What Makes You Happy?

The New York Times featured an article titled But Will it Make You Happy?  It's a great read about a woman who changed her life significantly by ridding herself of things that weren't contributing to her happiness and exchanging them for things that did. I loved the article. Her story is becoming far more the norm than the exception in many of the media I read. More and more people are asking themselves what will truly make them happy and then recreating their lifestyle for more enjoyment and less "routine and mundane".

Do you live in the "routine and mundane" or do you consistently evaluate your priorities and make sure you are living in a way to fulfill them?

I often ask clients to do a cross-reference between their money and their goals. Do they spend money in a way that it will promote their goals and ensure their success or are the two polar opposite? Polar opposite would mean you say you want to accomplish x but you never put any money (or time) toward making that happen. It's all talk. Worse yet, where your money goes has nothing to do with how you really want to live. Many people have no idea where their money goes until I have them report it for 30 days. Then they are surprised by how much they spend on frivolous things.

The woman in the NYTimes article reduced her worldly possessions to 100 items. How many do you have? How many items do you have in your home? How many are meaningful to you?

Do you live with purpose or just plot along like most everyone else? Do you want to live with purpose?

There are some big questions in this blog. I encourage you to think about them and talk them over with someone close to you. Someone who won't discourage your ideas and dreams. Remember that each day you make hundreds of choices about how you are going to live. You usually make the same choices you did yesterday but that in and of itself is a choice. Be brave and daring, make a different choice tomorrow if you want to.

Here are a few ways to do that: Try a different restaurant. Take a class you never heard of. Speak to someone you never have before. Dare to really think about what makes you happy and then decide to get more of that.

Happy living.