Volume 009
April 2010

Hi... I’m Jimmy, and my mission is to improve your life by making it a bit happier - or, better yet, a lot happier - everyday.

I am a doctor, “rejuvenating” corporate executive, entrepreneur, author, and speaker. My wife (Jill), our three-year-old daughter (Joie), our golden retriever (Sunny) – and our newborn (4-month-old) second daughter (Jae) – live in Tampa Florida and Newport Beach California (we alternate locations every month – so we travel a lot).

Through this newsletter, my website, my books, E-Coaching, and other BeHappy! products, I am committed to improving the lives of as many people as possible. So, I would love to hear from you on how your life has changed by using the BeHappy! system, or how I can help improve your life more by making the system even better.

Please go to BeHappy101.com (or see the yellow box at the end of the newsletter) to provide your comments, suggestions, stories, or thoughts and I’ll respond to you personally – as appropriate - as soon as possible.

Here’s to your happiness and to having the kind of life you want to have!

BeHappy! my friends

Inside this Issue

Introduction to The BeHappy! Newsletter (for new subscribers)

Happiness Facts

Follow Up to the Last Edition’s “Actions”

Your Identity - Knowing the Real You to Be Happier

Actions for the Next 60 Days to BeHappy!

What's New at BeHappy101.com


















INTRODUCTION
(for new subscribers)

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a regular and consistent supplement to the action-oriented process in my website - www.behappy101.com - and in my first book, simply called BeHappy!

It is intended to make a powerful contribution to the amount of joy and fulfillment in your daily life by providing regular tools, reminders, and strategies to: This is far beyond a “How To” concept. It is rather a “Do” system, which, when used in conjunction with the BeHappy! book, helps create your own personal “Happiness Plan” for your life. If you want a template or “blueprint” for this Happiness Plan, Click here and you can get it free.

Since my goal is to help make people happier, however, it is best to get the book to use along with the website to achieve maximum benefit from the plan (yes, that’s partly a sales pitch — but it’s true).

35% discount for newsletter subscribers!



To ORDER BeHappy! NOW
Click here

BIG DISCOUNT for newsletter subscribers.
Order NOW and get $7.00 OFF
Get it NOW for just $12.95!!
(Regular price: $19.95)

Use DISCOUNT CODE LF14 WHEN ORDERING


MY GUARANTEE TO YOU: While most of the information at behappy101.com is free, I want you to BeHappy! with anything you purchase on this site; our reputation depends on it. Nothing is more important to me personally than for you to be completely satisfied with the information you receive. So if you are not satisfied with anything you buy on this site, for any reason whatsoever, simply contact me and I will have a refund check cut and sent to you immediately.


So get started right away. Take action immediately. Go to behappy101.com and join the many people whose lives have been changed. Go ahead...

BeHappy! my friends

...Jimmy

HAPPINESS FACTS
  • Approximately half of all teens have sex, and most regret it and later wish they had waited.

  • According to John Locke (the English philosopher and physician) ... While your body (the "substance of you") changes over time, your "identity" (the person within) does not change.
Follow Up from the Last Edition of The BeHappy! Newsletter

The last edition of this newsletter in February was about being happier in your work or career. Did you take the actions described? If so, I hope it helped. If not - or if you are new to this newsletter - go back and read the February issue to be happier at work.

Now, on to the topic for this edition of The BeHappy! Newsletter...

Your Identity (the Real You: a Key to Happiness)

Who are you? What is your personality? What are your core values? What are you passionate about? What are your rules?

The answers to these questions – and perhaps a few others – can help determine your true identity: in other words – who you really are as a person.

Everyone has an identity. Unfortunately, many people either don’t really know that identity well, or they simply live inconsistent with that identity. Either way, it usually leads to some degree of unhappiness and frustration. Some people, knowingly or not, portrait a different “external” identity from the true person they are inside.

The main here issue relates to the important reality that our real identity – that true person inside each of us – can determine to a very large degree how happy or unhappy we are in life.

Yes, from both personal and professional perspectives, the degree to which we live consistent with our true identity makes a huge impact on our overall happiness.

Take a job or career, for example. Someone who works as a sales person but has an introverted, laid-back, passive personality, who values security and stability and has a passion for painting will likely be quite frustrated and unhappy in their work (and perhaps in their life). On the other hand, someone with that same sales job or career, who has a more extroverted and aggressive personality, with core values including freedom and prosperity along with personal preferences of variety, flexibility, and spontaneity, could love what they do and be much happier in their work.

