😄 TREE 525: The secret to happiness 2

The Sentient Marmalade of Wisdom says:

The secret to happiness is there is no secret.

I wrote on Monday that the knowledge of how to live a happy fulfilled life is not secret and is easy to acquire, no guru or expensive course required.

The problem is not getting knowledge. It is making the changes required to apply the knowledge.

This is why people often are helped by expensive courses. The most important thing a good course does is tell a story that shifts consciousness, that makes change desirable, that makes people believe they can do it.

It’s not just courses. You’ve heard about people living miserable, out-of-control lives who find/lose/change religion and their lives are transformed for the better. They start doing the things necessary for thriving. They are the same things they could have done before their (de)conversion, but now they have a story that energises and animates them.

My first thought for being happy is to change your environment so that changing your behaviour is easier.

My second is to change your story so that changing your behaviour feels desirable and possible.

Are you unhappy about something in your life? Find a story that energises you to make the change you need to make. Maybe you need a little story that gets you out of bed and exercising. Maybe you need a big story that shifts your entire worldview. Find it. Tell it. Let it do its work on your thinking.

We’ve all been here before.

Remember when Paolo Nutini sang chirpy hits about pencils and shoes? Here he is making noises like Robert Plant over a great rhythm section (Spotify).

Yesterday when I told you how you lucked out – that’s a good story.

Grow slowly
Jeff