How to Be Happy

Scenario: "Dude, when I grow my revenues to a million dollars, I'll be happy. Yay! Yay!" Ahh-fo-shizzle.

Why a Kabillion Dollars Won't Excite You

The common theme:

1. "A million-dollar business will make me happy. Booyah!"
2. Builds million-dollar business.
3. "I think 10-million would do. Oh yeah!"
4. Builds 10-million dollar business.
5. "100-million. Kaboom!"
6. Builds 100-million dollar business.
7. (You get the picture.)

When you continually see your cup-o-good-water as half-empty, you'll see your life as half-empty no matter what you have, what you accomplish, or what goals you rip to shreds. Why? It's a habitual thing: You go 30 days doing one thing, you'll develop a habit that's viciously hard to break. (For instance, if you want to be in shape, run for 30 days. If you want to quit smoking, lay off for 30 days. If you want to be healthy, eat healthy for 30 days. You'll see your badass doing it for much longer than those 30 days.) Yet, most people go years/decades thinking $_______ will make them happy. They've developed a disastrous, almost unbreakable, habit of the "My-cup's-freakin'-half-empty-like-freakin'-always" syndrome. If they just one day woke up with a billion dollars, they'll be unhappy within a week. Ouch. Luckily, there's hope.

How to Be Happy

Live by these two rules:

• Rule ^1: You're already a badass.
• Rule ^2: If ever in doubt, refer to Rule ^1.

(And if you don't think so, email us with your story -- and we'll tell you why.) When you see your cup as half-full, you feel content with yourself, you feel happy, you feel anything else is icing on the phat cake. Research by the University of Michigan two decades ago showed money and relationships were bad predictors of happiness. The best predictor of happiness? The sense that you're happy with yourself, with what you have -- that your cup's half full, and that you finally realize: "Hey, I'm a mutha ^!%&*@ badass. Me!"

"So how do I adopt the cup-half-full mindset?"

Think in habits. If you see your cup as half-full everyday for 30 days, you'll develop a ridiculously cool habit of being being happy for as long as you want. Here's what you can do, although you might find a more appropriate habit-builder that matches your personality: Wake up everyday for 30 days, and tell your bad self: "I love my business for what it is, what it's done, and the potential it has for the future." Whatever cup-half-full activity you do, just try it for 30 days. You'll slowly but surely develop a sweet happy habit that's-oh-so-freakin-hard-to-break for the rest of your life. And, when you're ever in doubt about yourself, refer to Rule ^1:

You're already a badass.

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