Disclaimer: The above information has not been evaluated by the Food and
Drug Administration and is provided as a guideline only, and is not meant to
practitioner, and/or inner guidance system. When in doubt, always consult a
professional before undertaking any change to your normal health routine.
Drug Administration and is provided as a guideline only, and is not meant to
practitioner, and/or inner guidance system. When in doubt, always consult a
professional before undertaking any change to your normal health routine.
| "May you be blessed with all things good." |
Order A Healthier You From the Inside Out, for only $3.99
Order our special e-book "combo package" of A Healthier
You and Vision Writing: Composing & Creating the Life You
Were Meant to Live for only $7.00
Back to "To Your Health"
| Aloha Bay Crystal Salt (item # 015261, #015262, #015258) on sale for 25% off for a limited time. Or try Power Organics crystal salt intro pack that contains two 3.5 oz. shakers, 1.1 lb. bag of fine grind, a bag of rock salt crystals, and The Miracle of Krystal Salt booklet. A $38 value for only $20+ postage. |
ALL ONE TOGETHER info@allonetogether.com copyright©2007 |
| "May you be blessed with all things good." |
ALL ONE TOGETHER
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Order A Healthier You From the Inside Out, for only $3.99
Order our special e-book "combo package" of A Healthier
You and Vision Writing: Composing & Creating the Life You
Were Meant to Live for only $7.00
Order our special e-book "combo package" of A Healthier
You and Vision Writing: Composing & Creating the Life You
Were Meant to Live for only $7.00
| Shop4AllOne has Aloha Bay Crystal Salt (item # 015261, #015262, #015258) on sale for 25% off for a limited time. Or shop through our Swanson link for their brand of Himalayan crystal salt |
| Looking for some healthy recipes? Check out our Recipes Archive |
The Important 40% of Happiness
by Paul Dalton of Life Happens
"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
- Benjamin Disraeli
I believe we are living in very exciting times when it comes to our understanding of what
makes us truly happy in the long term. Up until relatively recently (well, about 10 years
ago actually) the general perception of the personal development and self-growth
movement was pretty much split down the middle. One half of the camp embraced the
theory that “we are what we think” and that we can be powerful beyond measure if we so
choose, while the other half would roll their eyes and barely be able to hide their distaste
of that “fluffy clap trap!”.
I remember my own internal conflict around that time. While I was hooked on the idea
that working on myself and my spiritual path would help me carve out an amazing future
- and it has ;o) – at the same time there was another part of me that was just an out and
out science guy. I was eager to do as I was told by many of the great philosophers and
self-help gurus of the day, but I also wanted to know that there was a solid basis for why
I should invest my trust in the principles I was learning.
Notions such as practicing daily gratitude and forgiveness intrigued me. Sure, it felt
really good when I did them, but I was kind of left wondering whether I was actually
becoming a happier person or if I was just experiencing momentary “nice” feelings.
Perhaps that is why I am such a devout advocate of the field of Positive Psychology; the
now officially recognised science of how truly happy people get to be truly happy. Thanks
to the work of its founder, Dr. Martin Seligman (and many others since), not only can we
continue to put faith into the long trusted principles of personal development and
spiritual self-care, but now there is an abundance of empirical evidence to support the
fact those principles really do bolster our long term happiness.
Here is one of the most interesting things I’ve learned about the nature of happiness
(look for Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky’s brilliant book “The How of Happiness”). Having
investigated extensively under strict scientific conditions, psychologists are able to
confidently determine that the happiness we experience in our lives is made up of:
50% Genetic “Set Point”
Through clever testing (far too clever to go into here!!) it has been realised that half of all
the happiness we feel is due to a natural default level that is different for each of us. This
means that unless something absolutely horrific happens to us we will always return to
at least our in-build baseline level of happiness after our lives are shaken up in some
way (for good or for bad). It would appear this is why some people are better able to pick
themselves up after a fall than others. It may also explain why some people seem not to
get as excited about exciting events as we think they should!
10% Circumstances
Staggeringly, only 1/10th of our experience of happiness is due to the conditions of our
life circumstances. I can almost feel the resistance from some of you as you read this!! (I
know it jarred with me at first). It seems completely counterintuitive but, if you are used to
living by moderate means, coming into a lot of money will only bring a temporary boost
to your happiness at best. If you have always enjoyed good health, a dose of long term
illness will not necessarily make you miserable. Leaving a dead end job for a seemingly
better one is, more often than not, not all it’s cracked up to be. This is because is it in our
nature to adapt to the circumstances of our environment extremely quickly. It is called
“hedonic adaption”. Remember a time when you were really excited about buying
something new; maybe a car, an item of clothing, or even your house. Now remember
how quickly that object felt like any other natural detail of your life.
