Here are some interesting ideas about happiness from the website Mercola.com:

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"Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert says that you ‘synthesize’ your happiness. That you have a ‘psychological immune system’ that helps you change your views about your world, in order to feel better about the world in which you find yourself."

"Not only that, he also maintains that when we imagine what could make us happy, such as new clothes or winning the lottery our brains are invariably wrong in advising us that those things will make us happy. In fact, statistics show that paraplegics are just as happy as lottery winners one year after the event of either becoming injured, or winning the lottery!"

"We tend to think that getting things such as a job, a new car, or a trip around the world is what will make us happy. However, studies have shown that we make ourselves happy by simply imagining that we are happy. So getting what we want doesn’t actually have anything to do with being happy."

"Why is this?"

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Read the full explanation and see a very interesting clip at Mercola.com:
Read the entire story and watch a clip of Dan Gilbert at Mercola.com

You can also view this TED Talks clip of Dan Gilbert at YouTube.com:
Watch the clip at YouTube.com

Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, I learned early about the now legendary investor, Warren Buffett. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the wisdom he has shared over the years. In fact, each year I look forward with great anticipation to reading his annual report which always contains some of the best personal advice and business philosophy you will find anywhere. Warren Buffett is a remarkable human being who has made the most of his unique talents.

I just discovered a new series of videos on YouTube.com that you may enjoy. It’s a collection of interviews with Warren Buffett and CNBC’s Liz Clayman.

Enjoy!

Part One:
Watch the clip at YouTube

Part Two:
Watch the clip at YouTube

Part Three:
Watch the clip at YouTube

Part Four:
Watch the clip at YouTube

Part Five:
Watch the clip at YouTube

I had an interesting conversation with a client recently that reminded me of the movie “The Perfect Storm” starring George Clooney. Have you watched that movie?

It’s about a struggling fishing boat captain played by George Clooney. In the movie, George is desperately trying to stay in business after a string of bad luck and not being able to find great fishing spots. Unfortunately, he is so intent on finding fish at any cost, he ignores his better judgment and years of experience to steer his ship right in the middle of a massive storm.

As I was listening to my client describe his current situation, it brought to mind parallels with the movie. My client thought he was under extreme pressure to make a decision to change the nature of his business and because he didn’t think things through clearly, he had just steered his once prosperous business into the perfect storm. Rather than take the time and make the effort necessary to carefully think through his many options, my client was so intent on pushing his business forward that he took some extremely large risks — the kind of risks that he would normally steer clear of. What’s even more interesting is that he chose to ignore many critical indicators in his business that would have confirmed that this was indeed not the time for such a risky move.

In the movie, George Clooney as the fishing boat captain had all of the instruments necessary to see the weather patterns and to predict the course of the storm but he chose to ignore everything out of desperation to catch some fish. Unfortunately, this decision cost him and his crew their lives as their small boat and all of their skills on the sea were no match for the storm.

Luckily, my client is not facing such a perilous end. However, his decision will cost him a great deal of money, and it will force him to lay off some extremely talented people. But with some clear thinking and strategic planning, the business will prosper again. Storms don’t last forever and the sun will indeed shine again.

Just keep in mind that the best course to take is the one where you maneuver your ship around the storms of life. True, you can’t avoid all storms or adversity but you can avoid more than you might imagine with proper planning. Sometimes, the only thing you need to do is take a deep breathe and ask yourself if the course you are on is going where you really want to go. Are you steering yourself into any storms that you could avoid? And if you are thinking seriously about heading into a storm, have you asked yourself if it’s really worth the risk? There are an abundance of fish throughout the ocean so why not find a calm, sunny spot and then cast your line?

Have you ever stopped to consider that a person's success or failure in life is predictable? This is one of those universal truths that is on my mind a great deal. In fact, considering how predictable life is always leads me to start thinking about those things that can be used to forecast success or failure.

I believe that just a handful of habits make all of the difference in how a person's life turns out. It's not the things that we do once in a while that make the biggest difference, it's those things that we do consistently that make all of the difference. These are the things that become our foundational habits in life and determine our direction and ultimate destiny.

Here are my top five:

1. Show up on time.
2. Do what you say you will do.
3. Finish what you start.
4. Say please and thank you.
5. Be real nice.

These commonsense success habits seem almost too simple to mention but yet we all know how well these habits work. People who consistently exhibit these habits are the people we want as friends and colleagues. People that consistently exhibit these habits just have a way of ending up on top. They achieve their goals and help others in the process.

It's true that we all probably learned about these habits when we were quite young. For some of us, these habits have become the key forces that shape our lives. For others, these habits have become a constant source of frustration because they stand as tollbooths to progress. If we don't pay the toll, we can't pass through.

I think about these habits every day. I constantly work on strengthening these habits in my life, and I find that the more I remember these fundamentals and practice them, the more successful I become.

Try them for yourself and see what you think.