michele moore « Happiness Blog

Posts Tagged ‘michele moore’

Lives of Great Leaders

ted-kennedy-0b0 Lives of great leaders inspire, excite and challenge us to live better, happier, more fulfilling lives ourselves.

Relish opportunities to explore and appreciate their gifts, resolve to acquire some of their skills or strengths for yourself.

Ted Kennedy’s exuberant enthusiasm for life, his dedication to doing exceptional work and determination to put aside differences to achieve worthwhile goals earned him exceptional respect, admiration and trust.

His spiritual strengths epitomize and exemplify many key Happiness Habits:

Exuberant Enthusiasm for life and for all the opportunities each day offers.

Compassionate Caring for All People, especially the weak, powerless and disenfranchised.

Fierce Independence and willingness to fight for their beliefs against prevailing opposing opinions.

Fearless & Passionate Expression of their Convictions without reserved reticence.

Learning Something New Each Day to turn life into an exciting adventure fueled by eager exploration.

Determination To Do Their Very Best Work drawing on all available resources to achieve their very best.

Fueling Their Life and Work With Fun, expressing genuine delight in everything they do.

Having A Good Time All The Time knowing it’s the best way to get help and support from others.

Making the Most of Every Moment knowing life is entirely too short.

What inspiration do you find in the lives of a great leader?
What makes them so successful and exceptional?
What new qualities do they inspire you to emulate, embrace and acquire?

Copyright 1999- , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Links to our website and pages are welcomed! Please note our materials may NOT be published, broadcast, redistributed or rewritten without written permission from the authors. Explore HappinessHabit.com and HappinessBlog.com for more happiness insights.

Tags:happiness habits, happiness secrets, michele moore, ted kennedy
Posted in Happiness News | No Comments »

Single Candles

HEcandle2

The Light of a Single Candle
Is Not Diminished By
Lighting a Thousand More.

This is also true of happiness.
Happiness is not diminished by sharing it.

If we decide to summon up a genuine sense of joy and honest appreciation and then continually project it, we can’t help but take on a more positive mood ourselves.

Our Focus Determines Our Feelings. It’s the First Law of Happiness. By focusing our time and attention on projecting good things we feel good. We may easily brighten someone else’s day as well.

We’re not trying to manipulate people’s moods or make people happy.

We’re simply trying to touch the people we meet with a positive spirit, an honest, enthusiastic smile and genuine appreciation…

A smile and a warm “Good morning” or an unexpected “Enjoy a beautiful evening.”

A heartfelt hello and smile for the lady who hands you coffee in the morning, the bus driver, the toll taker, the men on the sanitation trucks. Everyone you meet.

Imagine what would happen if we all decided to end our aloof, reserved indifference by radiating a genuine sense of warmth? If strangers smiled and acknowledged us as we greeted them the same way?

A single second of shared joy and appreciation to warm our moment as we pass by to enjoy our day.

What would happen if everyone decided to do it? Even for just a day? Would we keep it going and make it a habit?

Some people will scowl and shrink away and that’s okay. We have already brightened our own moment and we’re not allowing them to darken our day. They are the people who need a bright smile and a warm greeting the most. HBcandles4

What would happen if we all decided to do it even for just a day?

We would be much happier, our day much warmer, the world more joyful. We wouldn’t want to stop.

When shall we try it?

Tags:happiness habits, happiness secrets, happy day, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness Quotes | No Comments »

Rational Optimism in Recession?

We are truly at our best when we are Up, confident, energized and happy. Being at our best is especially important during tough times when we must perform our best.

Feeling sad about bad times does not help us deal with them well.

It’s especially important to find ways to be happy during difficult times so we can do our best and limit our stress and pain.

Happiness In Hard Times will explore specific ways of doing this.

The best optimism comes from confidence and a conviction that no matter what happens to us and around us, we will find ways to triumph and be happy.

Changed environments always offer new opportunities, benefits and new freedoms. Our challenge is to find them, embrace them and enjoy them. The greatest dangers are isolation, insecurity and inactivity.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. ~ Anais Nin

Scientific research on post-traumatic growth shows people often become more resilient after facing adversity. Creativity, determination and confidence surge as we adapt to changed circumstances.

