mindfulness

HAPPINESS/SUCCESS TIP: FIND, FOLLOW, AND FOCUS INTENTLY ON YOUR BURNING WHY

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

One of the keys to motivating yourself (and others) and making consistent and continual progress involves discovering what your burning WHY is and keeping it in clear focus over the weeks, months, years, and decades that follow – whether towards your life overall, for a specific goal or accomplishment, or some success you desire to achieve.

So, some of you might find, focus on, and follow a big, burning WHY in terms of your life overall for the long term if that creates enough motivation for you. Alternatively, you might find, focus on, and follow smaller, burning WHYs for right now in order to create motivation for each of your shorter term goals and such. Or you might use a combination of these approaches.

For example, in my own life, having the peace and freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want, has been my life overall big, burning WHY for many years now and was enough to drive me to create and embody the financial and investing discipline and balance I needed to achieve that success. Some other person might have a smaller, burning WHY right now, which might involve spending a month in Paris a year from now. So, that smaller, burning WHY for the near term might motivate the individual to do whatever research, take the actions, and earn the money needed to achieve this goal. Someone else might have a smaller, burning WHY right now, in going hiking in the Rocky Mountains. So, that smaller, burning WHY for the near term might motivate this individual to engage in more fitness activities, eat healthier, and embrace healthier habits.

Visualization approaches can also be used to personify your big or small burning WHYs to motivate progress such as the following:

(1) Positive Visualization Approach. This is primarily a positive oriented motivational approach personifying your WHY(s). This essentially involves visualizing the person you greatly aspire to become, the ideal life you would greatly desire to live, or the highest success you greatly desire to achieve and collecting reminders of these – whether reflective of your life overall or your shorter term goals and such. By developing a positive means in which to visualize success and proceeding to visualize, or remind yourself of, this success on a regular basis, progress can be made towards achieving this success.

(2) Negative Visualization Approach. This is primarily a fear oriented motivational approach personifying your WHY(s) from the opposite end of the spectrum. This essentially involves visualizing the person you would most not like to become, the life that you would most not like to live, or the failures and other experiences you would most not like to have and collecting reminders of these – whether reflective of your life overall or your shorter term goals and such. For example, images of a homeless person suffering the effects of a prolonged addiction problem or a character in a movie who played such a role might serve this purpose. Another approach might be collecting reminders of those you love and appreciate who might be greatly affected by your nonsuccess. By developing a negative means in which to provide reminders of your life fears and the negative implications and consequences of nonsuccess, these can help to provide the strength and the motivation to resist or avoid these. And many studies have shown that pain can serve as a powerful motivational force since human beings tend to be “wired” towards avoiding pain/suffering and being risk averse.

(3)  Combined Positive/Negative Visualization Approach. This approach essentially involves two contrasting visualizations: One which represents the positive aspects (item 1 above) and another which represents the negative aspects (item 2 above).

Each of these approaches can help motivate success and improve progress. And the key to this progress and success hinges on finding, following, and focusing on your burning WHY(s) over the weeks, months, years, and decades to follow – whether in life overall, for a specific goal or accomplishment, or some success you desire to achieve. So, do this for yourself (and others) if you can.

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

HAPPINESS/SUCCESS TIP: MAINTAIN A SENSE OF OPENNESS, OBJECTIVITY, AND FLEXIBITY

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness/Success Tip on maintaining a sense of openness, objectivity, and flexibility throughout the days, months, years, and decades of your life. The human quality of consistency is overrated. Ways to learn and grow and evolve as a person include being open to new information and ideas and making adjustments along the way. This is an intelligent way to live and you’ll be much happier and more successful in life if you do.

So, get in the practice of embracing openness, objectivity, and flexibility and releasing close-mindedness, subjectivity, and rigidity. And don’t worry so much about maintaining a sense of consistency. Things change and you must adapt to these changes all along the way.

What a wonderful world we could all live in and share if we each lived in this fashion.

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 TIP ON LIVING SIMPLY

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness Tip on living simply.

What should you do with your life?

Enjoy it, smile a lot, and be happy.

Simply explore and experience anything and everything in life which might create these happy kinds of things for you.

It’s that simple.

You’re welcome! 🙂

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 TIP: ALWAYS LEAD WITH A SMILE AND HAPPY THOUGHTS TOWARDS OTHERS

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a simple Happiness Tip guaranteed to bring immediate and sustained joy throughout the days, weeks, and years of your life… Every time you come in contact with someone, lead with a smile and the thought: “I wish you much happiness and hope you find many reasons to laugh and smile today.” And mean it. You can also bring people in your life to mind (past and present) and do the same.

Observe how wonderful it makes you feel every time you do this – and do it often. What a wonderful world we could all share if we all did this. A world filled with joy and loving-kindness instead of judgment and negativity.

So, do this for yourself (and others) each and every day and smile a little more. 🙂

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/SUCCESS TIP: MAKE SELF-CARE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY A PRIORITY

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Self-care is often the most overlooked – but most important – first step to getting yourself into a positive place and feeling good. Most people feel much better within days or weeks just doing this on a regular, consistent basis. So, focus on this first: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/how-to-defeat…/

Also, the most powerful realization you can have is that you are creating the negativity and unhappiness you are experiencing. But that’s actually good news. Because if you are creating this, then you can do something to make things better.

Simply ask yourself “How am I creating this unhappiness and negativity?” Next ask, “What can I do to move in a positive direction?” Then do it.

