Feb
20
As I mentioned in a previous post, Happier is perhaps the most important personal growth book for 2008. Just a few days ago, I picked the book up again to browse through the main points and refresh my memory on author Tal Ben-Shahar’s primary points. The basic premise of the book is that achieving happiness is primarily a matter of balancing short-term enjoyment with long-term growth.
Ben-Shahar divides typical approaches to happiness into three general groups – rat racers, hedonists, and nihilists. The rat racer is always postponing happiness for some future promise of success or rewards. According to Happier, most people in our fast-paced American culture fall into this self-deceived group. The unhappy worker always waiting for that promise of financial reward or a promotion opportunity is the quintessential example.
The hedonist is another example in which happiness is promoted to a top position but is actually confused for pleasure. Gorging on food and drink. Enjoying the many fruits of life to excess. Always putting self gratification first. In this model, pleasure is achieved now but happiness is never really achieved.
Nihilism is the author’s final category example. These folks simply dismiss any real possibility of happiness and turn away from any real efforts to grow, improve, or advance their lives. Nihilists essentially dismiss the whole happiness project altogether.
After explaining these three standard types, Happier offers a new vision for improving your life and actually getting better results. What I appreciate most about this book is its realistic and honest approach in presenting happiness to readers. The self help genre is loaded with books that promise undeliverable results and encourage readers to simply change the way they think about the world. While some of these approaches can be helpful, all too often the results are something resembling self-hypnosis and fall short of the mark.
Happier helps readers balance their present moment feelings with long-term goals. The idea is not to simply read the book and then instantly experience life changing results. Instead, the idea is to learn to think of happiness as an on-going process.
As Ben-Shahar explains, “We can always be happier; no person experiences perfect bliss at all times and has nothing more to which he can aspire. Therefore, rather than asking myself whether I am happy or not, a more helpful question is, ‘How can I become happier?’”
My suggestion… Start by reading this great book.
Feb
13
Get Organized Around Your Goals
Filed Under Mindful Living | Leave a Comment
The following article is part of the “Getting Organized” series.
Perhaps the most important place to start with getting organized is your personal goals. These can be in many areas, including your career, relationships, finances, spirituality, health, etc.
Once you know what you want, it’s much easier to decide how you should organize your efforts and resources. Organization is about function and achieving some end.
If you’re looking for some specific help with setting goals, look here.
As for organizing your goals, it’s always helpful to start by actually writing down your goals in the many areas of your life. I keep two lists for my goals…
Values
Getting clear about what you value is perhaps the most important place to begin. Simply make a list of the five things you value most in life. Spend time on this step to get very clear about what it is you do value and the rest is a piece of cake!
Top Ten Goals for the Year
What are the top then things you want to achieve this year? Make a list of these also to keep on hand for review. It’s amazing how quickly such a list can help you make a quantum leap in organizing the rest of your life.