{"id":27172,"date":"2014-09-19T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=27172"},"modified":"2014-09-19T05:00:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T10:00:22","slug":"one-thing-need-know-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/one-thing-need-know-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Thing You Need to Know to Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

There aren\u2019t many phrases in English more recognizable than \u201cthe pursuit of happiness.\u201d But what could happen if we turned it around? That\u2019s exactly what Chris Guillebeau<\/a> does in his new book, The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

At just 36, Chris has already led an amazing life. A self-starting entrepreneur since age 19, he felt depressed after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and decided to dedicate himself to something truly significant.<\/p>\n

He began working on a medical ship off the coast of West Africa. That\u2019s where he caught the travel bug. Since then he has visited not a dozen, not two dozen, but all<\/em> 193 countries in the world. Now Chris works to share that spirit of adventure with others.<\/p>\n

I met Chris this year when I spoke at World Domination Summit<\/a>. We had spoken before by email and Twitter, but when I saw him at WDS I experienced his impact on people firsthand.<\/p>\n

Chris\u2019s secret power is bringing people together who want to pursue a vision bigger than themselves. It\u2019s totally inspiring, and Chris\u2019s new book takes all that inspiration and makes it accessible and actionable<\/em> to a wide audience.<\/p>\n

The Happiness of Pursuit<\/a><\/em> is a roadmap for people who want to experience significance and joy in life. That might describe you\u2014it definitely describes me.<\/p>\n

In the book, Chris tells compelling stories about others and self-deprecating ones about himself. (Just wait till you read the one about the rental car in Italy.) The effect is not only encouraging, it\u2019s also enabling because along the way Chris details several tactics for finding and pursuing a great quest.<\/p>\n

Happiness in life usually comes by making meaningful progress toward significant goals. And those goals don\u2019t have to be traveling to every known country, completing a four-year degree in twelve months, or running fifty marathons in under three hours each. Some of the best quests happen inside the four walls of our homes.<\/p>\n

Here are five steps I\u2019ve pulled from Chris\u2019s book that can help us find the right adventure and see it through.<\/p>\n

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  1. Listen to your discontent.<\/strong> We usually think of dissatisfaction as a negative feeling, but in The Happiness of Pursuit<\/em> Chris reframes it. \u201cProperly examined,\u201d he says, \u201cfeelings of unease can lead to a new life of purpose.\u201d\n

    Discontent is like an indicator light on the dashboard of our lives. If we\u2019re paying attention, it can tell us when something is wrong. And that might be exactly what we need to redirect. But how?<\/li>\n

  2. Add inspiration.<\/strong> As Chris says, discontent is not enough. Lots of people are unhappy. In fact, fewer than 20 percent of workers in America and Canada are satisfied with their work, according to one study<\/a>.\n

    The important thing, Chris says, is to combine our discontent with inspiration. That fresh sense of purpose can give us new direction. What starts your motor? What gets you fired up? Inspiration turns discontent into fuel for positive change.<\/p>\n

    And it\u2019s got to be something we really believe in because the journey won\u2019t always be fun, fast, or easy<\/a>.<\/li>\n

  3. Be brave.<\/strong> As we contemplate new paths, fear always rears its head. It\u2019s inevitable. And it doesn\u2019t matter.\n

    \u201cEmbracing new things often requires us to embrace our fears,\u201d Chris says, \u201chowever trivial they may seem. You deal with fear not by pretending it doesn\u2019t exist, but by refusing to give it decision-making authority.\u201d <\/p>\n

    Who\u2019s in charge? I\u2019ve experienced enough in life to know that nothing new, amazing, or meaningful happens when I stay huddled inside my comfort zone. Is stepping out risky? I\u2019d be lying if I said no, but that\u2019s where real adventure leads\u2014and it\u2019s totally worth it.<\/li>\n

  4. Count the cost.<\/strong> What will be required to achieve your goal? Chris recommends that we list our goals and make estimates on the time and money and other costs required to achieve them. He calls this \u201cdeductive reason,\u201d and we need to be smart about the costs.\n

    But there\u2019s often a direct correlation between how much satisfaction we gain to how much we invest. \u201c[I]t is precisely the arduousness of the task that makes the accomplishment an epic one.\u201d And as he says, effort can be its own reward if you love the work.<\/li>\n

  5. Divide and conquer.<\/strong> Chris didn\u2019t just launch into his world travel. He mapped it out first. He broke things down in to regions and figured out what was important for each. Nearly two hundred countries is a lot, but chunking them out gave him a place to start and a scope he could manage.\n

    For me, the best thing about breaking goals down into a list of milestones is checking things off my list. Progress is a powerful motivator. As we face roadblocks and setbacks, this can help us pull through and make it to the end.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t