Successfully weathering one storm gives us confidence to face others. We suddenly find ourselves easily doing things we never thought we could do before disaster struck.

Business Week’s praise of “rational optimism” left me confused and convinced in the importance of understanding how optimism can both help and hurt during hard times.

“Don’t worry, everything will be okay” are dangerous words when they prompt us to ignore key warning signs or encourage us to be complacent when fast, dramatic action is needed to survive.

Many people mix their moods with their decision making. In prosperous times they are courageous, confident and certain. In bad times they become paralyzed with pessimism.

Habitually happy people know how they like to feel. They like to feel good all the time, no matter what is happening to them or around them. Still, they are not prone to blinding optimism.

They are surprisingly astute in their decision making and make accurate assessments of reality. Once they are sure they have made good decisions, then they use the full force of enthusiasm and positive expectation to drive their visions into reality.

Real optimism is more and very different from a rosy outlook and putting annoyingly positive spins on everything that happens.

True optimism comes from a fundamental confidence that no matter what happens, you will find a way to be happy and enjoy life.

Tags:happiness habits, happiness in hard times, happiness secrets, michele moore, optimism in hard times
Posted in Happiness News | 3 Comments »

What Are Habitually Happy People?

happy2person-00 We all know a few special people who always seem to be truly UP, energized and happy. They light up a room and our lives with their presence.

They seem to be having a good time all of the time and continually radiate genuine joy.

They are very loving people. They love life, they love what they do and they love the people around them, they love themselves.

They live without prejudices and embrace the entire world eagerly.
They have high integrity. We trust, admire and respect them.
They are good decision makers and leaders.
They are high achievers who love creative challenges.
They always enthusiastically try to do their best, be their best and encourage others to be their best too.
They refuse to let difficulties or problems distress or bother them.
When they are down, it never seems to last for long.

Enthusiasm, Energy, Achievement, Integrity, Happiness and Joy Characterize Their Lives.

You know some of these special people. They are not the most prominent or powerful people we know but they certainly are the happiest. We may wish we knew how to be more like them.

Happiness Habit interviewed and studied Habitually Happy, genuinely joyous people from all different walks of life and life situations. We identified the key Values, Beliefs, Habits, Ideals and Boundaries characteristic of happy thought. We call these special qualities Happiness Habits.

If you choose to adopt and practice Happiness Habits, you too will become happy or happier despite what is happening to you and around you.

Explore and Enjoy HappinessHabit.com, HappinessBlog.com and HappinessInHardTimes.com Comment on our postings. Share your thoughts and insights.

Wishing you great happiness and spiritual success,
Michele Moore and the Happiness Habit® Team

Tags:habitually happy, happiness habit, happiness secrets, happy life, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness Notes | 2 Comments »

Happiness Habit Research

happybeaker Over a period of several years, Happiness Habit interviewed and studied habitually happy, genuinely joyous people from many different walks of life and personal situations.

We studied and interviewed people who were cheerfully facing terminal illnesses, job losses and major life challenges.

We intentionally omitted people who seemed happy primarily because of success or good things happening to them, what we term “situational happiness”.

We wanted to answer the question, “What can we do to be happier?” given who we are and the challenges we face.

Our goal was to identify and articulate the key values, beliefs, ideals, habits and boundaries that lead to happiness and spiritual success and explain why they work so well.

We call these key qualities Happiness Habits.

Experience has shown that when people consciously choose to adopt and practice Happiness Habits they become happy or happier despite what is happening to them or around them.

Our mission is to share these key happiness skills summarized in simple statements what we call Coaching Credos that are easy to recall and apply.

If Happiness Habit® concepts are:

1) Consistent with what most people know and believe to be true about happiness. You decide.

2) Consistent with the best current scientific and academic research. They are.

3) Effective, actually help people live happier more spiritually successful lives. You decide.

Then the validity of our approach is proven.

what do you have to loose? Why not give it a try?

Explore and enjoy our Happiness Habit websites and decide for yourself!

Tags:happiness habit, happiness research, happiness secrets, happy life, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness Notes | No Comments »

Be Cool Like Barack Obama

Do You Want To Be Cool Like Barack Obama?

