How to become the happiest person on the planet in 4 easy steps

I said to his father: "I am a lucky man." He asked, "Are you lucky in love?" I was six years old. Love seemed to me the most disgusting thing in the world. Love - it was something from another planet. Luck then concerns the ability to guess the result of throwing dice. Or see the double rainbow after a storm.

But now I'm older. I need to constantly attract good luck, otherwise it ends with me. And lucky for me regular equates to happiness. On a scale of happiness from 0 to 10 I'm somewhere at the level of seven or eight. But it's not bad. When I lucky? When I follow the three simple goals:

1) I want to be happy.

2) I want to eliminate the misery of their lives.

3) I want every day runs as smoothly as possible. No problems.

That's all. I need a simple goal, otherwise I do not attain.

At least ten times in his life all seemed so terrible that I thought I never will achieve these three things, and that the world be better off without me. And at times it seemed that I was stuck at a crossroads and will never understand which way to go better. But every time things get better.

And now I realize that every time four things - only four things - helped me to grow on them. And now I am eager to do their daily practice to no longer sink into the abyss of despair.

1. Exercise. Need to be in shape. In 2003, I got up every day at 5 am and hour worked on the basketball court at the Hudson River. Every day - except for rainy days. Now every day I try to do yoga. But it's hard. At least that is needed - it is so intense workout to sweat. 20-30 minutes of exercise per day. Just to be healthy. Happiness is not possible if you are not healthy. In addition, these activities help the brain to cope with other daily problems. If you can even breathe when your body hard, so it will be easier to breathe and difficult situations.

And here are a few things that help me, but they do have more complex: 1) wake up every day at 4-5 in the morning; 2) go to bed at 8.30-9.00 pm (well, when it is possible to sleep 8 hours); 3) Do not eat after 5:30 pm.

2. Emotional hygiene. If someone is annoying me, I get rid of it. If someone raises my spirits, I try to actively communicate with him. There are no sacred cows! When the plane falls, first put on the oxygen mask themselves. Relatives, friends, loved ones - I always try to be with them and help them. But I do not get close to people who are pulling me down. This rule can not be forfeited. In such cases, you are pumped from energy. And I never have to explain anything. Explanation - this depletion.

Another important rule: always be honest. This is cool. People are afraid of honesty. But try to be honest one day (but do not try to cause others pain). It's amazing how honest you can be. Much more honest than I thought. And consequently, I never do what you do not want to do. For example, do not go to the wedding.

3. The mental exercise. Every day I write down the idea. I write them down so much that my head hurts from trying to come up with more. And then I try to come up with five more. Once I tried to come up with alternatives to 100 university entrance. I recorded eight or more could not think of any. The next day, I came up with 40. This strengthens the mind. Think of 30 different chapters for "autobiography". Come up with 10 businesses that can be carried out of the house (and be realistic). Send me 10 ideas in which direction to develop your blog. Come up with 20 ideas for how the president can improve the situation in the country. List all the productive things that you did yesterday (it also enhances memory).

"Ideological muscle" atrophy in a matter of days, if you have them does not work the. It's like walking. So you need to exercise daily. When they atrophy their recovery requires 3-6 months, believe me.

4. Spiritual Exercises. Most people do not like the word "spiritual". They think that we are talking about God. Or religion. But not at all. I do not even know what that means. But it seems to me that I was doing some spiritual practice, when I do something of the following:

1) I pray. It does not matter to God, the dead, the sun or her chair - it's just meant to be for something rewarding. And just a few seconds per day.

2) Meditate. Meditate more than a few minutes hard. It's boring. You can meditate for 60 seconds. Or even 15 seconds, imagining what it would be to meditate for 60 seconds. Here's a simple rule: Sit in a chair, keep your back straight, watch your breath. If you are distracted, do not worry. Just go back to the breath. Try to do so 5 minutes. Then six.

3) be grateful. I try to remember all of my life, to whom I am grateful. Then try to remember more. And then another. It is not easy.

4) to forgive. I imagine everyone who treated me badly. And then imagine how forgive them (but not as sorry).

5) were studied. If I read the "spiritual" text (whether the Bible, something to Zen or even pop psychology), I feel better. It's not as powerful as prayer and meditation (it does not teach your brain to cut the nonsense), but still helps.

My personal experience: I never manage to consistently achieve three simple goals if I do not repeat the above daily. And every time I roll off the bottom or exercise at the crossroads and I start to repeat these "procedures", something magical happens:

1) Within a month I begin to meet the match. I feel lucky. People are more likely to smile at me.

2) After three months, starting the flow of ideas, and then I am filled with the desire to begin to carry out these ideas.

3) After six months of starting to appear a good idea, I start to implement them, and the people around to help me realize all.

4) A year later, my life has completely changed. More money, more success, more healthy body and so on. And then I start to be lazy and give up their daily practice. And again falling apart. But now I try to do it all the time.

It is difficult to repeat this every day. Nobody is perfect. I do not know whether I will fulfill all four points today. But I know that when I do it, it works.

James Altucher.