{"id":14292,"date":"2012-02-13T04:00:04","date_gmt":"2012-02-13T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=14292"},"modified":"2012-02-13T04:00:04","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T10:00:04","slug":"the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever noticed that people become more of who they are as they get older? Over the years adversity<\/a> chips away the exterior facade, leaving our true selves exposed.<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”DcNgEqTKvyk”]<\/p>\n

I witnessed this first-hand with my maternal grandfather. As he got older, he always seemed to be complaining. He shuffled through life with a frown on his face, grumbling about this or that. He appeared irritated at everyone and everything.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My father is just the opposite. In his seventies now he lives in chronic pain from an injury he received in the Korean War. My wife Gail recently asked him to rate his level of pain on a scale from one to ten.<\/p>\n

To our surprise, he said, \u201cAbout 9.9.\u201d She asked him if it was always this intense. He replied, \u201cPretty much.\u201d Wow. I can\u2019t imagine.<\/p>\n

But, honestly, being around him, you would hardly notice. He occasionally winces, but he never complains<\/a>. He rarely talks about himself. He always seems to be joyful and smiling. My mother is the same way. They are two of the most positive people I know.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think about this too much until I watched an interview Tony Robbins did with holocaust surviver, Alice Herz-Sommer<\/a>. At 108 years old, she lives by herself in a tiny London flat with no assistance. Remarkably, she still practices the piano three hours a day.<\/p>\n

In the interview Alice says she learned two important lessons from her mother:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Never complain.<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t change anything. It only makes you miserable.<\/li>\n
  2. Be thankful.<\/strong> Treat everything in life\u2014whether good or bad\u2014as a gift.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Looking back, she was even grateful for her experience in the Nazi prison camp. She says, \u201cI learned from the bad, but I focused on the good.\u201d<\/p>\n

    As I watched her in the interview I was struck by just how joyful she is. She seemed to be constantly smiling.<\/p>\n

    You and I have the same choice as we get older: we can complain or we can be thankful<\/a>. It\u2019s really a matter of perspective. It comes down to what kind of person you want to be. And it ultimately determines our happiness.<\/p>\n

    Question: What are you thankful for today? You can leave a comment by clicking here<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Why is it that some people get more grump as they get older and others become more joyful. Perhaps it’s a matter of how we choose to view what happens to us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1204,238,66,1205,385,1206],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Secret to Happiness as You Get Older<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/alice-herz-sommer.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"558\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"352\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Hyatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Hyatt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7\"},\"headline\":\"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":265,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"aging\",\"grace\",\"gratitude\",\"halocaust\",\"happiness\",\"tony robbins\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\",\"name\":\"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\",\"name\":\"Full Focus\",\"description\":\"Win at Work and Succeed at Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Full Focus\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg\",\"width\":805,\"height\":178,\"caption\":\"Full Focus\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fullfocusplanner\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7\",\"name\":\"Michael Hyatt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Hyatt\"},\"description\":\"Michael Hyatt is the founder and chairman of Full Focus. He has scaled multiple companies over the years, including a $250M publishing company with 700+ employees and his own leadership development company that has grown over 60% year over year for the past 4 years. Under his leadership, Full Focus has been featured in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for three years in a row and in 2020 the company was named to Inc.\u2019s Best Work Places list. He is also the author of several New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling books, including Platform, Living Forward, Your Best Year Ever, Free to Focus and his newest book The Vision Driven Leader. He enjoys The Double Win with his wife of 40+ years, five daughters, and nine grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/michaelhyatt\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/author\/michaelhyatt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older","description":"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older","og_description":"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.","og_url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/","og_site_name":"Full Focus","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/","article_published_time":"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":558,"height":352,"url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/alice-herz-sommer.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Michael Hyatt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@michaelhyatt","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Hyatt","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7"},"headline":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older","datePublished":"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/"},"wordCount":385,"commentCount":265,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization"},"keywords":["aging","grace","gratitude","halocaust","happiness","tony robbins"],"articleSection":["Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/","name":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-13T10:00:04+00:00","description":"Happiness is something everyone seeks. But what is the key to obtaining it? Holocaust surviver Alice Herz-Sommer reveals what she learned from her mother.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-secret-to-happiness-as-you-get-older\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Secret to Happiness as You Get Older"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/","name":"Full Focus","description":"Win at Work and Succeed at Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization","name":"Full Focus","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg","width":805,"height":178,"caption":"Full Focus"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fullfocusplanner\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7","name":"Michael Hyatt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael Hyatt"},"description":"Michael Hyatt is the founder and chairman of Full Focus. He has scaled multiple companies over the years, including a $250M publishing company with 700+ employees and his own leadership development company that has grown over 60% year over year for the past 4 years. Under his leadership, Full Focus has been featured in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for three years in a row and in 2020 the company was named to Inc.\u2019s Best Work Places list. He is also the author of several New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling books, including Platform, Living Forward, Your Best Year Ever, Free to Focus and his newest book The Vision Driven Leader. He enjoys The Double Win with his wife of 40+ years, five daughters, and nine grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/fullfocus.co","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/michaelhyatt"],"url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/author\/michaelhyatt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}