Leadership & Happiness!

I just got back from Barnes & Noble. I scanned through 3 books: 1.- David Gibbins’ “Total War/ Destroy Cartage”, 2.- Dr. Henry Cloux & John Townsend’s “Boundaries”, and the last but not the least 3.- Gretchen Rubin’s “The happiness Project”. The more I read from this last book, the more I appreciate Life Leadership motto: “Have fun, make money, and make a difference”.

It starts with having fun, and enjoying the process. Then, making money and making a difference will follow.

Happiness is about keeping resolutions. And leadership top student, New York Times Best-Selling Author Orrin Woodward sums it all in his outstanding book “Resolved: 13 resolutions for LIFE:” “resolutions are written resolves that are studied daily to help guide a person’s behavior while he’s forming his fundamental character”.

It starts with finding your purpose and detect what  brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, as well as guilt, engagement, and remorse?

Gretchen Rubin invites us to outgrow our limitations to face midlife malaise with grace and discipline.

It’s time to expect more from ourselves. It’s time to use our time well, and to look for happiness under our own roof, by linking our minds with other great minds who have tackled the question of happiness.

The author mentioned Plato, Montaigne, Boethius, Bertrand Russel, Thoreau.  She quoted Ben Franklin and his 13 virtues to live a fulfilled life.

I found her day to day measurable actions as as Woodward’s scoreboard PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Adjust) process.

Working to be happier is a worthy goal. It’s building and bonding through social connections, and social capital.

Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote ” happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of the human existence”.

Gretchen Rubin quoted Epicurus for whom the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life  ” we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, our actions are directed toward attaining it.”

She concluded that “Happy people are more productive, more helpful, more creative. happy people make better fiends, colleagues, citizens.”

I want to be one of those and contribute to the Global Happiness Index.

David Schwartz dedicated The Magic of Thinking big, one of the top 5 books recommended in our Life Leadership Program, to his grandson, who at 6 years old, wanted to be a Professor of happiness.

Best selling author Chris Brady said “to be happy , you have to give happy”.

Be happy.

Roosevelt