In this blog series I share some of the ways I boost my happiness no matter the situation or circumstance. Try these out over the next ten days and see what happens. 

1. Intend to be happy – Happiness is easier to come by and more reliable when you mean to be happy rather than hoping something happens that will move you into a happy state.  Choose to be happy.  Make this your conscious intention.  The more you exercise this, the more happiness you’ll experience. “A person is usually about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” – often attributed to Abraham Lincoln

2. Get outdoors more, especially when it’s sunny out – Science has identified Vitamin D as something the body produces when it comes in direct contact with sunshine.  They’ve also linked depression to lack of Vita D.  Science has managed to identify Vitamin D and give it its name, but you can be sure there are many other benefits of the sun that science has yet to identify – the person who does will be a Nobel Prize winner! “The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.” – Henry Ward Beecher

3. Smile wide – Try it out for yourself.  Sit quietly somewhere with your eyes closed.  Notice how you feel.  Then smile and see what happens to your feeling and energy.  Direct experience is the best proof there is.  Even babies understand the language of smile. Ever wonder why?  It’s certainly a clue to The Truth.  “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Theresa. “A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose.” –Tom Wilson

4. Witness happiness in others – If you observe happiness with a loving heart, you will experience happiness vicariously. “Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.” – Marcus Aurelius

5. Balance routine with unpredictability – Shake up your life a little.  Keep your mind fresh and alert by traveling a new route to work or making green smoothies you’ve never thought to try making before.  The mind loves variety, as this is the spice of life.  Apply routine when progress toward a goal is the mission. “Routine, in an intelligent person, is a sign of ambition.” – W.H. Auden. “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma

6. Dream big, then go after your dreams with all your heart – You are not meant to live a little, you are meant to live to the hilt.  If you spend your life living small, you will eventually find you are disappointed in yourself.  Self-disappoint is not a desired outcome. Chunk your BIG DREAM down into smaller goals, and celebrate checking them off along the way as you progress toward the BIG ONE. “Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” – Les Brown

7. Have lots of fun – Laughing creates a biochemical change in the body that positively charges you.  Singing increases red blood cell count.  My wife once told me that it’s impossible to be upset and skip at the same time, so I had to put it to the test.  One day I was a little frustrated and down, and she pulled me outside into the street and practically made me skip with her.  I did and I’ll be darned if my frustration didn’t go away.  How incredible! “In all of living, have much fun and laughter.  Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.” – Gordon B. Hinckley. “Laughter is the only medicine without side effects.” – Shannon L. Alder

Are you conscious of your Golden Nature?  You are Golden you know.  Why not MAKE IT A GOAL to scrape away the paint that conceals your GOLDEN SELF?

What is true about any goal, including the 12 Golden Goals listed below (now called The 12 Radical Intentions for a R.I.C.H. Life), is that in order to attain a goal on purpose, you have to study it, go after it, and then expect it!  If accumulating money is a goal, study money and how to acquire it, then go after it and expect it.  If joy is a goal, study joy and how to experience it, then go after it and expect it.  

Make sense?  

​By studying what we are going after, we become conscious of it. And we cannot intentionally attain or achieve something if we are not first conscious of it. By studying each of the areas in the Golden Goals, we are developing our consciousness and coming out of that deep sleepwalking state that prevents us from experiencing the fullness of life and enduring happiness. The Golden Goals are life-long commitment goals rather than goals with a due date.  You were born to experience the fullness of life.  Practicing the Golden Goals will add to the fullness of your life.

Over the next year, we’ll be exploring what I'm calling the 12 Golden Goals of 2016 (now called The 12 Radical Intentions for a R.I.C.H. Life) together at a comfortable pace.  I’ll roll one goal out each month.

Here they are:

The 12 Golden Goals

1. Happiness goals
2. Physical Health & Fitness Goals
3. Mental Health & Well-Being Goals
4. Spiritual Goals
5. Personal Growth & Self-Improvement goals
6. Creativity goals
7. Relationship goals
8. Wealth-Building goals
9. Social & Community goals
10. Contribution & Legacy goals
11. Lifestyle goals
12. Your Ultimate Goal

The intent is to become more conscious in each of these areas at a steady and manageable pace.  How do these goals look to you?  Sound like a self-improvement journey you’re interested in?  I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t want to have more happiness, be in better shape, and increase your peace of mind.  

Sign up here to be a part of the 12 Golden Goals for 2016 movement.

If you sign up and fully participate you can expect to gradually wake to new and increasing states of awareness and consciousness, thus transforming your life in a manageable and enduring way.  Manageable because each month we will focus on just one new goal so it can become securely fastened in your thought patterns.  Each month thereafter, we will take on an additional goal while continuing the work we began with the previous month’s goal.  This approach will allow us to build and expand our consciousness at an even rate without overwhelming ourselves. Enduring because each month is like systematically adding a layer of consciousness, thickening and fortifying our resolve and capacity to hold our ever-expanding awareness so we are mentally more durable.

