LIFE TIP: Diversify Your Happiness Egg Portfolio

NEVER base your happiness on achieving JUST ONE THING: a successful job, a committed relationship, a gorgeous hot bod. Life is full of constant changes. If you've put ALL YOUR HAPPINESS EGGS ALL IN ONE BASKET, and that basket breaks, you'll wind up with all your HAPPINESS EGGS BROKEN AND ALL OVER YOUR FACE. But if you work at being BALANCED at achieving happiness in a VARIETY areas of your life, if one life basket suddenly breaks you won't become a basket case. Your balanced happiness will help you stay in a balanced mood as you go about fixing that particular broken basket. So, diversify, diversify, diversify!

LIFE TIP: Learn how to operate your belly button...aka YOUR GUT INSTINCTS!

Intution is not some namby pampy mumbo jumbo. JUST ASK ALBERT EINSTEIN. He actually credited intuition for all his big-time discoveries, claiming "Scientic truth is first revealed by intution and only later verified by logic." (...further proof what a smart guy Albert was!) Many researchers believe intuition works better in the morning because your INTELLECT IS STILL BLURRY and you're still SOMEWHAT RELAXED. Find a quiet place. Inhale, Exhale. Shhhh your conscious mind by becoming more aware of your phsyical body: your skin, your breathing, your position of hands, feet, toosh. Then ASK YOURSELF A QUESTION..and ALLOW STRAY THOUGHTS TO WANDER. If you have an object related to the question, hold it in your hands. Researchers also believe that the sense of touch develops before both our sense of sight and our intellect, and so it's a highly developed sense that can offer major clues about what we need to know. Often writing in a JOURNAL (rather than on a computer) while in a relaxed meditative state can bring intuitive thoughts to the foreground...and LIKE A OUIGA BOARD, you'll find your hand is suddenly writing all kinds of revealing things that you didn't know that you knew, but you kinda knew... you know? The more you become aware of using your intuition the more effective it will be. So start using it today. It is your naval command center sending you all kinds of important messages about love, friendship, investments, career decisions. PERK UP!

LIFE TIP: Try the cure for negativity...Antidote Thought Therapy!

If your first thoughts of the morning are negative... do a little Antidote Thought Therapy. For example, if you wake up thinking: “I suck. What if I mess up this 4:00 meeting!?” write down “Antidote Thoughts” like “I was a star at that last meeting, I scored high on my SAT's! I'm smart! I know for a fact I have what it takes to make the client putty in my hands.” IMPORTANT: Antidote Thoughts are very different --and much more powerful-- than affirmations because they are BASED IN BELIEVABLE FACTS, AND THEREBY COUNTERACT YOUR TROUBLEMAKING SUBCONSCIOUS. Basically, most of your life's problems, conflicts, limitiations, scarcity-- all that bad stuff that pisses you off-- it's all due to your troublemaking subconscious having negative, self-sabotaging beliefs -- most of which your conscious mind might not even know about. In contrast, affirmations don't dig deep enough into your subconscious because they're mere fluffy words, not a convincing argument. SO...after you've written your morning Anitdote Thoughts, you're now ready to counteract any negative thoughts throughout the day about your upcoming 4:00 meeting. If possible, try to narrow down your list of Antidote Thoughts into a single powerful word. In the case of being nervous about that big scary 4:00 meeting, keep telling yourself: “Putty” ...or "Slamdunk." The more fun and playful the word, the more confident and relaxed you'll be.. because you won't be taking yourself so seriously. Make Antidote Thought Therapy a consistent morning habit, and your work days will not only be less stressful, but a lot more fun!

LIFE TIP: Create a "SKILLSET MUSCLE FOR THE DAY"

Each morning, come up with a "SKILLSET MUSCLE FOR THE DAY" to focus your thoughts and energies on. For example, one day you might pick "The Great Communicator," and really concentrate on how effectively you express your ideas to others. The next day, you might be "La Listener Extraordinaire," and decide to talk 30% less, listen 150% more. OTHER SKILLSET MUSCLES TO PRACTICE FLEXING: The Problemeister Master, The Giant Wind Of Change, The Positivity Orb, The Love Messenger, The Miracle Magnet. WHY DOES THIS DAILY SKILLSET MUSCLE MAGNIFICATION IMPROVE ONE'S LIFE? We walk around thinking, “Hell, I should be so much more successful, loved, happy.” But... are we really TRULY incorporating the skillsets that are needed for all this into our day? Sometimes we forget to be good listeners, stay positive, be loving. By focusing in on specific skillsets on different days, it’s like focusing in on different muscle groups at the gym. You are ensuring you get around to all of the key skillsets needed to stay emotionally balanced and in good mental shape..so you can snag that happy, successful, fulfilling life THAT YOU SO MUCH DESERVE!

