|
An Interesting Article Everyone is looking for happiness. But most people make the mistake of thinking their happiness comes from other sources. "I would be really happy if someone would give me a new house." "If my husband would come home on time, I'd be happy." "As soon as the weather warms up, I'll be happy." Fortunately, as we have covered in several TipsForSuccess articles, you can make yourself happy. Here is a very interesting fact about happiness: "The clue to happiness is being interested in life." -- L. Ron Hubbard For example, why does a sunny day make you happy? Maybe because you become interested in the outdoors? Because you can participate in interesting activities? Do you feel happy when you're around your spouse or a friend? Are you also interested in what he or she has to say? Perhaps you do interesting things with this person? What makes you happy about a new house? Is it interesting to be there and to live there? If you look at things that make you happy, you will also find something that gets you interested in life. Exercises for Increasing Your Interest 1. Look around your desk and find five interesting items. Take a minute to enjoy each of them. 2. Think about your spouse and family. Write down three or more things about your spouse and family that you find interesting. 3. Think about your job. Write down three things that are interesting about your work. 4. What were three interesting things you did yesterday? 5. What are three interesting things you will do today? 6. What are your three most interesting problems? Write them down. What is interesting about them? Answer any of these questions until you feel happy. Go enjoy them! Helping Others Be Happy Now that you know the clue to happiness, you can use it to make others happy as well. Here are some ideas. 1. When children are upset or unhappy, find something in life which brings out their interest. For example, a small girl falls and scrapes her knee. After you clean her up, she is still crying. So you say, "Do you like this picture of a kitten?" "Where's your doll?" "Will you help me make a snack?" 2. Your friend is depressed because he lost his girlfriend Sheila. How could you get him interested in life? "Let's take a walk." "Have you seen this new web site?" "Before you met Sheila, who was the most interesting person you ever dated?" 3. As the boss of several employees, you know happy employees mean higher productivity. So how can you get them more interested in their work? "We're starting a new production game. If everyone reaches their quota for the week, everyone gets two movie tickets!" "I want to read you a couple of letters we received from some customers." "I'm passing out our new goals for the company; as you will see, everyone has a place in the future of this company." 4. You want people to be happy when they talk to you. How can you find what interests them? "What is your favorite food?" "What's the most interesting vacation you have ever taken?" "What was the last book/play/concert/movie you really enjoyed?" 5. You want to sell something. "What interests you about this new Volvo?" "Are you interested in buying this house because it has a mature garden or a big kitchen; or because it's near some excellent schools or the new shopping mall?" "Which benefits do you like the most about this new computer system?" Copyright © 2006 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org. For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here. To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here. |
