How To Be Happy E-Book

Liggy Webb

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 254

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

We all have the capacity to be happy. There may be occasions in your life where this seems a challenging concept, however there are some very definite things that you can do to make sure that you are happy more often than not. After all, happy people get sick less often, they have more energy, are more creative, sustain more positive relationships and are more fun to be around.

With the help of Liggy Webb, you can create your own personal happiness toolkit! How to be Happy will help you feel more self-empowered and in control of any situation, helping you progress in your work and personal life.

You will learn how to:
• Build your self-confidence to make the best of who you are
• Be open to learning new things, to become more effective and creative
• Develop an attitude of gratitude to appreciate life more
• Encourage and sustain positive relationships
• Build your resilience and emotional strength to cope with stress and manage change
• Foster a healthy attitude and get fit for life

You can make the decision right now to be happier if you really want to be. Life is what you make it - so learn how to be happy, effective and energetic - and watch how it inspires those around you.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

ENDORSEMENTS

Title page

Copyright page

DEDICATION

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AN INTRODUCTION TO HAPPINESS

SO WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

SOME OF THE SCIENCE BEHIND HAPPINESS

WHOLESOME HAPPINESS

HOW TO BE HAPPIER

1 LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

WHAT IS A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE?

THINK ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS

YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONS

UNDERSTANDING HABITS

SUSTAINING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

AVOID NEGATIVE ATTITUDE GERMS

BE A RADIATOR

TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

2 BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE

ARE YOU YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND?

SELF-AWARENESS

SELF-CONFIDENCE

BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOURSELF

NEGATIVE INHIBITING THOUGHTS

POSITIVE SELF-TALK

MOTIVATIONAL SUPPORT

3 FIT FOR LIFE

HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY

EXERCISE

NUTRITION

4 DE-STRESS

WHAT IS STRESS?

SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES

5 MANAGING CHANGE

CHANGE AND MODERN LIVING

CHANGE AND GRIEF

THE BENEFITS OF CHANGE

MANAGING CHANGE

CHANGE AND OTHERS

6 BOUNCE ABILITY

PERSONAL RESILIENCE

RESEARCHING RESILIENCE

HOW IS YOUR BOUNCE ABILITY?

HOW TO BE MORE RESILIENT

7 LIFELONG LEARNING

THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING

LEARNING AND INTELLIGENCE

LEARNING STYLES

LIFELONG LEARNING

WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP LEARNING!

8 POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

RELATIONSHIPS

ACCEPT AND CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES

LISTEN EFFECTIVELY

GIVE PEOPLE YOUR TIME

DEVELOP YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

MANAGE MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

LEARN TO GIVE AND TAKE FEEDBACK

LEARN TO TRUST MORE

DEVELOP EMPATHY

LET IT BE

9 LIFE BALANCE

LIFE BALANCE

FINDING THAT BALANCE

10 APPRECIATING LIFE

WHAT IS GRATITUDE?

THE BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE AND HAPPINESS

11 CULTIVATING KINDNESS

EMPATHY, COMPASSION AND KINDNESS

UNDERSTANDING EMPATHY

UNDERSTANDING COMPASSION

UNDERSTANDING KINDNESS

12 MAKING A DIFFERENCE

MEANING AND PURPOSE

FINDING YOUR PURPOSE

GIVING

HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

HAPPY RESOURCES

TOP TEN – HAPPY WEBSITES

TOP TEN – HAPPY FILMS

TOP TEN – HAPPY SONGS

. . . AND TEN HAPPY CLASSICAL MUSIC PIECES

TOP TEN – HAPPY QUOTES

Index

“This is a life enhancing book that will undoubtedly bring greater and longer lasting happiness to every reader.”

Richard Denny, international business growth specialist, speaker and author

“Yet again Liggy provides a simple and constructive approach to understanding the issues and providing a path to achieving personal happiness and success. The clear message and focus is – if you cannot change your circumstances, change your focus and your attitude.”

Dr David C Batman, Director of Research, Foundation for Chronic Disease Prevention in the workplace and former Head of Employee Wellness at Nestle

“Raising young children is full of joy but it can also be one of the most stressful times of life. It’s very easy for parents to get caught up in the whirlwind of everyday life looking after kids – leaving little time to look after themselves. We know that happy parents raise happy children so many mums will find this new book of interest.”

Sally Russell, Founder of Netmums.com

“Liggy Webb explains how we can achieve a happier and more positive life and backs up her theory with some great evidence and advice. This is a well-researched and efficient guide to one of life’s most enduring challenges.”

Paul O’Neill, Vice President, Guinness World Records Commercial

“A timely reminder that our attitudes and actions can have a big influence on our happiness.”

Mark Williamson, Director of Action for Happiness

This edition first published 2012

© 2012 Liggy Webb

Registered office

Capstone Publishing Ltd. (A Wiley Company), John Wiley and Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-0-857-08342-5 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-857-08339-5 (ebk)

ISBN 978-0-857-08340-1 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-857-08341-8 (ebk)

This book is dedicated to my Mum and Dad, Robin and Ann.

You are my inspiration x

PREFACE

I am a happiness explorer. I am captivated by the concept of happiness.

Having spent so much of my life researching, writing, presenting and speaking about this somewhat nebulous subject, I have deduced the following:

Happiness is not out there!

Happiness is a journey not a destination.

Happiness is about taking personal responsibility.

Let me explain in a little more depth.

First of all I would like to address the plethora of consumerist activity that professes to deliver the silver bullet solution with regards to an individual’s pursuit of happiness. It is frequently suggested that some purchase or material gain will make you happy, thereby reinforcing a belief that happiness is ‘out there’ somewhere. Many people waste valuable time looking in all the wrong places for something that they have been in possession of all along. The ability to be happy is inside everyone, we all have the capacity and it is completely free, no cost attached. You can make the decision to be happier right now if you really want to be.