A Key Happiness Habit is:

Don’t hand control of your thoughts, actions or feelings over to outside forces or people who try to hurt or harass you.

Don’t Give Them Emotional Control Over You.

Decide How You Are Going To Think, Act and Feel.

Choose Your Mood and Your Attitude.

Emotional Independence, Freedom and Balance are key Happiness Habits.

This does NOT mean that you don’t get angry or that you don’t decide to take decisive corrective action when necessary.

It does mean you weigh options carefully, decide when and how you will act and that you don’t just automatically react in anger.

Choose the timing, the place and substance of your response carefully.

We all have an Optimal Best Self – a sweet spot or optimal zone where we feel our best, do our best and perform our best. Habitually Happy people try to maintain their optimal Best Self State all of the time. Getting angry and irrational is not part of their process.

Much has been written about Barack Obama’s Cool calm demeanor. His actions and reactions epitomize Emotional Independence. He decides how he will act, react and project himself. He doesn’t let outside forces control his emotions easily.

If you let another person make you angry, you’re giving them control of your thoughts, actions, feelings and your well-being. Don’t do it!

Don’t Help Them Hurt You.

The next time someone tries to hook you into an angry response, simply think, “I’m not giving you control.” It’s that easy.

This does not mean stuffing your feelings or suppressing your emotions. It means not giving them control over you, your attention or your emotions.

Channel Anger Into Activism And Actions That Achieve Positive Goals.

Choose Emotional Independence and Spiritual Freedom. It’s that easy. Decide how you’re going to act, don’t simply react to them. Take command and lead interactions in the direction you want to go. Make this a Happiness Habit.

It’s a great way to stay cool and happy!

Explore HappinessHabit.com and HappinessBlog.com for more happiness insights!

Tags:calm obama, cool obama, emotional independence, happiness habit, michele moore, spiritual freedom
Posted in Happiness Notes, Holiday, NoTweet | 4 Comments »

YOUR Best

We’re often asked how trying to do your best brings happiness…

Habitually Happy People Continually Try To Do Their Best, Feel Their Best, Be Their Best All Of The Time. Their Best keeps getting better.

It’s a direct application of The First Law of Happiness: Our Focus Determines Our Feelings. When we focus our attention on things we find bad, we feel sad, angry or anxious.

When We Think About Good Things We Feel Elevated, Excited, Energized. Our Focus Of Attention Determines Our Feelings.

If you’ve ever had a mediocre day when you just didn’t feel like putting forth a good effort and didn’t, you know the truth of this phrase.

When we don’t bother to try to do a good job and get only mediocre results, we feel pretty mediocre too.

Habitually Happy people continually energize themselves with thoughts of themselves doing their best at whatever it is they are doing.

Clear Goals Help Define The Steps To Attain Them.

Because they are thinking about doing well, they are able to do well and they feel well. Thinking about doing YOUR best provides a path to continually improve your performance.

The Key Word Here Is YOUR Best, Not Someone Else’s Best.

Learn all you can from other people’s superb performances and then try to do YOUR best. It’s the best you can realistically do.

Comparisons to superior star performers are often purposeless and painful for no reason. What good does it do to judge in comparison with the best unless you pull positive actions items for personal improvement from the process?

Powerful positive images of what you want to achieve are inspiring and invigorating. Working hard to achieve a worthwhile goal is satisfying and stimulating.

When you know you have done YOUR best you can let go of results on some level knowing you can do no more.

Continually Trying To Do YOUR Best Is A Key To Happiness.

Try To Do YOUR Best, Be Your Best, Feel Your Best All Of The Time.

Tags:happiness habit, happiness secrets, happy life, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness Notes | 2 Comments »

Truth, Honesty, Integrity

Truth, Honesty And Integrity Are Essential To Happiness – A clear conscience and living by good values are absolute prerequisites to a happy life.

The Universe respects, admires and trusts people of high integrity who always try to do the right and best thing.

You can’t be happy when you continually feel guilty or worried about wrong doing and about being found out, exposed and punished.

