fulfillment

HAPPINESS TIP: LIVE WITH A SENSE OF JOY, WONDER, AND GRATITUDE

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

You are special. And you matter. So, always live with a sense of joy, wonder, and gratitude. To be born at all is a miracle… because everything had to align and happen perfectly from the beginning of time up until the day you came into existence for you to even be here today.

So, live, and love, and marvel, and dance, and rejoice, and contribute each and every day. And think about this and fill yourself with loving warmth, joy, and appreciation.

You are here right now. And you are special. And you matter. And nothing else is more important today.

This and other happiness tips and topics are provided throughout my self-help, happiness, and investment oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/

#joy #love #gratitude #appreciation #selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #peace #mindfulness

HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS TIP: EMPLOY CRITICAL THINKING BEFORE REACTING AND COMMUNICATING

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.


Let’s talk about a key element missing in today’s social media based communications: Critical Thinking. I think it’s a foregone conclusion that the news media is biased and shapes stories based on selective information and indicators which offer the most compelling presentations possible. Because that’s what captures audience attention and is the primary metric of success for the news media. So, it’s always a worthwhile exercise to ponder what information is being conveniently left out and what information might cause you to draw the opposite conclusion or no conclusion at all. And performing an objective analysis and evaluation of issues in order to form judgments BEFORE COMMUNICATING is the actual definition of critical thinking.

So, it boggles my mind when I see people getting excited about and having heated emotional discourses on information (or misinformation for that matter) based on news media sources or even worse – based on frivolous non-sources like social media posts and such. It’s such a waste of time and energy for everyone involved.

So, do everyone a favor (including yourself) by being open to ideas and employing the basic concepts of critical thinking BEFORE REACTING OR COMMUNICATING and supporting your ideas with good sources and your credentials where appropriate. If you do, your communications will offer something of value and you will be valued as a source instead of as a crazed hysteric throwing random hissy fits (even though the latter might be a bit more entertaining). So, please keep this in mind.

And, lastly, always remember: just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.

This and other happiness tips and topics are provided throughout my self-help, happiness, and investment oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/


#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #peace #mindfulness

HAPPINESS TIP: EMBODY AN ATTITUDE THAT EMPOWERS SUCCESS

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.


Most people consider knowledge, skills, and expertise to be the key determinants of one’s success in life. And while these aspects certainly do contribute to one’s success, I would argue there are two underappreciated factors which probably contribute much more to success than most people realize or give credit for:

Luck. The under appreciation of the role luck plays in the successes experienced in life often leads to overconfidence in one’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Most people who experience outsized success, attribute this success to their own superior knowledge and expertise. The resulting overconfidence often leads to excessive risk taking and catastrophic failures and outcomes. Daniel Kahneman in his outstanding book, “Thinking Fast and Slow,” indicates that poor performance is typically followed by improvement. Likewise, good performance tends to be followed by underperformance. Each of these are due to random effects alone. This is why many of the best fund managers, athletes, and CEOs celebrated one year, tend to underperform in future years and why the worst performers often outperform their peers in the years that follow. Kahneman identified multiple studies in his book which supported this. It’s simply a reversion to the mean effect.

Attitude. Having a positive attitude towards yourself, towards others, and towards life overall is instrumental for success and is something I never take for granted. If you are the type of person who genuinely cares about others, cares about the planet, cares about yourself, generously shares what you have with others, and lives with a sense of genuine appreciation then success is virtually guaranteed. The more you fill your life with caring, sharing, and appreciation, the happier you will feel and the more rewarding your life will become. Three ways to achieve this include thinking good, doing good, and being good:

  • Thinking good involves having positive thoughts towards yourself, towards others, and towards the planet whether focusing on the past, present, or future.

  • Doing good involves making positive contributions towards others and towards your surroundings.

  • Being good involves having a positive disposition and a good-hearted nature as well as a high level of integrity.