Secondly, I don’t believe that we have the ability to exist in a permanent state of happiness. To have a real zest for life – and feel passion and compassion – it is important to experience the full range of emotions that make up the rich tapestry of our lives. Life is a journey and so is happiness; as with many journeys, you may hit a few potholes along the way. Sometimes you may get hurt and feel pain. However, without experiencing any pain in your life you will be less likely to fully understand and appreciate happiness.

Finally, you need to take some personal responsibility for your own happiness. Often, people choose to play the victim and look to blame others for the way that they feel. They wallow and indulge themselves in constant pity parties, dragging others down at the same time by spreading their negative attitude germs.

The expectation that someone or something else will come along and make you happy is unrealistic. A key consideration with regards to happiness is the distance between reality and expectation. If you are constantly in a state of expectation, then you will constantly set yourself up for disappointment. If you are dependent on others to make you happy you may leave yourself vulnerable. It is essential to take personal responsibility.

Every person is unique and, by definition, what happiness means to one person will mean something different to another. You need to listen to yourself, define your own agenda and not allow any­­­­one else to superimpose their version of happiness, otherwise you may lose control of what works for you. You need to be your own puppeteer and pull your own strings! So, the relationship you have with yourself is key. Being happy with who you are, what you do and what you have is not only advisable – I would say it is essential.

Happiness also takes practice. There may well be times in your life where there is simply too much darkness, times when the concept of happiness seems as far away as the moon. These are the times that you need to remind yourself about the things that make you feel happy and count your blessings one by one, over and over.

Creating a personal happiness toolkit will help you to feel more self-empowered and more in control. It will protect you from the inevitable media invasion of misery, and the negative ‘doom goblins’ that you sometimes meet along the way. It will also enable you to be more resilient and bounce back, quicker, better and stronger.

There are certainly a few things in my life that have given me a great education with regards to understanding happiness and what works in terms of developing a personal toolkit.

First of all, and perhaps the most insightful experience for me, has been a lifetime of managing bouts of depression. What I have learnt firsthand has been immense and drives me to want to explore how depression can be positively managed and how the stigma that is still attached to mental health issues can be addressed and dealt with. I have a great deal of empathy for people who don’t experience depression and live or work with someone who does get depressed. The very nature of this insidious and seemingly invisible illness has far-reaching consequences for everyone.

Another great learning opportunity for me has been the work that I do with the United Nations – as an international consultant, travelling to various peace missions and duty stations around the world. Two of the most poignant experiences have been my trips to Afghanistan and Ethiopia, which I will tell you more about later in the book. It has most certainly brought a wider perspective to my world and a deeper understanding of what makes different people happy.

Certainly it challenges the Western approach to life. My belief is that if we spend as much time feeding our souls as we do attempting to feed our bank accounts we will be rewarded by a much healthier and more balanced perspective. We are likely to value things far more than we do and, in fact, derive more pleasure from what we have already, rather than constantly focusing on what we are missing or what other people have!

There are now an increasing number of organizations and movements that are championing the way forward for helping people to feel better about themselves and their lives. The aim of many of these is to understand happiness on a more wholesome level.

So, the aim of this book is to help you to feel better about yourself and your life. I certainly would not profess to say that by reading this book you will become instantly happy! It is up to you to use the information to work out your own happiness agenda. Life is what you make it.

I have endeavoured to keep the messages simple, and to demystify some of the complexities of modern living. I have started each chapter with an amusing story which I hope will bring a smile to your face. I have shared personal experiences, the wisdom of others and lots of useful tips and advice. You may already know something about most of the content that I have covered. But remember, it is not what you know, it is what you do with it that really counts.

Happy reading!Liggy Webb

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are so many very special people in my life who have been instrumental in helping me to make this book happen. I am especially grateful to the following people. There is a little bit of each of you in this book.

Sara Pankhurst, Andy Veitch, Lawrence Mcilhoney, Jacky Leonard, Melanie Lisney, Jacky Pearson, Charles Christie-Webb, Lois Grant, Gary Lazarus, Fran Sherrington, Paula Evans, Andrew Sherrington, Isobel Sherrington, Aubrey Stuart, Kate Tuck, Paul O’Neill, Colin Botherston, Peter Stone, Hamish Mcleod, Andrew Gissing, Piera Cescutti, Colin Gautrey, Simon Reichwald, Chris Deakin, Sarah-Elizabeth Hall, Penny Foley, Maeve Price, Mary Earle, Yvonne Baxter, Caroline Schofield, Lynne Martinez, Mark Griffiths, Jane Hooper, Stephen Pauley, David Apparicio, Jo Apparicio, Richard Denny, Ciaran Beary and Brian Chaplain.

To my family, everyone who is part of The Learning Architect and to all the exceptionally talented writers who have yet to be discovered and belong to The Montpellier Writers Group.

I would also like to thank Jonathan Shipley for finding me and Grace O’Byrne, Vicky Kinsman, Emily Bryczkowski, Megan Saker, Jenny Ng, Louise Campbell, Laura Cooksley and everyone at Capstone who have been such a huge part of making this book happen.

Finally I would like to thank Nicholas Anderson for sharing the journey and making it such a fun and happy one.

AN INTRODUCTION TO HAPPINESS

One day a man was sitting alone on a beach feeling reflective and melancholic. He looked out towards the sea as if searching for something. Suddenly he had an overwhelming urge to dive into the ocean to see if he could find whatever it was that was missing from his life.