Will Bowen Audio

Happy people use their thoughts to reframe difficulties into challenges. They seek out what they can learn in difficult situations and how they can grow through them.

Many times, we think that our lives are bad simply because we're experiencing a handful of bad things. Make a commitment to count the bad things in your life and THEN count the good things. You'll see you have much more to be happy about than you thought.

Habits are the result of three things: Cues, Behavior and Rewards. You can make anything habitual by combining these 3.

Think of your level of happiness being controlled by a thermostat-like controller. You are the one who sets the level. Here's a way to make your happiness level automatically happier.

Consider this formula: Good Deed   x   Anticipation   =   Happiness^2. What this means is that doing a good deed makes us happy AND anticipating something makes us happy, so combine the two: Make an absolute commitment to do something nice for someone today and, as you look forward to the opportunity you will feel happier than you can imagine.

Every morning, my mother would read the Bible to, as she said, "realign her compass." Having routines and rituals that make you feel attuned with God and with others helps you make sure you're on course.

Novelist Jacqueline Carey put it well, “It is my observations, though, that happiness limits the amount of suffering one is willing to inflict upon others.” Therefore, one of the greatest motivators to becoming happier is so that you will live more compassionately.

Who was assigned to write the Declaration of Independence? If you said, "Thomas Jefferson," you'd be wrong. Jefferson was part of a committee assigned the task but Jefferson took the lead and made it happen. Don't let the action or inaction of others dictate what you will do!

In his book "Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier," Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California Davis cites research he conducted into the powerful effects of gratitude on happiness. A group of students was asked to write down just 5 things, everyday, for which they were grateful. At the end of 10 weeks, the students reported being a whopping 25% happier.

In this episode Will describes the most important thing in the Universe.