Filling your life with caring, sharing, and appreciation in these regards not only creates a happier you, but also creates happier surroundings, success, and abundance throughout the months, years, and decades of your life. 

Of the above factors, I would argue that attitude is the key determinant of success and that this is probably more important than the other two factors combined. For example, if you have been following my investment related activities (https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/stock-market-activities/) you know that this year I have experienced outsized gains in the stock market. And while most people would tout their superior knowledge and skills as being the primary factor for their success, I attribute this success much more to attitude than knowledge or skill.

For example, anytime something great happens for me, financially speaking (or otherwise), I’m a big believer in using at least part of the proceeds to offer unique opportunities to others. I create a Beneficiaries Reserve Fund for this purpose which I add to over time.

Essentially, the way my Beneficiaries Reserve Fund works is this: I have a financial target to meet and if I exceed that target, then half of the excess amount goes to me for personal use and the other half goes to the Beneficiaries Reserve Fund. It’s just a promise I’ve made to myself and kept over my years of investing.

Well, I’ve been building up this fund over several years and on the 4th of March I decided to put it to good use by helping someone who has struggled for years with a large amount of debt and high-interest-rate credit cards. I simply wanted to offer this person the stress-free experience of living debt free and the wonderful peace and joy and freedom that it brings. Earlier that day, I had earned a 13% gain on my investments. What’s interesting is what happened after I made that decision. As of Thursday (9 April), my gains had sky rocketed to 64% in only a month’s time. I earned much more in those four weeks than everything I had offered to help the friend in need. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I don’t live my life believing in coincidences. And although luck and skills might have played a role, I believe the largest factor was due to attitude and the way I live my life.

And the above is just one example of the many times I’ve been blessed with happiness and success in my life. For another recent example, a year ago I sold my house for $335,000 and used the proceeds to buy CDs paying 3.2% interest. Well, when I checked recently, the value of the house I sold was only $280,000. So, had I waited to sell, not only would I have sold it for much less but the CDs I bought would have paid about half of what I got a year ago.

I make it a daily habit to extend kindness, to be appreciative, and to value and care for the planet (humans and non-humans alike). I won’t get into the details in this post, but for those who might have interest, you can read a summarized version of the “JOE BRENNAN GRAND PHILOSOPHY ON LIFE” here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/happiness-tip-how-to-create-a-happy-priceless-beautiful-life-which-costs-nothing/ 

Try living your life this way and see if you don’t become blessed and showered and empowered with success and happiness in ways you never thought, imagined, or dreamed was possible. This is something which never ceases to amaze me and it’s happened many, many times throughout the years and decades of my life. So, I encourage you to live your life in this fashion. You won’t regret it. Because there is not one day that goes by where I am not filled with an overabundance of joy and loving appreciation for all my life has become. So, be kind to others, be appreciative, and care for the planet and you might be amazed at just how wonderful your life becomes. Because you will create happier surroundings, a happier you, and be continually blessed in the months, years, and decades to come. So do this for yourself (and others). And do it often.

This and other happiness tips and topics are provided throughout my self-help, happiness, and investment oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/


#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #peace #mindfulness #investing #stocks

HAPPINESS TIP: OFFER GUILT-FREE GIVING AT ITS FINEST!

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

“Make a Friend Smile Day”. That’s the special occasion I created years ago as the perfect excuse to offer guilt-free giving to people going through significant financial difficulties and hardships but are just too proud to ask or accept this help. The only catch is the friend must smile when using the gift because, well, there’d be no reason to have a “Make a Friend Smile Day” if the friend didn’t smile.

Consider doing something like this for people in your life from time to time who could just use a reason to smile. A lot a people would benefit from such a gesture – especially with all of the Covid-19 issues we’re dealing with now.

I plan to buy several Publix gift cards over the next few weeks and have a “make a friend smile day” production! I hope some of you will do the same!

