By Mark Kaplan / March 3, 2020
This is a premier quality of life issue. You get to decide. Do you have the necessary information? Two things seem to be true. Money doesn’t guarantee happiness. Happiness means other things are not as important.
What is important to us? Are we striving for dreams formed a long time ago? Are we living for our expectations? Can we be happy not striving for material possessions? Are we living for our passions?
Who Seems to Be Happiest?
Steven Kotler in the Rise of Superman discusses flow in connection with extreme athletes. He makes the statement that people with the most flow in their lives seem to be the happiest in the world.
Extreme athletes are pitting their capabilities against one form of Nature whether it be rock climbing, river rapids, snowboarding, or surfing to name a few. Dean Cotter, soloist rock climber (no ropes), says I climb for the feelings, not to get on top of rocks.
People who live for the feelings are arguably the happiest people in the world. These are the people who have a passion and do not stop for obstacles. Every famous person was and is probably someone that had a passion and overcame the resistance to success. It takes passion. Passion is commitment, persistence, will power, and discipline.
How Do You Get it in Your Life?
I was a person who began living with a passion and it turned to living for the money. This is a cruel turn. It turned to living for the money because I lost the passion for the work and had no new goals or summits to climb. Having a lot of responsibility and no passion for the work leads to burn out.
Then a keystone habit returned the passion. I began by eating better to get back to my high school weight while already exercising several times a week. This led to gratitude for how great I felt eating natural and exercising my body. I thought everyone should feel this good.
I went from coaching salespeople and managers to trying to coach everyone on health, fitness, spirituality, and the economic benefits. Scientific research has proven that challenge and pursuits of growth habits stimulate the happiness brain chemicals of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. All of a sudden, I was happy. The habits of learning, being creative, contributing to the bigger picture, and exercise stimulated each of the happiness hormones and neurotransmitters.
It Solves the Work Life Balance Issue
I no longer was concerned about how I wanted to spend my time. Coaching became my passion. I had to engage and find a way to make it pay. We may not all have these liberties, but we should be thinking about what drives us and do we have any drives?
If we are in passionate pursuit of ideals, values, goals, or dreams, the obstacles in our lives become just that, but never insurmountable. Passion doesn’t quit. Burn out often comes from stress and stress is often a result of work and life values being in conflict.
I love listening to several music groups who are doing what they love most in life. They have been fortunate to be successful because there are ten times more of these groups that are struggling. Yet everyone of them has engaged in their passion before there was money.
Read Habits of a Happy Brain by Loretta Graziano Breuning Ph.D
Read The Good Life Plan by Mark Kaplan See Excerpts
Read Creating Your Own Happiness- Lifestyle Self-Coaching Course by Mark Kaplan See Excerpts
Return to the Home Page (see all the posts at the bottom of landing page)
See Post Happiness, Fitness, and Mindfulness
See Post How We Enjoy Intensity without Stress
See Post Life Style and Work Life Balance
See Post Creativity Can Be Career Changing
See Post Increasing the Flow in Your Life
See Post Fitness Nutrition and Weight Management
See Excerpts for my Book “The Good Life Plan”