40% Intentional Activity
Intentional activities are the things that we make a conscious decision to engage
ourselves in. Depending on what those activities are we will either experience elevated
levels of authentic happiness or simply hang out around our default set point. What the
research has uncovered is that the world’s happiest people are those who capitalise on
this 40% by routinely doing things that nurture their spirit and help them view their life in
a positive way. By making it a habit of immersing themselves in the kind of activities that
act a reminder of what is really important to them (see the suggestions in the homework
section below), they literally train their neurology to “just be happy”.
We may not be able to control our genetic set point, and changing our life circumstances
is only likely to shift our happiness up or down by 10%, but we do have it in our power to
choose the quality what we put our efforts and attention onto. The great news is that it is
this 40% that can make the most wonderful difference to our overall experience of life.
The moral of the story is, by all means, don’t stop going after all the nice things you want
to have in your life (more money, bigger house, nicer car, that promotion, etc) but don’t
expect those things to BE the happiness you are looking for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOMEWORK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make a list of the material things you have desired recently (including any external
'symbols of success' such as power and status), where you have believed that having
them would make you happier.
Just as an experiment, for 30 days make a commitment to stop working towards getting
them and, instead, intentionally engage in one (...or some, ...or all!!) of these daily
activities:
Gratitude – At the end of each day think deeply about what you are truly thankful for
(people, things, abilities, opportunities, or anything you think of). Make sure you connect
emotionally with your gratitude.
Social Connection – Plan to spend more quality time with your friends or find ways to
increase your social circle. Have fun.
Acts of Kindness – Do something every day to make a positive difference to the life of
someone else (it is important do this out of love and not because you expect something
in return ;o). A powerful way for you to really benefit from this is to perform acts of
kindness anonymously.
Health and Wellbeing – Make your own wellness a priority and do what you know to do
take better care of yourself. Doesn’t have to be a strict fitness regime; could be getting
more sleep, drinking more water, take the stairs rather than the lift, eating your 5-a-day,
etc. The important thing is to focus on the respect you have for your body and soul.
Nurture Important Relationships – Treat the most important people in your life as if they
are the most important people in your life. Identify areas of your relationships that you
have been neglecting and bring your focus back to strengthening those bonds.
Meditate – Regularly make time to be quiet and still. Find some relaxing music or get a
guided meditation tape to help you, but either way re-master the skill of just being
present in this very moment.
Forgiveness – Identify any people, situations or events towards which you have been
holding onto resentment. Do whatever you need to do let go, accept and forgive. As Mark
Twain once said “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heal that has
crushed it”
At the end of the 30 days, go back over your original list of ‘wants’ and give an honest
assessment as to whether you still want them and, if so, notice if your attitude has
changed around what you expect them to get for you.
by Paul Dalton of Life Happens
"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
- Benjamin Disraeli
I believe we are living in very exciting times when it comes to our understanding of what
makes us truly happy in the long term. Up until relatively recently (well, about 10 years
ago actually) the general perception of the personal development and self-growth
movement was pretty much split down the middle. One half of the camp embraced the
theory that “we are what we think” and that we can be powerful beyond measure if we so
choose, while the other half would roll their eyes and barely be able to hide their distaste
of that “fluffy clap trap!”.
I remember my own internal conflict around that time. While I was hooked on the idea
that working on myself and my spiritual path would help me carve out an amazing future
- and it has ;o) – at the same time there was another part of me that was just an out and
out science guy. I was eager to do as I was told by many of the great philosophers and
self-help gurus of the day, but I also wanted to know that there was a solid basis for why
I should invest my trust in the principles I was learning.
Notions such as practicing daily gratitude and forgiveness intrigued me. Sure, it felt
really good when I did them, but I was kind of left wondering whether I was actually
becoming a happier person or if I was just experiencing momentary “nice” feelings.
Perhaps that is why I am such a devout advocate of the field of Positive Psychology; the
now officially recognised science of how truly happy people get to be truly happy. Thanks
to the work of its founder, Dr. Martin Seligman (and many others since), not only can we
continue to put faith into the long trusted principles of personal development and
spiritual self-care, but now there is an abundance of empirical evidence to support the
fact those principles really do bolster our long term happiness.