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books and posts: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #peace #mindfulness

HAPPINESS TIP: LIVE WITH A SENSE OF HOPE BUT DON’T RELY ON IT

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness Tip which might be helpful for some of you out there. Always live with a sense of hope but don’t rely on it or use it as an excuse for inaction.


So often in life do people communicate things such as “I’m hoping for the best,” or “I hope I don’t lose my job,” or “I hope my finances will work out,” or “I hope my relationship or marriage will work out,” or “I hope I get this job or can get into this training or education program.” Anytime someone communicates these kinds of things to me, I might respond with something like: “Are you really going to rely on hope for that? Because, being hopeful is probably not going to make things happen or make things better. So, what I really want to know is what you are going to do about it.” Because even though it’s nice to live with a sense of hope, it is not helpful or empowering to rely or count on hope or use it as an excuse for not doing something. A better approach is moving from hope to action.


The following are examples of empowering ways to do this:

  • Instead of just hoping for the best, take steps to make things better.
  • Instead of hoping you won’t lose your job (for whatever reason), investigate any problem areas and come up with solutions for addressing them (in an active and iterative fashion) and take steps to make yourself so valuable to your employer that it would be foolish to let you go or allow you to get into the hands of competitors.  
  • Instead of merely hoping your finances will work out, actively investigate and adjust your spending habits, develop a budget which better ensures you pay down your debts and accumulate savings every month, and live with a sense of discipline from week-to-week and month-to-month so that your finances improve and create the financial security you desire.
  • Instead of hoping your relationship or marriage will work out, take steps to become the best boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife through mindful appreciation, kindness, consideration, understanding, support, and thoughtfulness and making the other person feel special, loved, valued, and secure each and every day.

  • Instead of hoping that you get a certain job, actively research the company to determine what their values, interests, focuses, initiatives, and products and services are (as well as what is important to them), find out the latest news stories associated with the company, and be prepared to demonstrate your knowledge of the company in these regards and show how your values, skills, and experience can benefit the company to ensure you are viewed as a highly qualified and highly desired candidate for employment.

  • Instead of hoping you can get into a given training or education program, do some research and take steps to ensure you have a pretty good chance of getting into the program you desire.


Each of these are ways in which to empower yourself by taking actions instead of relying on hope to get you to where you want to be. Because, in most cases, hope alone won’t get you there. But hope combined with action might. Be sure to always remember this.  So, continue living with a sense of hope but don’t rely on it or use it as an excuse for not taking steps towards improvement, progress, or success. And although nothing is guaranteed, living in this fashion greatly improves the likelihood of improvement, progress, and success. Thus, you will realize many more “wins” and “gains” over the months, years, and decades of your life if you operate in this fashion.


This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #mindfulness #peace #love #relationships #discipline #balance #joy #optimism #positivethinking

HAPPINESS TIP – LIVING IN THE MOMENT CAN BE DETRIMENTAL AT TIMES… HERE’S WHY:

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness Tip which might be helpful for some of you out there regarding present-mindedness and why it can be detrimental at times.

So often in life we are encouraged to “live in the moment,” “be present,” and “seize the day!” (i.e., “carpe diem!”) – among other, similar, popular kinds of expressions. And while living in this fashion can be helpful at times for easing worries, distress, and negativity, and creating a momentary sense of peace and enjoyment, there are also times when it can do more harm than good. Especially, during those times when we fall victim to temptations, addictions, compulsions,  distractions (TACDs), and procrastination.

Years ago I had a computer game addiction. It seemed fun and exhilarating in the micro moment-to-moment but when “zooming out” to the more macro level, I realized after playing such games all night – every night – that these kinds of activities were consuming my life to the point where they created extensive stress, fatigue, anxiety, and a lack of performance and progress in other areas of my life. Many temptation, addiction,  compulsion, distraction, and procrastination challenges do the same. Several examples come to mind:

  • spending money “seizing the day!” – every day – so there is nothing put towards the future,
  • drugs, alcohol, and other kinds of temptations and addictions,
  • anything which consumes more of life than one might like such as sports, social media, information or media content, television, social activities, money related obsessions, the internet, video games, cleaning, sex, work (in the case of workaholics), or activities (in the case of “doaholics”), and
  • anything and everything delayed or avoided due to procrastination.

