THE 10 HAPPIEST THINGS YOU CAN DO

1. LOVE YOURSELF - It is the nucleus for all motivation. A good place to begin is your physical appearance. Improving it will do a great deal to raise your self esteem.

2. SEEK THE LOVING LIFE - People think love is important for happiness and not only romantic love. When you can focus your attention on others, you feel better about yourself.

3. JOIN THE WORK WORLD - Despite constant complaining, people feel work is essential to happiness. They don’t work for money only - consider volunteer work. Working and accomplishing tasks makes you feel good about yourself.

4. ENJOY THE POWER OF TOUCH - Touching helps to affirm friendship, approval, caring, etc. People put up a lot of barriers to touching and equate it to either sex or violence. We too often avoid the simple acts of touching such as pats on the back, heartfelt handshakes, cordial hugs - that confirm good will.

5. LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME - Many of us spend much of our “today” worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. Since the past won’t change and the future may never come, forget them and enjoy the day - everyday!

6. TURN ON THE LAUGHTER - Humor is a free ride toward happiness. It can take the sting out of failure and stupidities. It can help us overcome the worst of our experiences. We “look back and laugh” - start looking for the laughs now!

7. MOVE YOUR MUSCLES - Exercise can increase self esteem, relieve anxiety, improve attentiveness, dissipate stress, and elevate moods. Active people seem to be happier.

8. SEARCH FOR MEANING - Develop a set of “guiding principles,” a “belief system,” that will help you to make sense of your life. What holds real meaning for you and what directions can you take to reach these goals?

9. TAKE TIME TO WASTE TIME - Leisure is a “waste of time” that allows you to lose yourself in pleasure and celebration. It’s a way to deal with stress, increase productivity, and enhance contentment. Games, hobbies, play, etc. are all leisure activities that can help you to “waste time.”

10. GIVE TO OTHERS - Altruism can increase happiness. Being concerned about others puts you in contact with others. This type of contact will improve your outlook on life and yourself!

Please call my office if we can be of service.

MESSAGES
from the Masters -

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY IS LIKE THE SET OF THE SAIL

by Jim Rohn

In the process of living, the winds of circumstances blow on us all in an unending flow that touches each of our lives.

We have all experienced the blowing winds of disappointment, despair and heartbreak. Why, then, would each of us, in our own individual ship of life, all beginning at the same point, with the same intended destination in mind, arrive at such different places at the end of the journey? Have we not all been blown by the winds of circumstances and buffeted by the turbulent storms of discontent?

What guides us to different destinations in life is determined by the way we have chosen to set our sail. The way that each of us thinks makes the major difference in where each of us arrive. The major difference is the set of the sail.

The same circumstances happen to us all. We have disappointments and challenges. We all have reversals and those moments when, in spite of our best plans and efforts, things just seem to fall apart. Challenging circumstances are not events reserved for the poor, the uneducated or the destitute. The rich and the poor have marital problems. The rich and the poor have the same challenges that can lead to financial ruin and personal despair. In the final analysis, it is not what happens that determines the quality of our lives, it is what we choose to do when we have struggled to set the sail and then discover, after all of our efforts, that the wind has changed directions.

When the winds change, we must change. We must struggle to our feet once more and reset the sail in the manner that will steer us toward the destination of our own deliberate choosing. The set of the sail, how we think and how we respond, has a far greater capacity to destroy our lives than any challenges we face. How quickly and responsibly we react to adversity is far more important than the adversity itself. Once we discipline ourselves to understand this, we will finally and willingly conclude that the great challenge of life is to control the process of our thinking.

Learning to reset the sail with the changing winds rather than permitting ourselves to be blown in a direction we did not purposely choose requires the development of a whole new discipline. It involves going to work on establishing a powerful, personal philosophy that will help to influence in a positive way all that we do and that we think and decide. If we can succeed in this worthy endeavor, the result will be a change in the course of our income, lifestyle and relationships, and in how we feel about the things of value as well as the times of challenge. If we can alter the way we perceive, judge and decide upon the main issues of life, then we can dramatically change our lives.

Brought to you by:

About our firm:

Offering Financial & Estate Planning, Investments, Insurance, Accounting, Payroll, and Income Tax Preparation for Individuals & Small Business. "Financial Strategies That Fit YOUR Needs!"

QUOTES
from the Masters

On Balance

"We can have it all, but not at the same time."

-- Patricia Fripp

"Life is part positive and part negative. Suppose you went to hear a symphony orchestra and all they played were little, happy, high notes? Would you leave soon? Let me hear the rumble of the bass, the crash of the cymbals and the minor keys."

-- Jim Rohn

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

-- Anne Bradstreet

"Be prepared to ride the cycles and trends of life; success is never permanent and failure is never final."

-- Brian Tracy

On Motivation/ Inspiration

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing; that's why we recommend it daily."

-- Zig Ziglar

"The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working."

-- Ernest Newman

"A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one."

-- Mary Kay Ash

"When a goal matters enough to a person, that person will find a way to accomplish what at first seemed impossible."

-- Nido Qubein