From: kim@coach2joy.freeserve.co.uk Sent: 02
February 2007 12:14 To:
kim@coach2joy.freeserve.co.uk Subject: How to be HAPPY! Coaching
Insights February 2007
How to be HAPPY!
Coaching Insights February 2007
Well, clearly last month’s newsletter
hit a bit of a chord with many of you as I had a lot of
feedback. Apparently you found the content “provocative” and
“controversial”, “highly relevant” and “great”. Let’s see if
we can score a similar hit this month by looking at happiness
– one of the themes from last month.
So, how do you
take responsibility for being happy, not being a victim of
your emotions? Fortunately we’ve just passed - according to
psychologist Cliff Arnall - the most miserable day of the year
(January 22nd) so it can only get better! Another psychologist
Martin Seligman has a much more positive
perspective on life. Here’s his best advice on making yourself
happy:
• Be actively grateful for what you
already have. As you go to sleep and before you get
out of bed in the morning list 20 things you already have to
be happy about (and that you might be taking for granted),
e.g. hot water on demand, a child’s unconditional love, a safe
road to live in, a car that always starts, enough money to pay
the bills…OK – you may not have what you want but you already
have a huge amount. Taking deliberate steps to remind yourself
WILL help. Do it for a week – twice a day, every day – and
you’ll already begin to see a difference. NB Telling yourself
that you should be more grateful won’t have the same
effect, so please just give it a try! • Give up
materialism. “Have more fun and less stuff”. Seligman believes that once we have enough
to pay for life's basics such as food and a roof over our
heads, more money adds little to our happiness. •
Forgive yourself and others. Anger at your own and
others’ apparent inadequacies generally leads to sadness and
anger. Forgive and move on. If you’re not sure how to do that
look out for next month’s newsletter
on Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). • Know your strengths and use
them.Seligman’s website offers you an opportunity
to discover what they are and asserts that “once we know our
signature strengths, using them more and more in our daily
lives will make us feel happier and more fulfilled”. •
Hang around with (other) positive people. Take a look
at your friends and colleagues – do they energise you or drain
you? Typically people are more energised when they’re around
people they like, trust and have fun with. If you must hang
around draining people then protect yourself – be very upbeat
yourself (they might catch it!) and restrict the time you
spend with them. Spot the people you enjoy spending time with
and find ways of being with them more often. • Remember
to take responsibility for making yourself happy - don't
look to others to do it for you.
Don't keep
us a secret!
I've set myself a target of achieving
a newsletter
distribution list of 3,000 - a challenging target indeed. Not
only that - I want them to be people who are going to look
forward to the next newsletter!
So, if you know people - anywhere in the world - who you think
would enjoy this newsletter,
please forward it to them. Please don't keep us a
secret!
Next Month's
Newsletter
Next month we're going to be looking at
one of my most favourite topics: Emotional Freedom Technique
(EFT) or tapping, a process which can (in my
own personal experience) resolve both physical and emotional
issues very quickly and very effectively.