Living in the moment – or a day at a time – can seem a pleasure paradise for anyone experiencing challenges such as the above because living in this fashion can lead people to believe they are living happy, successful, productive lives when – in actuality – they are not.

“How can you tell?” someone might ask. Well, one thing you can do is “zoom out” and examine your overall life from time to time. When doing this, ask yourself something like: “Am I progressing towards longer term happiness and success in my work, relationships, activities, goals, and my life overall?” If you’re not, then you might be falling victim to a “live in the moment” or “carpe diem!” mentality. Such a mentality can be a great excuse for taking detours and not moving forward in life but will never get you to where you desire to go over the longer term. Ask any addict, procrastinator, or exuberant spender.

A good way to address TACD and procrastination challenges is taking steps to moderate or eliminate anything which might be holding you back or consuming more of your life than you might like. Let’s take the computer games addiction above as an example. One way to moderate such an activity might be to limit participation such that you allow yourself to only play computer games on Wednesday and Friday nights from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. In my case, I elected to eliminate computer games completely. However, I could have simply limited my participation in these kinds of activities.

Some of the above TACD and procrastination challenges can be handled by simply moderating them while others – such as more severe addictions – might need to be eliminated completely. Do what works best for you or those you are providing assistance to.

Now, while it can certainly be helpful at times to “live in the present,” for easing periods of worry, distress, and negativity, and for creating a momentary sense of peace and enjoyment in life, there are also times when it can do more harm than good. So, get into the practice of “zooming out” and examining your overall life from time to time to ensure you are progressing towards the longer term happiness, harmony, and success you truly desire in life and taking steps to address any problem areas you find along the way. What a wonderful life you (and others) will create and share if you live in this fashion.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/


#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #mindfulness #peace #love #relationships #discipline #balance #joy #optimism #positivethinking

HAPPINESS TIP: EXPEND TIME AND ENERGY ON THAT WHICH OFFERS VALUE TO YOU AND LITTLE TO NONE ON THAT WHICH DOES NOT

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness Tip which might be helpful to some of you out there: Be very mindful of how you use your time and energy. Expend most of your time and energy on that which truly offers value to you and little to none on anything which does not. This goes for the activities you engage in, the work you perform, the people in your life, and the information and media content you expose yourself to.

For example, one of the time and energy depleters in life I commonly come across – when helping others as a life coach – involves people. If there are people who do not value you or add value to your life, then do not waste another precious moment until they do (if ever). It’s just wasted energy. Nothing you do will do anything for them until they learn to value and appreciate you or add value in some fashion.

So, clear the clutter and focus on that and those which add value to your life. You will be much happier and live a rich and rewarding life if you do because you will have the time and energy to expend on that and those which truly matter instead of being consumed by that and those which don’t. So, clear that clutter. And clear it often.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/

#happiness #selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration

HAPPINESS TIP: LOVE, MARVEL, AND LET GO

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Well, just what exactly are you looking for? Magic and mystery and music and magnificence dance and abound all around you every moment of every day. The sunshine smiles, the skies wander, nature sings, animals love, and the earth spins in rhythm with the heavens in perfect balance and harmony.

What more than this is needed to make one smile, sing, and dance with joy and boundless love, wonder, amazement, and appreciation? What more I ask? What more could you be looking for?