Remember, everything affects everything else.  When we are conscious in multiple areas (like the 12 Golden Goals), they have a synergistic effect that exponentially expands our consciousness.  And this will have the effect of changing your entire life for the better, for good!  Once you grow, it will be impossible to fit back into the smaller places of your past.  If you try to go back, you will experience pain like NBA feet trying to squeeze into kindergarten shoes.  So, you have to be ready and willing to say good-bye to the old you.  Are you ready?  If YES, CLICK HERE to sign up for the 12 Golden Goals of 2016.

I’ll catch you on the blog side or in the next email.

Until then, stay amazing!
 
Cheers & Harmony,
Damon

Happiness is when our actions match our deepest desires, this is one way you can think of congruence or to know if you are living congruently or not. For instance, if your major desire in life is to surf, and you can regularly be found in the water with your board waiting for that next great wave AND THAT brings you joy, then you are living congruently (in that instance).

If, on the other hand, you love to surf, but feel like you can never afford to go surfing or can never get time off to go surfing and consequently never go surfing, that’s in-congruent and is a sure way to pain, frustration, and misery. Sometimes, though, it’s necessary to experience the kind of discomfort that comes from living in-congruently so that we’re jolted into action.

What’s sad though, is when a person adopts a helpless mindset (learned helplessness) and accepts that he or she will never get to do what he or she loves to do. That is how to be unhappy, and is, believe it or not, a choice! If a person loves to do yoga or loves to do art, but never finds the time, it’s not because the time doesn’t exist, there are exactly 24 hours in EVERY day that we all have access to, it’s simply because they haven’t “taken” the time. Instead they’ve conjured up reasons why other less fulfilling things are more important to do than the things they love to do.

KNOW what you love to do, and then MAKE time for doing it. PLAN it into your busy schedule. Yes, we often need to find creative ways to afford doing what we love, but it’s necessary for our happiness, so we can enjoy life!

Having a goal or desire THAT no matter what you say or do, your words and actions exemplify, articulate and support your position is another way to think of congruence. Like when you’re running a value added event and everything you say reinforces your point or promotes the message you’re there to share without giving it a second thought. So congruence has to do with fully associating yourself with your beliefs and your desires. This is why it’s so important to take a thorough and conscious inventory of your beliefs and desires to make sure they are consistent with who you want to be so that you don’t unconsciously or subconsciously sabotage or undermine your mission by doing or saying things that contradict what you intend to stand for and how you hope to show up in the world.

In closing, we like to describe happiness as the feeling you get when your actions match your deepest desires.  Another way to think of it is as PROGRESS… we are happiest when we feel and can observe the progress we’re making.  When our actions match our desires, it’s inevitable that we will be moving (or should I say “making progress”) toward a life that knows lots of joy, and that’s something to celebrate.

So, let’s all go be congruent! 
​Damon

The 12 GOLDEN GOALS to Go from Drifting in Life to SAILING

It’s easy to drift through life if we're not careful. Most people are drifting through life and don't even know it. How do I know? Because I was one of those people, and like they say "it takes one to know one." It took me a long time to figure this out, but I learned that if I want to have an amazing life then there are certain goals I MUST have. I call these my GOLDEN GOALS.
​
In our school education we talk about the importance of goals and goal setting, but usually, if not always, in the context of academic achievement and professional goals.  Those goals are fine enough in their respective arenas, but they miss the mark when it comes to living a HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS, and MEANINGFUL life.

If we don't have a definite life destination in mind that we are trying to reach (and by “definite life destination” I mean our personal versions of a most amazing life) then we are like driftwood floating without direction on the ocean’s surface, being tossed and blown in every which way by the fickle winds.

Think about it, WHERE are you going if you don't know where you’re going?
If, on the other hand, we know the coordinates of the island we are trying to get to (call this destination most amazing life) and we know from where we are starting, we become like a sail boat with a map and compass (rather than the driftwood). No longer are we at the mercy of the relentless and ever-changing winds, aimlessly adrift at sea getting tossed and blown every which way.  Now we can set our sail and use the winds to our aid and to our advantage. I've found that the best destination is the one we envision for ourselves where we are happy and have come truly alive.

Goals are like destinations, and below are the GOLDEN GOALS I’ll be focusing on in 2016 as part of my personal growth plan and happiness map.

Just in case you'd like to join me, I want to make sure you have the opportunity to get these in your hands and on your mind before 2016 gets here so you can start the year with your game plan instead of starting the year creating your game plan.  If you truly want to win and have your best year yet, preparation is the key, and planning is a major part of preparing!

The game is won before the game, not during the game.

If 2016 is a game, then let’s play to win, and not just play around.  To win, let’s prepare as much as possible so we can start the game as ready as possible!
If you have questions or need help in any of these areas, let me know in the comment section below.  We’re in this together!

STOP DRIFTING!
(I have your back!)

The 12 GOLDEN GOALS (CLICK HERE to sign up for the FREE year-long Golden Goals program 2016)

1. Happiness goals 
2. Physical health and fitness goals
3. Mental health and well-being goals
4. Spiritual goals
5. Personal growth and self-improvement goals
6. Creativity goals
7. Relationship goals
8. Wealth-building goals
9. Social and community goals
10. Contribution and legacy goals
11. Lifestyle goals
12. Your Ultimate Goal/Purpose in Life

See you in 2016!
Damon