________________________
3._______________________________
4._______________________________
5._______________________________


Step #2: Take the five items that you listed above and estimate the amount of time you spend each week doing them experiencing them, or thinking about them.


1._____________________ hrs. per week___
2._____________________ hrs. per week___
3._____________________ hrs. per week____
4. _____________________hrs. per week____
5._____________________ hrs. per week____




Step #3: Increase your happiness time
Increase your happiness time by simply reorganizing your time so that you have more time to do the things that are meaningful to you.




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Be The Best Person You Can Be

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Just Say "No"!

What is the "Yes" Stress Trap?

Have you ever been, or are you now in, a stressful situation that you could have avoided if only you would have said "No" instead of "Yes"? For example: Did you take on an extra assignment and you can not realistically complete that assignment and your other obligations within the specified time? Did you agree to do something for someone and now you are struggling with your choice because if you do that particular thing, you know that it will be in opposition with your best interest? Or did you agree to do something for someone and you really do not want to do it and now you are wishing that you had said "No" instead of "Yes"?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you have fallen in the "Yes" stress trap and you need to get out of it as quickly as possible unless you run the risk of setting yourself up to take on more than you can handle. I know several people, including myself, who have fallen into the stress trap of saying "Yes" when they should have said "No" because they did not want to disappoint others.

How To Get Out of the "Yes" Trap A.S.A.P.

So now you are in a situation that you could have avoided if only you said "No" instead of "Yes" and you are looking for a way out. Do not fret; there is something that you can do to get out of your stressful situation immediately. This action has been around since the beginning of time and the action is " Change your mind". Although changing your mind may not be the most polite action to take, it is your right and one in which you should take as a last resort.

Whenever you take the "I changed my mind route" talk your decision over with the other invested parties and explain to them that you made an unhealthy choice and your choice is causing you to experience unbearable stress. This may disappoint the person who you did not want to disappoint in the first place but the results will be successful. You will have succeeded in removing yourself from the stressful situation.

Don't Be a People Pleaser !

In the future, it is important that you evaluate your situation before you take on responsibilities that you are unable to fulfill. Also if you have taken on a task which you are not able to complete, please make sure that you voice your decision early on so that you can give the other persons involved enough time to make other arrangements.

Finally, do not live your life as a "People Pleaser" especially if pleasing others causes you stress. You are not obligated to say "Yes" to everybody who asks you to do something just because you do not want to disappoint them. The sooner you start putting into practice telling people "No" the better your life will be. Remember, you were created to live your life with inner peace and joy and it is your job to take a stand and ensure that you do not put yourself in situations which are in conflict with your inner state of peace and joy.


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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Make Home Work Fun

I work with high-risk boys as a youth counselor and assisting them with their math homework assignments can be very stressful at times, especially when they are not interested in learning math. I hear the boys state often that learning math for them is stressful because math is boring. When I am helping the boys with their math homework, the first thing that I do is figure out how to hold their attention by finding out what are the things that they enjoy most. I know that if I can get them to identify with the things that they enjoy most, then I can get them interested in learning. If I can get them interested in learning, then helping them with their math homework will not be so stressful. For instance, I know that the boys really enjoy football so I use football to show them how to understand the principles of math and how to make learning math fun.

Football Rules Made Simple

1. There is an offensive and defensive team
2. The objective of the football game is to score in the end zone and the team with the highest score at the end of the game wins
3. The middle of the football field is the 50-yard line. The numbers on the football field increase and decrease in increments of 10

How to Use Football to teach Math

1. Let the students name their teams based on their favorite college or NFL team
2. Draw a replica of a football field on the chalk board
3. Use colored chalk to write out the plays "math problems" and to show the movement of the football on the field

Math Problem #1
How to Teach Subtraction: 50-20=?

"Team A" has possession of the football on the 50-yard line. The Play: the Quarterback throws the football down the field. The Receiver runs down the field and catches the football at the 20- yard line. If "Team A " started at the 50-yard line and now has possession of the football at the 20-yard line how many yards did the Receiver on "Team A " gain on the play? Answer 30-yards.

Math Problem #2
How to Teach Addition 10 +30 =?

"Team B" is at the 10-yard line. The Play: The Quarterback is going to pass the football to the Running back and see how many yards he can gain on the play. The play is successful! The Running back on "Team B" gained 30-yards. If the play started at the 10 yard-line and the Running Back gained 30 yards, Where is the ball positioned at the start of the new play? Answer- 40 yard line.

I find that children who are challenged socially learn better when you can hold their attention. If you implement football or any other sport in the learning process, it helps make teaching math less stressful because it makes learning interesting. Football also allows you to involve the children in the learning process and that will help them to remember the mathematical concepts.

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Be Happy

My Philosophy and Happiness

I can remember vividly being younger and daydreaming about being successful. I use to lay on my back for hours at a time looking up at the sky and imagining that I was married, had two kids (a boy and a girl), owned a really big house and had tons of money. I hoped to have accomplished my vision by the time that I had turned twenty-five. My philosophy was if I was able to possess all of the material wealth that I desired, I would be able to experience happiness.



Well, needless to say, the age of twenty-five came and passed and most of the things that I had envisioned for myself did not come to fruition. Instead of being happy, I found myself constantly reflecting on what I had not accomplished in my life. The more that I thought about all of the material things that I did not possess, the sadder it seemed that I became. Things got to be so bad for me that I became depressed and I even questioned my very existence.