Deceit and Dishonesty Destroy Happiness

To be happy, you need to feel good about who you are and what you do.

Continually trying to do your best, feel your best and be your best helps build happiness.

More importantly…

We Can’t Love People We Don’t Trust

Deceit and dishonesty destroy relationships. We need The Truth to make good decisions. Dishonest, deceitful people lead us to poor decisions because they distort or disguise the Truth for their own gain.

Beware of Sociopaths & Psychopaths:

A surprisingly large percentage of the population has no conscience, no remorse, no compassion, no empathy for others.

Psychologists and Law Enforcement professionals call these people Sociopaths and Psychopaths. The primary constraint on a psychopath’s or sociopath’s behavior is concern about being found out, exposed and punished.

They have no conscience, no remorse or guilt to restrain or contain their misbehavior.

Psychopaths and Sociopaths also exhibit what psychologists term “a flat affect.” Their lack of conscience, concern and remorse is accompanied by an inability to bond and feel love, understanding and empathy for others. Constant thrill seeking often fills the void of love in their lives.

When Love Is Limited Or Lacking There Is No Happiness.

Happy people who embrace high values need to be very wary of these people. Psychopaths and Sociopaths are often very charming, charismatic and deceptive.

It’s hard to believe that such seemingly warm, wonderful people can be so evil and malevolent. “We see the world as we are, not as it is” wrote Anais Nin.

Be Loving And Be Careful!

Copyright 1999- , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Links to our websites and pages are welcomed! Please note our materials may NOT be published, broadcast, redistributed or rewritten without written permission from the authors. Explore HappinessHabit.com and HappinessBlog.com for more happiness insights!

Tags:happiness habit, happy life, happy people, michele moore, truth happiness
Posted in Happiness News | 1 Comment »

Love Powers Happiness

The Happiest People In The World Are The Most Loving People. They are very kind, caring, compassionate and generous.

To be happy, love extensively and expansively. Love what you do, love the people around you, love your work and love yourself.

Wherever love is limited or lacking, there is no happiness.

Many people chase after success thinking it will bring them happiness but there are lots of very successful people who are Not especially happy.

Happiness and Success Are Two Very Different Things.

The best way to excel and do well at anything is to cultivate a love for what you are doing.

The Best Way To Be Happy Is To Love Extensively, Expansively.

Copyright 1999-2009, Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Links to our websites and pages are welcomed! Please note our materials may NOT be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission from the authors. Explore HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights!

Tags:happiness habit, happiness love, happiness secrets, happy love, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness Notes | 1 Comment »

Happy New Year 2009!

Exciting New Changes Are Coming With The New Year…

Happiness·Hope·Change – HappinessHopeChange.com – Celebrating our January 20th Inauguration and the messages and lessons it carries

– and – Resolve To Be Happy – ResolveToBeHappy.com – sharing specific steps to turn Happiness Resolutions into powerfully effective Happiness Solutions

have been added to the HappinessHabit.com website.

During 2009 we’ll continue to develop specific Happiness subject web sites targeted to address specific needs, uses and desires.

As you know, HappinessBlog.com has evolved and changed significantly through the years.

Our first postings in 2005 described basic Happiness Habits and the important tenets for living a happy, spiritually successful life.

Having covered Happiness Habits both here and in other postings through the years, HappinessBlog.com began to emphasize current Happiness news, research and events.

New readers may not want to dig back several years to read our initial happiness postings. We’ll leave them in place in their original form to preserve the links.

We will also rewrite and refocus many of our materials in new and exciting ways during 2009 to focus on specific needs and uses.

Our more contentious commentary regarding current Happiness research and coverage will be migrated to a separate site with a new name.

HappinessBlog.com will return to it’s powerfully positive theme and tone. We’ll try to keep abreast of news items supported by permanent links to happiness materials that could be of interest and help to large groups of people.

We hope you will enjoy the new look, tone and approach for HappinessBlog.com during the coming year!

Very best New Year’s wishes,

Michele Moore and the
Happiness Habit Team

Tags:happiness blog, happiness habit, happiness secrets, happy life, happy people, michele moore
Posted in Happiness News, Holiday, NoTweet | No Comments »

Happiness Blog