Born To Prosper – How To Find Happiness – Rachel and Shane Krider
How To Find Happiness and The Power of Identifying Your Purpose
Looking for a way of taking your business to the next level? I can share something that will help you do that. Happiness.
So we’re talking about how to find happiness? And why is it worth finding?
Happiness is the key to success in every sector of your life. And I am going to break finding happiness down to three concepts, that all work together to create happiness, success, and the life you want. They are:
- Your vigilant drive
- Finding your purpose
- Getting in flow
YOUR VIGILANT DRIVE
Vigilance is the action of careful observation, watchfulness, attentiveness, mindfulness. Your vigilant drive is what makes you aware, awakens you, and keeps you on purpose. On a more basic primitive level, it keeps you alive.
Life is going to constantly drive us into a vigilant state. And there are two ways to reach it – to avoid pain (negative vigilance), or increase pleasure (positive vigilance). This is illustrated in the cartoon below. You won’t find success if you’re not vigilant. But you’ll find it on a grander, more fulfilling scale if you take the path of positive vigilance.
So how to find happiness with vigilance? You’ve got to be on the carrot side of the cartoon scenario. You’ve got to create a lifestyle for yourself that puts you on a path of chasing something you desire. Then the vigilance required on that journey is pleasurable and we’re happy to ride it all the way to the goal. In this case, the carrot. That carrot can be any goal you currently have – weight, money, a relationship. And if you’re path is aligned with your purpose, you will experience positive vigilance. Success will spiral upward towards bigger goal achievements, and this can all add up to something great and exciting. And yep, happiness!
Being on the pain side of vigilance may still get you results, but you won’t be so happy about it when something/someone is driving that bat into your butt. And you will definitely not be blissfully travelling the path to it. In fact, you’ll be highly stressed and unsatisfied.
Like working super hard to earn that degree to be employed in your dream job. You land a job that is a few runs down the ladder but on the way to that role – congratulations! You vigilantly studied and achieved your goal. What’s next? Money and to land the next role up the ladder. Your boss decides to cut your compensation plan and restructure. Wait what? Are you happy in your goal right now? No. But you stay in that job anyway – this is pain body vigilant drive. You’re avoiding the pain of leaving, and of financial insecurity. Sure you might be safe. But are you happy?
FINDING YOUR PURPOSE
How does finding your purpose help you find your happiness? This is a very important next step. By recognising and living with positive vigilance, you have started the journey and will continue to find your evolving purpose. You’ve got to be aware, alert, and open to hints the Universe sends you. If you follow those breadcrumbs you will find your purpose, because every time you pick up one of those tiny seemingly insignificant crumbs, you will instantly be filled with warmth and lightness. Happiness! And that feeling will continue all the way to the next breadcrumb. This is your trail to your purpose.
Coveting a pretty awesome car was what finally led me to my purpose. Yep, it started with a purely superficial goal but it was enough to eventually lead to my purpose of being a Personal Development speaker and author. Which is far from the mechanic I was at the beginning of my journey. What do you want? More money? Don’t beat yourself up for being superficial. If you’re on purpose, it leads to bigger things. It motivates you to change and look at things around you and be open to other opportunities. As soon as I realised that, a friend approached with a proposition and within six months of becoming an entrepreneur within that opportunity, I was earning my old mechanic salary every month! And yes, I could finally purchase that cool car. Or five.
GETTING IN FLOW
The final crucial component on how to find happiness, stems straight from finding your purpose. It is the need to be in flow. Daniel Pink wrote a book called Drive that details this concept brilliantly.
Being in flow, is the point you reach when you’re not thinking about whatever you’re doing, you’re completely on purpose, your long term vision is clear, you’re just in the groove doing it, taking the steps is easy, and you love what your doing. It’s when action doesn’t feel like work. That’s being in flow. And when you’re in flow, you’ve found joy.
You don’t get into flow by doing things ‘you have to do’. You get flow when you do things that fulfil you. You may need to get creative to get what fulfils your heart to put food on the table. But that’s the game of life we all have to figure out.
So we want to get into this place of flow. It’s a huge key to finding happiness. It’s the importance of happiness. If you want to be more successful, more joyful, if you want to give back to more people, it’s just an upward spiral once you’re in flow.
Alright, we’ve harnessed our positive vigilant drive, we’ve found our purpose. But if find yourself sometimes not being as happy as you ought to be, something as small as reading a book that is aligned to your purpose, or taking a yoga class, pruning your roses, can help you get in flow. And this will propel you back on your path to prosperity.
FORMULA TO HAPPINESS
If you build a practise like this into your life, you’re on purpose towards a bigger picture vision. And happiness is a natural bi-product of that. The further down the path you go, the more happiness you find.
Step 1 – Do something you love every day. Read, run, teach, garden. In my case, fly your drone!
Step 2 – Gratitude. (which we also talked about here) A quick and easy way to raise your happiness level is writing in a journal dedicated to things you’re grateful for. Works every time.
Step 3 – Random acts of kindness is key in your pursuit in how to find happiness. It can be as small as mopping someone’s floor. It’s unbelievable how performing these small gestures for random people can bring so much joy to you.
Step 4 – Meditation. Find the kind that works for you. Yoga is a moving meditation that works for me.
Step 5 – Exercise. The more intense your workout the happier you will be. It’s science. So go for it!
Step 6 – Mindfulness – really pay attention to what you’re doing. Consciously create your life with each mindful action.
And that, is how to find happiness.