THE OBJECTIVE: To produce the greatest amount of accumulated, enduring, deep happiness I can.
A plan is effective if you have
1. An overview so you can choose what works best
This, of course, requires learning, preferably in a systematic way. See the overviews
linked in below .
2. Specific doable actions that are not just concepts.
Enter the action/subject items mentioned below into the search engine (or follow the hierarchy of navigation bars to go to the area and deeper detail) to learn about that item – that is your action plan for now. Later, we’ll add another one with a different sequence and a detailed list of steps. But do what is suggested now and you’ll be formulating and implementing what works in life. It is suggested that you approach this with the intent to get the overview and then to focus on the key items that will make a difference, returning later to polish off the other items when you have the time.
The first part is to know what life is about. Read WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? HOW TO MAXIMIZE HAPPINESS. It is about “accumulated value”, which means we must focus on doing things that we value (and which are valuable to our living good lives)
Happiness is the sum total of one’s good memories/recallings plus one’s estimation of how great life is and of oneself as an effective, worthwhile human being.
THE SIMPLE FORMULA
Add contributors + reduce negatives = More happiness
Reduce/eliminate
Non/low payoff practices (make room for higher payoffs)
Negative payoff practices (stop the subtraction!!!)
Negative, incorrect beliefs that cause unhappiness -Replies to the key unhappiness
creating conversations, installed ready, internalized, believed
Increase High/medium payoff practices
THE SIMPLE FORMULA WITH KEY SUBITEMS
Reduce/eliminate
Negative, incorrect beliefs that cause happiness
Dependency on "out there"
Stress due to imbalances and artificial threats
Non/low payoff practices (make room for higher payoffs)
Stop trying to control the non/less controllable (especially others' behavior/approval)
Drop distracting (or 'numbing") activities
Negative practices (stop the subtraction!!!)
Reduce "short term payoff, long term cost" practices
Reactivity/upset increasing items (smoking, drinking, dramatizing…)
Increase High/medium payoff practices
Strong personal foundation (personal philosophy)
Practices that build for the long term, but all right for short term
The five quickest big payoffs
21 day meditation circle
The foundational personal life philosophy – Build one (or you'll constantly be wandering)
The “loss perspective” – Gain the perspective so that you don’t suffer from the
delusion of believing there are threats in the form of real losses.
(See the end of this piece for references list.)
Embrace the enduring happiness factors
Get rid of the barriers
Fear signals
Meditation to reprogram, learn focus, recognize thoughts as only passing thoughts and not
"reality"
Loss and confidence in self to do well
- Practices to do that increase confidence in self (such as journaling what you have
observed and learned and committing to implementing those; noting mistakes,
analyzing, deciding what to do better in future, daily)
Problem solving – Learning and knowing you have this skill
Understanding – Learning and knowing what causes fear and how to deal with it
The Barriers
Fear of “losing”
Anxiety - what is its foundation - the 1st question
Control
Feeling of
Of outcomes
Bad consequences – Fear of (see Fearlessness.)
Survival related (built in instincts, which can be counterproductive)
Helplessness
The basic concept of being in control
Beliefs
I am what I do
Undue and unnecessary stressors
Traps
“Desire”
The solutions - Removing the barriers
We seek peace and happiness, yet we do things that create the opposite or don’t do
anything to create what we want
Man’s eternal seeking - trying to transcend in mystical ways
"Bad-thought" control vs. changing the basis of the thought
Detachment, being the witness
Relaxation
Reconstructing the philosophical base and system
Trust
New beliefs
Reinforcers, retrainers
Tapes, CDs
Focus – Learn to focus on what you want, plus learn how to focus as a skill
Gratitude
Havingness
Inspiration
Use of contrast - die, no feet, etc.
Contributing rituals (anx.stress)
Daily schedule
Balance (anx.stress)
Stress causers and reducers (anx.stress)
Discovery and analysis
Mechanisms, systems
Worry log, committed to the “problem solving” portion of the log
Planning
Action
The Selves – Learn the Persona you slip into
WHERE TO GO NEXT
Typed summaries: (coming, but the pieces are on the site, so you just need to go there and use the suggested methods to use the site.)
Developing Emotional Physical and Mental Strength (psych\strong)
The Way to Happiness Book