On a more personal level, take someone who values relationships and connection highly, and whose personality is very social and active, but who – for whatever reason – lives in a small town which is far from family and close friends, and which has few social and cultural activities. This person would likely be somewhat unhappy (maybe even very unhappy) because they would be living in a location that is inconsistent with their true self. Or what about a person who values health and spirituality, with a love of the outdoors, but who lives in a congested, polluted, industrial city, with little access to hiking, biking, or kayaking? Just living in the "wrong" geographic area (wrong in the sense that it is inconsistent with who you are) can determine how happy we are overall.

These are just a couple of simple examples, though. There are many more ways people live inconsistent with their true identity. Whether it's geographic location, their job or career, the people they associate with, or whatever ... the point to all this is that identity - and living consistent with that identity - are critical issues related to happiness. First, knowing yourself – really knowing who you are – then living consistent with that true identity is critical to living your happiest possible life.

So, if you really know yourself - who you are inside as a human being here on this earth - that's great. You have half of the issue handled. For the other half, make sure to use that knowledge to be happier by making sure to live consistent with that identity (you may need to create a plan to do this if you aren't already living consistent with who you are as a person).

If you still don't really know yourself well - or even if you just haven't thought about it much - read on and take the "Actions" described below to get a better feel for your true identity.

BeHappy! ACTIONS TO TAKE UNTIL THE NEXT ISSUE OF THIS NEWSLETTER

“Know thyself.”
- Socrates
Like everything in life, the old saying, “practice makes perfect” applies to happiness, too. By using the tools and concepts in BeHappy! - and applying the principles on my website (www.behappy101.com) and in this bi-monthly newsletter - you'll get the coaching and the “practice” you need to lead the happiest possible life. It takes daily action to get “perfect” at it, though.

So, if you have read previous BeHappy! Newsletters you know that every issue provides some simple action-oriented exercises for the next two months (until the next edition of the newsletter) which relate to the main "subject" of this edition of the newsletter to help make happiness a habit.

Just a few minutes of focus every day and you’ll be laying the foundation for the happiest possible life - both for yourself and for those you love.

If you do these things, I can promise you’ll notice a big difference in the quality of your life.

You will BeHappy!

To improve your life, click on any of the pictures below which represent areas of your life which you need to make better:









Actions for the next 60 days:

Take these actions over the next sixty days and by the time you receive the next edition of the BeHappy! Newsletter (around the end of June), I am confident you'll be making progress toward a happier life:

STEP ONE – Your Identity:

Take some time to reflect on the real you. Even if you feel you know yourself well, make three lists to describe yourself:
  1. Your core values (to make this list answer the question, what’s most important to you in life?)
  2. Your passions (write down things like sports, writing, photography, gardening, sewing, teaching, drawing, etc.)
  3. Your personal preferences or attributes (here you might list things like city living vs. country life, social vs. being alone, relaxing vs. partying, material vs. spiritual)
Once you have a list of between 3-6 items in each category, reflect on what you wrote. Think about who you are in the context of your values, passions, and personal preferences. Take a few minutes to just think about this. Don’t brush by it. You might even want to write out a sentence or paragraph describing the real you. It might look something like this:

I am a happy, fun-loving, adventurous, goal-oriented, social person with the main core values of relationships, integrity, freedom, health, and spirituality who wants variety, wealth, excitement, music, and travel in my life.

Once you have written a sentence or two about “you”, read it over a few times. Think about it. Is this who you really are?

IF NOT: Go back and work on it. Look at your three lists. Fine-tune them. Make sure everything important to you is in one or more of those lists.

IF SO: What does it mean? Is this who you want to be? And if it is, are you living a life consistent with the identity you just wrote down? Be honest (even if it might be somewhat painful).

STEP TWO – Living Consistent with Your Identity:

If you are living totally consistent with your identity (the “you” you described above), then you might be very happy (perhaps totally happy if you are also fulfilling your personal Definition of Happiness). NOTE: the happiest people are living consistent with their identity AND are fulfilling their own personal Definition of Happiness.

If you are not living consistent with the identity you wrote down in Step One, you are probably not as happy as you could be, and it’s time to design a plan which makes it happen – even if it takes a while.

It’s much too complicated to get into all the details of designing a comprehensive plan here in this newsletter, but to get started, first write down the main areas where your life is inconsistent with your identity. For example, if you value relationships, but you are working too much to spend time with your family and friends, this is something you must address. Or, if one of your passions is playing the piano, but you haven’t played in years, what do you need to do to change that? Or maybe one of your values is health, but you are not eating well or exercising regularly. What must be done? What is the plan? Do you need to join a health club? Do you need to lose weight? Do you need to start taking vitamins and/or health supplements?