Stumbling on Happiness

I felt so hopeless during that period of my life, that I started going to church hoping to find the answer to “How to be Happy”. I can recall one particular sermon that changed my life forever. The sermon was entitled "If You Change Your Perspective, Then You Will Change Your Life!"


The pastor explained that the reason why you are happy or unhappy is based on what you are focusing on. If you focus on things that make you unhappy, then you will be unhappy. On the other hand, if you focus on things that make you happy, then you will be happy.

What Makes People Happy

The more the pastor preached about changing your perspective, the more I became aware that my source of unhappiness was based on the way that I was defining my success. I was equating being successful with material wealth. The reason why I was unhappy was because I did not possess all of the material wealth that I had desired so I believed that I was a failure in life.

The message “If You Change Your Perspective Then You Will Change Your Life” caused me to redefine my concept of success. Instead of focusing on “What I have”, I began to focus on “Who I am”. At that point, I made a list of some of my better qualities and I pointed out that “I am a nice person, I am a caring person, I am a person with good work ethics, I Am a person with good morals” etc.

What I discovered was, the more that I identified with the “Who I am” instead of the “What I have”, the happier I became. As a result of focusing on things that make me happy, today I am able to experience a new found wealth of happiness.

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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Be The Best Person You Can Possibly Be

Be The Best Person That You Can Possibly Be

In order to be the best person that you can possibly be, you must be able to maintain a state of peace and joy within yourself. Let's face it, if you are living your life in a state of turmoil and discouragement then you are not operating at your highest capabilities nor are you experiencing your best possible life now. This posts discusses three basic but powerful steps that you can apply in your life now in order to achieve an inner state of peace and joy regardless of outside circumstances. The three steps are 1) Make a Decision 2) Let Go and 3) Be Positive

#1 Decide That You Are Going To Be Happy No Matter What

The first step in achieving inner peace and joy is to decide that regardless of outside circumstances, you are going to maintain inner peace and joy. When you make the decision not to be moved by outside circumstances, you are taking control over your mental state of being. Even when you are confronted with challenges, such as a change in a relationship, getting behind on your bills, transferring careers etc. you have to remain unmovable in your decision not to let your circumstance effect your inner peace and joy. The way that you are going to remain unmovable in turbulent times is by finding something positive to focus on and something to be thankful for. When you consistently express gratitude, it takes your mind off of what you do not want and places your focus on more of what you do want. The expression of gratitude will wipe away your despair and give you the peaceful state of mind that you will need in order to move forward and overcome your challenges.

#2 Let Go of All Of Your Negative Emotions

The second step in maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to let go of all negative emotions that you have attached to people, places and things. Letting go is a major player in maintaining inner peace and joy. The following exercise will explain. The first thing I want you to do is to spend a couple of minutes focusing on something that you really enjoy. While you are focusing on what you enjoy pay close attention to your emotional response. Were you smiling? The second thing I want you to do is spend a couple of minutes focusing on something that you are not fond of. Again, notice your emotional response when you focus on what you are not fond of. Were you frowning? The point is, you will experience a negative or positive emotional response based on if your perception of a person or event is negative or positive. If you want to maintain inner peace and joy you must let go of all negative emotions and focus on things that bring you joy and give you peace.

#3 Live Your Life With a Positive Attitude

The third step in maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to live your life with a positive attitude by focusing only on the highest and best in everything. Remember that you will have an emotional response based on your perception of your experiences as being positive or negative. When you stay focused on seeing the best and highest in all people you are inviting joy and peace in your life because you are only seeing the good. When you see only the good, you are going to smile. Along with having a positive attitude you are also going to choose to make right choices. The right choice for maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to respond positively when confronted with adverse situations that occurs in your life verses reacting negatively. When you take time and hold back from reacting negatively to an adverse situation and spend time considering the best possible solution before you respond, you are taking control of maintaining your state of inner peace and joy.

It's Your Choice-Choose To Be Happy

Maintaining inner peace and joy is a choice and when you practice focusing only on the positive in life you are making a choice to take control over inner peace and joy in your life. I received an email today about a man who was blind and because of unfortunate events that had occurred in his life it was necessary for him to move into a retirement home. During orientation one of the facility nurses described to the man what his room looked like. The blind man listened patiently and when the nurse finished speaking, the man stated that he was going to love his room. The nurse could not comprehend how the blind man could love the room when he had not even entered his room. The blind man stated that he made a choice long before arriving to the facility that he was going to love the room regardless. Friends, in order to maintain your inner peace and joy, you have to be like the blind man and wake up every morning with the mindset that you are going to live your life to the fullest in peace and with joy, regardless of whatever is going on in the world around you. Remember inner peace and joy is a choice.

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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: 10 Characteristics of Happy People

Happy People tend to have certain characteristics in common. They all seem to smile all of the time and they all seem to have positive attitudes.

I have recorded 10 characteristics of happy people. You should use this list as a guide to see if you have the same characteristics of happy people. If you do not, then you should use this list as a guide to help you work towards being a happy person.

10 Characteristics of Happy People

1. Happy People avoid negative people
2. Happy People have positive attitudes
3. Happy People have a plan
4. Happy People don't sweat the small stuff
5. Happy People are flexible
6. Happy People see the good in everybody
7. Happy People laugh often
8. Happy People love the skin that they are in
9. Happy People take time out for themselves
10. Happy People have a relationship with their Higher Power


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