How to Be Happy [Again]

How to be happy again?

I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this question.

The good old days…

Well, it turns out that you can drastically change your level of happiness with 3 simple changes….

Imagine… always being inspired to achieve all your goals in your career or personal life.

But first you have to ask yourself a question….

Which comes first: to be successful or to be happy?

That’s the FIRST thing you have to do. Without that you have nothing.

There is one thing you have to be very clear about first. Can you be happy WITHOUT being successful?

Yes.

Absolutely yes.

Most people say, “I’m going to work hard. I’m going to have a brilliant career in the next few years… and then I’ll be happy.”

They’ll make money and then they’ll be happy.

But it doesn’t work that way.

There’s something you need to know first.

Whether you want to own your own business, move up in a company or become an elite athlete, there is an order you have to follow.

And the first thing is NOT to succeed. The first thing is NOT to make money, or have more contacts, or better relationships.

First is being happy.

Always.

The key is to be happy for yourself. Without material rewards.

And it is possible.

But…

To be happy you must work at something you are passionate about. Since so much of your time is spent at your job, the key to being happy is to LOVE your job.

So your job must be your dream job. No argument there. Or at least have a lifestyle that pursues that job. That works too.

Be careful because there is a trend today that says, “Don’t follow your passion.” But it’s just another fad. Something guru trainees say to be original.

The most important thing is to follow the old motto of “follow your passion.”

Otherwise this will happen to you: remember the last time you were with your friends? It’s always the same story:

“How was your week,” someone asks.

“My week was terrible. I didn’t have time for anything.”

The next friend will say, “Well, my week was even worse.”

But there was another friend who then said, “Well, my week was even more terrible, nothing compared to yours.”

People even presume to hate their job. It’s a competition over who had the worst work week. And they’re the same ones who ask, “How do I get back to being happy?”

Crazy… but they’re all still there, working 9 to 5 at a job they hate, with a boss they hate and co-workers they hate too.

People are addicted to suffering. Because they are addicted to complaining. But don’t follow the stupid Western mentality of having to suffer to succeed. Because you don’t.

The first goal is to be happy.

And also, if you want to be healthier, you have to be passionate about what you do.

As Shakespeare said, “The man who dreams never grows old.” And it’s true. So just to stay young, love what you do. Modern medicine will do the rest.

Want to be happy? Then pursue your dream job first. Even if you’re far from it. But pursue it. Because it will simply make you happy.

And there’s another powerful reason to pursue working on your passion is that you will earn more, even in the medium term. No exaggeration: your energy will be 10 times higher.

I remember years ago I hated going from a low paying job to a low paying job… And then I went from a high paying job that I hated to a high paying job that I hated too….

How to be happy again, I kept asking myself.

But I was always depressed. Trips around Europe, meetings where we looked like United Nations delegates, and I got paid well too… Fantastic dinners, expensive hotels, and a bonus at the end of the month.

Except I hated my job.

I hated it because it didn’t inspire me. (Note: If you like the corporate world, go for it. Remember the key is to do what you love).

So I asked myself, how do I get back to being happy?

And since what I really loved was writing, I started doing it part-time (a good strategy, slowly but surely). So I committed to writing and quit my job.

The mildest insult I received was that I was crazy….

But I was happy. And I had more energy.

Long story short, I was able to live from my books.

There were no more expensive restaurants or trips to Europe. Now I could do it on my own (and without meetings). I had all the self-discipline in the world since I was working on what I was passionate about. And the best part was feeling like I was building a future.

So take the plunge. If you like the corporate world, jump into the corporate world. And if you like photography, go for that and make a business out of it. Go for what you love the most every time!

Once you work in what you love, it will be a revolution.

You’ll make your first million quickly. You will be super productive. You’ll have the best contacts… and you won’t die of a heart attack from a job you hate.

If you need proof, look at celebrities: why did some successful actors disappear from the scene? Or why did some of them commit suicide? Because they didn’t like what they were doing anymore. They didn’t like the side job they had to do.

Or think about why that promising footballer is no longer a star. Because he didn’t focus on what he was passionate about, which was playing soccer.

Maybe now you’re having trouble at work. You are suffering. And it’s because deep down inside you know you’re looking for something different.

But this won’t happen to you if you work at what you really love.

So it’s vital that you look for your dream job. You don’t have to find it tomorrow. Or in a month. Or a year from now. But you have to look for it. There’s so much energy in following your passion, you’ll convince anyone. And that also attracts money.

Will you suffer attacks from competitors? Of course you will. But it will be nothing if you’re passionate about what you do. You’ll be so productive and have such good contacts, you’ll laugh at those attacks.

And your personal life will skyrocket, too.

So go for it. The first thing is happiness. As the Greek Archimedes said “Give me a lever and I’ll move the world.”

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