Wellness Posts by Dr. Timothy Sharp

Holiday happiness - An update

support@wellness.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:17:24 Z

Wellness.com - Holiday happiness - An update by Dr. Timothy Sharp

In my previous blog posting I provided a list of tips that I hope might help at least some of you enjoy more happiness during the coming festive season.

Several days after writing that post I thought there was at least one more important point to make...and that's the need for most, if not all of us, to make time to refresh and recuperate.

In Australia we're coming up to what most people consider the main, summer holiday season. A time when we traditionally spend much time on the beach, relaxing with family and friends. I too plan to do exactly this and so this will probably be my final post for a week or two.

But as important and healthy as this is I encourage you to think about making more time, more often to relax, refresh and regenerate. Too many of us go for too long before we take a break. Health experts say that if you feel thirsty then it's almost too late because you're already starting to dehydrate (and ideally you should drink water before this point). Well, I think its the same with happiness...if you feel tired and stressed then its almost too late because you're already starting to suffer (and ideally you should practice happiness and health strategies well before this point).

So enjoy the coming holiday period and accept my best wishes - I hope you have much happiness. But also give some thought to how you can plan to take more regular breaks (each day, each week and throughout the year) in the future rather than waiting until you're exhausted and run down.

As we often say at The Happiness Institute...achieving happiness requires nothing more than practicing a few simple disciplines every day. Well, discipline yourself to take frequent breaks and happiness will be yours!

Holiday happiness

support@wellness.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:19:59 Z

Wellness.com - Holiday happiness by Dr. Timothy Sharp

The holiday season is one that most of us look forward to but for many, it can also be a time of stress. Although most of us simply want to relax there can be many things to do and many people to see (some of whom we might not even want to spend time with)!

With this in mind I'm happy to provide the following holiday tips which I hope will help you experience more happiness this festive season.

- Keep things simple: don't try to do too much
- Remember your priorities: focus on what's important
- Try to stay healthy: enjoy yourself but don't neglect to look after yourself
- If you're feeling stressed, keep things in perspective
- Appreciate what you have: and don't focus on what you don't have
- Be nice: to everyone!
- Focus on the best in others: and tolerate the worst
- Use your strengths, those things you're best at, to get through busy times
- Have fun!

If you have other tips that might help people experience more happiness this holiday season then please feel free to post your thoughts!

Happiness and discipline

support@wellness.com — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:30:40 Z

Wellness.com - Happiness and discipline by Dr. Timothy Sharp

This morning I came across the following interesting quote you might at first not think has anything to do with happiness...

"There can be economy only where there is efficiency."
Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Statesman and Literary Figure

So what's the link to happiness? Well here's my modified version of Disraeli's quote...

There can be happiness only where there is discipline!

At The Happiness Institute we've a saying - that achieving happiness requires nothing more than practicing a few simple disciplines every day.

Many of you probably know what you could do to experience more happiness...those of you who're succeeding are ACTUALLY DOING IT!

Happiness and curiosity

support@wellness.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:06:04 Z

Wellness.com - Happiness and curiosity by Dr. Timothy Sharp

Contemporary research into happiness and wellbeing has explored numerous variables, searching always for those factors that lead to greater happiness and the experience of more positive emotions.

One of the more interesting variables, or traits that seems to lead to higher levels of happiness is "curiosity"...how interesting!

Technically, positive psychology researchers divide curiosity into two components: (1) exploration or the tendency to seek out new and challenging situations and (2) absorption or the tendency to become fully engaged in these interesting situations.

A recent study, just published by Gallagher and Lopez in the Journal of Positive Psychology, found that in particular, exploration is associated with higher levels of happiness. This is entirely consistent with our experiences at The Happiness Institute in which we've found that happy people tend to try more new things and explore novel options more frequently.

So if you want to boost your happiness today...go and try something different; introduce yourself to someone new; take up a new hobby or sign up for a new course.

Consider calling on your curious side...and you might be interested to find you're experiencing more happiness!

What do you know about happiness?

support@wellness.com — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:14:29 Z

Wellness.com - What do you know about happiness? by Dr. Timothy Sharp

I recently found this interesting quote ...

It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning. Claude Bernard, 1813-1878, French Physiologist

...and in response, I offer my happiness interpretation:

It is what we think we know about happiness that often prevents us from being happy. Dr. Happy

What do you think you know about happiness?

What do you think brings happiness versus what really does generate fulfilment and satisfaction?

There's a body of research that suggests we're not actually very good at finding happiness because we're not very good at predicting what will bring about real happiness.

Accordingly, answer the questions I've posed above and you may well find yourself more able to experience much more happiness in your life!

Happiness and exploring what's possible

support@wellness.com — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:19:42 Z

Wellness.com - Happiness and exploring what's possible by Dr. Timothy Sharp

The following posting was sent out to my makingchanges.com.au weekly tip list but is, I think, just as relevant to readers of this blog as there's no doubt that happiness is at least partly due to exploring what's possible and striving to reach our potential. I hope you enjoy it...