Life and living is here right here and right now. Simply love and marvel and let go and waltz with the never-ending warmth, beauty, and flow.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

HAPPINESS TIP: CLEAR THE CLUTTER AND TAKE STEPS TO LIVE INCREASINGLY HAPPIER

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Frequently, when you life coach people, you come up with alternate approaches for improving oneself and living happier. This is because everybody is different.  Something that works well for one person doesn’t work as well for someone else (and vice versa). Recently,  I worked with someone and came up with an alternate approach to living increasingly happier instead of the technique I originally used. It works like this:

Ask yourself what aspects of your life tend to affect you in a strongly negative way – creating substantial unhappiness in your life. When doing this consider activities you engage in, the work you perform, your financial situation, the people in your life, the information and media content you tend to surround yourself with and expose yourself to, your living situation, the goals you are presently pursuing (and any new ones you are considering), that which consumes your life more than you would like, any new experiences you are considering, and any personal issues which repeatedly create substantial unhappiness or negativity for you such as recurring stress, depression, anxiety, guilt, anger, and temptations, addictions, and compulsions. Becoming mindful of these aspects is helpful because awareness is the first step to change.

Upon gaining this awareness, you would next ask yourself what steps you can take to address each of the aspects of your life which affect you in a strongly negative way. Potential ways to address these generally fall into two primary categories: (1) those which involve creating distance or limiting participation (to include perhaps even elimination in more extreme cases which substantially affect your happiness and well-being), and (2) those which involve taking steps to work through or making significant changes. For those which fall into the second category – which might include current life challenges, work, and recurring personal issues (stress, depression, anxiety, etc.) – you would consider actions you can take to address these such as reading books on the topic(s), getting professional assistance, going to a support group or workshop, talking with others who have gone through similar experiences, and investigating/employing various other potential resources and sources of support. 

Once you have sufficiently addressed the strongly negative aspects, you would next move to the opposite side of the spectrum by considering what aspects of your life inspire or affect you in a strongly positive way – creating substantial joy and happiness in your life. You would then ask yourself what you can do to move towards, or increase your participation in, these strongly positive aspects and start taking these steps.

Once you’ve addressed all of the strongly negative and strongly positive aspects of your life, you would then repeat the above process by considering and addressing the moderately negative and moderately positive aspects.

As you fill more of your life with the positive and less with the negative, you will clear the “clutter” from your life and become increasingly happier. Once you’ve made significant progress in these regards start over and repeat these steps. Some people like to perform this process on an annual basis, perhaps the week leading to New Year’s or the week leading to their birthday, while others prefer to do this more frequently. Just do what works for you or those you are offering assistance to. 

Every time you inventory your life in the above fashion and work towards improvement, you will move in a positive direction, your life will get better, and you will feel increasingly happier. So don’t delay. Start today. Once you get into the practice of doing this, it will become more automated so you end up recognizing that which affects you in a negative fashion or inspires or uplifts you and taking actions to increase your overall happiness in real time – performing these steps in a near immediate fashion. And that is a wonderful place to get to.

Here’s the original technique I used in case some of you would prefer this approach. Both approaches work well for promoting happiness in life but some prefer the original approach while others prefer the alternate approach addressed here. Just experiment with each of these and do what works best for you (or others you are offering assistance to). 

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #relationships

HAPPINESS TIP: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF TRUST

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

One of the more difficult things to do in life is to build trust. It’s far easier to break trust than to build trust. But it’s also much easier to build trust than to repair trust.

So, never underestimate the value of trust. Trust is important for all types of relationships including romantic relationships, friendships and family, and work and community relationships. So, if you want to live a happy and peaceful life, make it your goal to live with a sense of discipline and commitment such that you avoid breaking trust.

The reason why it’s so difficult to repair trust once it has been broken is you have to develop not only a track record of trust and a consistent positive change in behavior but an OBSERVED, DEMONSTRATED, and PROVEN track record in the minds of those you are seeking to repair trust with – people who already have doubts about you and may have a lot of trouble believing your good intentions. This doubt and negative bias can be extremely difficult to overcome. So, do yourself a favor and put forth your best efforts to live a disciplined life and maintain a sense of trust. If you do this, your life will be much easier, happier, and more peaceful.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness #relationships