Three Top Tips for Happiness

“I’d rather be happy than . . .?”  Than what?  Healthy?  Wealthy?  Wise?

Personally, I’d rather be happy than . . . anything.  And my top three tips to help you achieve happiness are:

1. Let go.
2. Hold tight.
3. Prune.

LET GO.  Let go of anything you can’t do something about right now and anything else that isn’t important.

HOLD TIGHT.  Hold tight to people and activities you enjoy.

PRUNE.  Cut completely out of your life people and activities that bring you grief.

I’m always happy when I bring happiness to others through my writing, so let me be more specific.

LET GO.  Many years ago when I was starting my law practice I’d often wake up in the wee hours of the morning and begin to worry. I’d worry about the cases I was handling, and whether I would have enough business to cover my office overhead or pay my mortgage payments.  But lying in bed worrying didn’t solve a thing.  I just started every day by being upset.

After months of picking on my wife every morning and coming into my office angry I discovered a better attitude.  Instead of just worrying about a problem, I would either take action to solve it or I would temporarily forget about it.  One morning a client called to leave a message. He was shocked when I answered my phone at 4:30 am. That morning I had driven into my office at 4:00 am to finish a legal brief that I was concerned about.

But if I couldn’t do something immediately to solve a problem, I simply stopped thinking about it.

“Yeah, yeah,” I hear you say.  “Easier said than done.”

That’s true.  It takes practice.  But within a few years I reduced my “worry time” to practically zero, and today I seldom worry about much of anything

HOLD TIGHT.  I like to write, and I find myself spending more and more time at my computer doing exactly that.

There are many people in my life, both family and friends, who I enjoy spending time with.  So I do.

I’m always happiest spending time on activities I like or with people I enjoy.

PRUNE.  In the backyard of my home there was a huge tree which needed pruning every year so that new branches and leaves could grow.  One year I didn’t get around to the pruning, and for an entire year that tree was a mess.

Isn’t your life the same?  Don’t you have some, or many, activities which you don’t now enjoy, even if you did earlier in your life?  Have you accumulated too many friends, some of whom have worn out your patience?

Our time on this earth is limited, and you simply can’t do everything or help everyone.  So why not read more books, if that’s what you enjoy, or go back and read some of my earlier blogs or one of my People Tools books.  Or enjoy a beer while you watch the USC football team pulverize their opponent next Saturday.

I’m not being completely serious, but I’m sure you get the idea.  Prune from your life both people and activities that do not bring you happiness.

‘Nuff said.  I’m off to dinner at the home of one of my daughters who is a great cook.  And it will be fun for us to catch up on each other’s lives.

I wouldn’t want to give up good food or a little gossip once in a while.

Alan.