Happy monday morning and welcome back, again, to making changes' weekly tips. I'd like, today. to share with you a story...

A client I worked with once grew up in the country and he told about how his father tended to and raised a beautiful vegetable garden and that they would sell the produce at a small roadside stand that they'd built themselves. He also told about how his parents always bought their chickens from a neighbour named Willy Scott.

One day, when the family were all out working at the vegetable stand, Willy delivered some chickens to the house in a crate and left them on the front patio. When they returned home later that day they discovered the chickens had escaped and were running all over the yard. Everyone in the family began chasing the chickens and putting them back in the crate.

Now my client's father was upset and decided to call Willy to express his unhappiness with the situation. He told him how he didn't think it was such a good idea to leave the chickens in a crate unattended and how the family had had to chase chickens all around the neighbourhood; finally, he noted that they'd only been able to round up eleven. And then Willy provided a bit of a shock.

"Eleven chickens isn't too bad," he exclaimed, "I only delivered six!"

How much could each of us accomplish if we had no idea what the limits were? The potential each of us possesses is often restricted by self-imposed limits. Next time you might find eleven chickens when you thought there were only six!

10 years ago Google was born...now it's one of the largest and most influential companies in the world. Less than 5 years ago MySpace and Facebook changed the way we interact and manage our relationships.

Today, things that barely existed or were hardly conceivable, are the centre of our universe.

What's possible in your life?

Happiness Now!

support@wellness.com — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:08:31 Z

Wellness.com - Happiness Now! by Dr. Timothy Sharp

There's much I can write about my favourite topic, happiness, and there's much I have written in my personal Dr. Happy Blog and in my books.

But at the end of the day, the most important thing I can tell you is to be happy now!

To many of us succomb to what I've come to call the tyranny of when! That is, saying "I'll be happy when...(insert something like...when I have more money, a better job, a faster car etc)."

The reality, however, is that we can only ever be happy in the present moment. So practice living in and enjoying the here and now, with all it's imperfections and in all its glory.

If you look in the right places, the world really is an amazing place!

Happiness By Elimination

support@wellness.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:00:00 Z

Wellness.com - Happiness By Elimination by Dr. Timothy Sharp

Lately I've been thinking and talking to others a lot about my new concept - happiness by elimination.

You see I frequently receive positive feedback about the ideas I promote via The Happiness Institute but if there's one "negative" comment I/we get its that people think they don't have time to implement the principles of positive psychology we recommend.

Its not that people don't think they'll work but that they think they don't have time to make them work.

So, I've developed this new concept by which you don't need MORE time for happiness but, in fact, LESS time because this approach to happiness focuses more on eliminating, rather than adding, things to your life.

So try this:

- Identify at least one thing in your life about which you're not happy; at least one thing that causes irritation or frustration or distress
- find a way to get it out of your life!
- stop it; outsource it; delegate it to someone else; replace it with something else; change the way you do it...etc.

Give this idea, happiness by elimination, a try and let me know how you fare!

Learning to fall

support@wellness.com — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 07:00:00 Z

Wellness.com - Learning to fall by Dr. Timothy Sharp

My daughter went to a party on the weekend that primarily involved ice skating. Now a few of the girls were, apparently, quite competent but most, including my daughter, had tried skating a few times and knew what they were doing but were by no means expert!

Anyway, when talking to my daughter afterwards she explained that one of the first things they did was have a quick lesson in which among other things, they were taught how to fall properly!

I couldn't help but think what a great idea this was and further, how this could be applied more generally in life and for happiness.

We all fall (i.e. have difficult times) but those who go on to experience more happiness and more success know how to (and are much better at) getting up again.

Some of you might be familiar with the old Chinese proverb that states...fall down seven times, get up eight!

One of the greatest myths about happy people is that they're happy all the time. There's no such thing as 100% happiness but there is a form of happiness in which the individual falls every now and then ... but picks himself up.

Maybe if we all want more happiness in our lives we could begin by learning how to fall...and then get up again!

Who do you follow...in happiness?

support@wellness.com — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 Z

Wellness.com - Who do you follow...in happiness? by Dr. Timothy Sharp

Two separate incidents lead to the thoughts behind this happiness blog posting.

One, involved a woman who lives nearby my house who gets around with the help of a guide-dog. The other, was yet another thought provoking tip from Lou Tice at the Pacific Institute.

Anyway, all that's really relevant here in this happiness context is the following question...to whom do you look for guidance when it comes to living a good life full of happiness?

We don't always realise it but we all have "guides" (sometimes informal ones) to whom we turn when we're unsure about what to do or where to turn. In many instances these guides are immensely helpful and reassuring; on occasions, however, these guides may mislead us.

These guides might be real, living people - such as our parents, best friends, mentors or idols and heroes.

These guides might be deep, underlying beliefs of which we're not even fully aware.

In both cases, these guides form the basis of how we approach life, happiness, success, relationships and more...

So the tips embedded in this posting is to ask yourself...what do you believe about happiness? Who do you follow when you want to find satisfaction and love? Do you even know who you're following and whether or not they're leading you the right way...towards a more positive life?