This is not usually an easy thing to do. It takes thought. It takes time. And, it takes commitment. But it’s worth it. This is your life. This can make the difference between living a totally happy life and just living an “okay” life. Why settle for less than you deserve?

If you want to take this a step further, there are several options for you. First, you can sign up for one-on-one personal E-Coaching by clicking here and I’ll help you design your plan. Or, you can get some more general guidance by getting a copy of BeHappy! by clicking here if you don’t already have one. Or, you can get a copy of the e-book I'm writing right now called “Creating and Living the Real You” when it comes out in June. It’s just $2.25 and will be available in about a month (I’ll notify you as soon as it’s available if you click here and let me know you want to reserve a copy).

By following these action steps for the next 60 days (throughout May and June) you should begin to really understand the "real you" and be able to design a plan to live consistent with that identity (if you aren't already). We’ll look back on this 60-day action plan in the next edition of the BeHappy! Newsletter at the end of June. Then, we’ll take more actions to get to the next level of happiness for your life.

If the information here at BeHappy101.com helps you and you'd like to make a donation to help make others happy, please click on the "DONATE" button below to make a contribution. The amount you give is entirely up to you, and would be greatly appreciated. A portion of the proceeds will used to contribute to the happiness of others.



WHAT'S NEW AT BeHappy101.com:

Every issue of this newsletter will keep you up to date on new stuff at BeHappy101.com so you can get maximum benefit from the BeHappy! system. You can access any of these quickly by just clicking on the links in the list below.

Here are a few additions over the past two months:
  • A new "Sex and Happiness" section of the website (for adults only) is under construction which will talk about issues related to a better sex life - for those who need help in this area to be happier in life (right now, I'm asking visitors to give me thoughts, ideas, and feedback about this topic so I can tailor it to what people really want. And by the way, this is not a "sex" site - this is a professional, relationship & intimacy oriented section of the website designed to help people life a better, happier life - if sex is part of it. Since sex is truly a part of life (and for many people, an important part), it has to be a subject for this BeHappy! website.
    [YOU NEED A PASSWORD TO ENTER THIS SECTION, and since you are a subscriber to this newsletter, here it is: great sex life]. Just click on the link at the beginning of this bullet point and in the box that pops up, write out the password exactly as I wrote it, all lower case and with the spaces between the words.

  • E-Coaching: get personal, private coaching from me - all electronically (by e-mail) with this new, effective part of the BeHappy! system. I have added a FREE introductory coaching session to the offering so you can try it out first, with no risk or obligation.

  • Several new articles on relationships and other life issues by The Neighborhood Shrink: a regular “clinical psychology” contributor to behappy101.com.

  • The new "tour" component of the website has been improved, with several new additions, including a complete (almost) list of all the articles on the website. This tour is intended to help you get the most from the behappy101.com site on a regular basis (to be finished early in the New Year – it’s one of my resolutions!!). This "tour" will provide you the ability to navigate the entire website easily based on whatever interests you - or whatever you need in your life to be happier and more fulfilled.

    Please contribute to the happiness of others by providing your own stories, jokes, testimonials, comments and personal tips on happiness, dealing with adversity, and relationships on the website (there are many places throughout the site to add your messages to help others)

    To contribute HAPPINESS tips: click here
    To contribute RELATIONSHIP tips: click here
    To contribute ADVERSITY tips: click here
    To contribute GOAL tips: click here

  • Several important new blog posts to add to your "happiness toolbox".

  • The popular Thought for Today: a feature on the site initiated February 1st (2009) which has provided a new thought every single day since then. Each new Thought for Today gets posted on the behappy101.com homepage every morning (365 days a year) between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (unless I sleep in – then it might be 6:30 a.m.). These are thoughts to help start your day off right. The thoughts are generally about happiness, success, relationships, money, etc. So go to the website everyday for a new “thought”. You’ll soon become “addicted” – and it will improve your life tremendously.

  • New Quotes, Poems, and Jokes to help inspire and motivate you, or just make you laugh.
And much, much more. So until the next edition of the BeHappy! Newsletter around the end of June...

Thanks for being a loyal subscriber and...

BeHappy! my friends


35% discount for newsletter subscibers



To ORDER BeHappy! NOW
Click here

BIG DISCOUNT for newsletter subscribers.
Order NOW and get $7.00 OFF
Get it NOW for just $12.95!!
(Regular price: $19.95)

Use DISCOUNT CODE LF14 WHEN ORDERING



To go to behappy101.com click here now