Here is one of the most interesting things I’ve learned about the nature of happiness
(look for Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky’s brilliant book “The How of Happiness”). Having
investigated extensively under strict scientific conditions, psychologists are able to
confidently determine that the happiness we experience in our lives is made up of:
50% Genetic “Set Point”
Through clever testing (far too clever to go into here!!) it has been realised that half of all
the happiness we feel is due to a natural default level that is different for each of us. This
means that unless something absolutely horrific happens to us we will always return to
at least our in-build baseline level of happiness after our lives are shaken up in some
way (for good or for bad). It would appear this is why some people are better able to pick
themselves up after a fall than others. It may also explain why some people seem not to
get as excited about exciting events as we think they should!
10% Circumstances
Staggeringly, only 1/10th of our experience of happiness is due to the conditions of our
life circumstances. I can almost feel the resistance from some of you as you read this!! (I
know it jarred with me at first). It seems completely counterintuitive but, if you are used to
living by moderate means, coming into a lot of money will only bring a temporary boost
to your happiness at best. If you have always enjoyed good health, a dose of long term
illness will not necessarily make you miserable. Leaving a dead end job for a seemingly
better one is, more often than not, not all it’s cracked up to be. This is because is it in our
nature to adapt to the circumstances of our environment extremely quickly. It is called
“hedonic adaption”. Remember a time when you were really excited about buying
something new; maybe a car, an item of clothing, or even your house. Now remember
how quickly that object felt like any other natural detail of your life.
40% Intentional Activity
Intentional activities are the things that we make a conscious decision to engage
ourselves in. Depending on what those activities are we will either experience elevated
levels of authentic happiness or simply hang out around our default set point. What the
research has uncovered is that the world’s happiest people are those who capitalise on
this 40% by routinely doing things that nurture their spirit and help them view their life in
a positive way. By making it a habit of immersing themselves in the kind of activities that
act a reminder of what is really important to them (see the suggestions in the homework
section below), they literally train their neurology to “just be happy”.
We may not be able to control our genetic set point, and changing our life circumstances
is only likely to shift our happiness up or down by 10%, but we do have it in our power to
choose the quality what we put our efforts and attention onto. The great news is that it is
this 40% that can make the most wonderful difference to our overall experience of life.
The moral of the story is, by all means, don’t stop going after all the nice things you want
to have in your life (more money, bigger house, nicer car, that promotion, etc) but don’t
expect those things to BE the happiness you are looking for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOMEWORK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make a list of the material things you have desired recently (including any external
'symbols of success' such as power and status), where you have believed that having
them would make you happier.
Just as an experiment, for 30 days make a commitment to stop working towards getting
them and, instead, intentionally engage in one (...or some, ...or all!!) of these daily
activities:
Gratitude – At the end of each day think deeply about what you are truly thankful for
(people, things, abilities, opportunities, or anything you think of). Make sure you connect
emotionally with your gratitude.
Social Connection – Plan to spend more quality time with your friends or find ways to
increase your social circle. Have fun.
Acts of Kindness – Do something every day to make a positive difference to the life of
someone else (it is important do this out of love and not because you expect something
in return ;o). A powerful way for you to really benefit from this is to perform acts of
kindness anonymously.
Health and Wellbeing – Make your own wellness a priority and do what you know to do
take better care of yourself. Doesn’t have to be a strict fitness regime; could be getting
more sleep, drinking more water, take the stairs rather than the lift, eating your 5-a-day,
etc. The important thing is to focus on the respect you have for your body and soul.
Nurture Important Relationships – Treat the most important people in your life as if they
are the most important people in your life. Identify areas of your relationships that you
have been neglecting and bring your focus back to strengthening those bonds.
Meditate – Regularly make time to be quiet and still. Find some relaxing music or get a
guided meditation tape to help you, but either way re-master the skill of just being
present in this very moment.
Forgiveness – Identify any people, situations or events towards which you have been
holding onto resentment. Do whatever you need to do let go, accept and forgive. As Mark
Twain once said “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heal that has
crushed it”
At the end of the 30 days, go back over your original list of ‘wants’ and give an honest
assessment as to whether you still want them and, if so, notice if your attitude has
changed around what you expect them to get for you.
NEW FEATURE! Health Articles Archive: Juice It Up! Are Plastics Making You Fat? Can Cell Phones Make You Sick? The Health Benefits of Juicing Is Vinegar the Best Germ Killer? Vitamin D and Cancer |