I can’t tell you how many people I have helped throughout this pandemic just by focusing on the above. So, if you are going through a difficult time, give this a try. I guarantee that it will make a huge difference.

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 TIP: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU DON’T

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a Happiness Tip which might be helpful for some of you out there: Get in the practice of focusing on what you want, or would like to happen, instead of what you don’t.

The primary reason so many people feel so negative for so much of the time is that they fill their minds with thoughts of what they do not want.

Thoughts of one thing we do not want, often spawns other thoughts of things we do not want, which spawns still other thoughts of things we do not want, and so on. And this process can continue until our thoughts pull us in multiple, conflicting, negative directions and we become overwhelmed, drained of energy, and even paralyzed by our fears and negativities.

A good way to moderate and overcome negative thinking cycles such as this is to mindfully practice turning attention away from negative thoughts and towards more positive ones. For example, if you find yourself playing the what if game, you might substitute positive what ifs in place of the negative what ifs. That is, you would choose happier thoughts. In this manner you would be able to transform your thoughts from fear, anxiety, and negativity to something more positive.

For example, instead of telling yourself, “What if everything goes wrong?” you might tell yourself, “What if everything goes right?” Or, instead of telling yourself “I can’t,” you might tell yourself, “I can and I will.” Or, instead of telling yourself, “I will never get through this,” you might tell yourself, “I will get through this because I’m much stronger and more resilient than I’m giving myself credit for.” Or, instead of telling yourself “I’m going to look stupid in front of everyone, because I am such a lousy presenter,” you might tell yourself, “this will be a new and interesting experience for me. I am going to get up there and do a wonderful job. People might even applaud and want to talk to me after my presentation.” And so on.

The point is to figure out what you do want, instead of what you do not want, and to focus your attention on that. Whenever we visualize positivity and success by focusing our attention on what we want, instead of that which we do not want, it will energize us, drive us to perform exceptionally well, and create a more positive outcome (of which no small part can come from the power and help we might receive in response from the universe and spiritual world). And that can really help us get through the more difficult challenges we experience in life.

Several years ago, in Orlando, Florida, I once saw a billboard outside of an organic and environmentally safe products store which I just loved. It read, “If anything can go well, it will.” What a wonderful way to look at life. Just saying these words to ourselves can make us feel happy, peaceful, and optimistic. Believing these words in our daily approach to living can make us feel wonderful and help us to moderate and overcome our stresses, fears, and negativities. What do you really want right now in your life? Focus on that and live freely knowing that if anything can go well it will.

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/SUCCESS TIP: INSTEAD OF FINDING WAYS TO LIVE WITH STRESS AND NEGATIVITY, CHANGE THE THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS WHICH LEAD TO IT

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Here’s a happiness/success tip which can make you feel much better about yourself and your life for months, years, and decades to come. Instead of looking for ways to live with stress, anxiety, and other forms of negativity, ask yourself what thoughts and behaviors you engage in which lead to these kinds of negative experiences and make adjustments accordingly.

Most people seek help for living the way they currently do instead of seeking ideas, assistance, and support for how they might stop living in this fashion. And that is key. So, always seek healthy ways to change the thinking, behaviors, or emotions which create the negativities you experience in life instead of trying to manage or numb them.

As a life coach, I frequently tell people that anytime we experience negativity in life, we are the creator. But that is good news because if we are the creator, then we can always do something about it to make things better. So, it’s a good practice, anytime you experience stress and negativity in life, to ask yourself: “How am I creating this stress and negativity?” And then take steps to make things better.

In some cases, you might falsely conclude that someone else is creating your negativity. For example, there might be someone who doesn’t treat you very well, who only seems to come around when he or she wants something, who always takes but never gives, who never respects or appreciates you, or who talks down to you. And, even though it might seem justified and appropriate to associate your experience of negativity to this other person, a more empowering way to look at it is this: The true reason you are experiencing this negativity is because you are creating it.

“How could I possibly be creating this negativity?” you might ask. Well, in situations such as the above, you might be creating this negativity because you thought the person was different (or better) than he or she truly is, ignored the warning signs, and/or invested time, energy, and resources due to your false impressions. And when this happens, it can be natural to feel angry, disappointed, hurt, and sad. However, the true reason you are feeling this way is not because of the other person. It is because you expected this other person to be different from who he or she truly is. And it hurts when we come to the realization that we have been wrong about someone. Especially, someone we might have greatly loved, respected, and trusted.

However, once you gain the understanding that you are the one who is creating this negativity, you can move towards making things better. Because, armed with your new awareness, you can now create distance from the associated person, learn from the experience so that you become a better judge of character and become more selective of who you associate with in the future, and/or get into the practice of making only small investments in time, energy, and/or resources until you are able to better confirm whether there truly is mutual love, respect, trust, and appreciation before being willing to give more.

So, anytime you experience stress and negativity in life, get into the practice of asking yourself: “How am I creating this stress and negativity?” And then take steps to make things better.

Some of the ways to make healthier changes in life include actively engaging in self-care, making yourself a priority, setting and enforcing boundaries, and living in accordance with your values. And here’s one post I wrote for doing that: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/happiness-tip-make-yourself-a-priority-by-giving-everything-the-attention-it-deserves-and-nothing-more/

And here’s a another post I wrote about the many ways to actively employ self-care: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/how-to-defeat-any-distress-without-dope-drinks-drugs-debt-or-doctors/

And lastly, here’s a post I wrote about taking action: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/happiness-tip-live-with-a-sense-of-hope-but-dont-rely-on-it/

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 #success #inspiration #happiness #peace #mindfulness

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 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