LIFE TIP: Coulda, woulda, shoulda, shutta uppa!

TODAY decide to stop blaming your PAST for any problems with your life and start blaming your PRESENT. What are you doing right NOW to have the life you want NOW? From here on in, make it a daily practice to pick one small thing you can do for 30 minutes to move you closer to the life you want...and do this 30 minute thing every day: today, tomorrow, FROM NOW ON! Maybe's it's swimming. Maybe it's learning how to play the guitar. Maybe it's writing in a journal. Maybe it's making cold calls. WHATEVER. You can always find A MERE TEENY 30 MINUTES in your day to do this life-boosting activity. And it's easier to "be good" for 30 minutes than a saint for a whole day ..so you have no excuse not to do this 30 minute life-boosting activity. Interestingly, there’s a Japanese word “Kaizen” that means “small changes over time that add up to large changes over time.” Meaning, if you regularly keep assigning yourself tiny 30 minute change challenges, over time you will absolutely see huge life improvement.

HAPPINESS TIP: How to trick a genie.

Once there was this guy (Ralph) who was walking along the beach...when he saw what appeared to be a genie bottle in the sand. He bent down, and on a what-the-hell whim, rubbed the bottle. Sure enough a genie came floating out. "Geez, it's claustrophobic in there," she said. "Thanks for getting me out. In appreciation, I will grant you one wish." "Hey! Isn't it three wishes?" Ralph asked. "No, no, it's just one," said the genie. "Hmm," said Ralph. "How about if I make my one wish that I get three wishes?" "Sorry, honey," said the genie. "I'm onto that trick. It's just one wish. And while you're deciding, can I borrow your sunblock. It's so bright and hot out here." Begrudgingly Ralph handed the genie his sunblock, while he pondered what one wish he wanted most. He could ask for a red Lambourghini. That would be fun. Or a mansion in Malibu wouldn't suck. Or a sexy babe to share the house and car with. No wait, he reminded himself, he could only pick one wish. Damn this genie. And that's when it hit him. HE FOUND A GENIE LOOPHOLE! "You ready yet, honey?"the genie prodded him. "Yes, I'm ready," said Ralph, "I now know what to ask for to get every wish I could ask for. My wish is to be happy. Because happiness is REALLYwhat I'm looking for in every wish I can think up. So when you grant me happiness I'll actually be getting everythign I want in one wish." "Not bad," said the genie. "You're a smart guy!" Thanks," said Ralph, "Oh, and I love your outfit!" Then the genie tapped Ralph on his head with his sunblock, and Ralph got his wish. Voila. Happiness.

CAREER TIP: Passion = Discipline

A big secret to success: practice "psyche-ology." You must stay convinced you're psyched to work on whatever you do. PASSION = DISCIPLINE! For example, if you love Haagen Daz, it doesn’t take discipline to eat spoonful after spoonful. It’s passion for ice cream that keeps you going. Ditto for what keeps you going workwise. SOME PSYCHE-OLOGY TECHNIQUES: (1) Remind yourself WHY you were passionate about your work in your honeymoon period...then ask yourself why your honeymoon waned. Un-wane the wane! (2) Does your work improve people's lives? Remind youself how what you do MATTERS! (3) Ask yourself WHO you want to be NOT JUST WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. Get your identity re-syncrhonized as a successful, happy, confident, communicative, problem-solvin' genius of your craft, dammit! (5) Link your success to something else...like baby needs a new pair of shoes...or mommy needs a new pair of Pradas. Bribe yourself to success! (6) Play with people better than you. In every career there are "SUPERMODELERS." Go get caffienated with one. Hearing their tales of glory will reingnite your passion..and maybe they'll offer tips on how to better wag a tale or two yourself.