Written by: Anton Broers, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Do you want to increase happiness in your daily life? There is a solution that works for everybody but that we don’t learn. We look outside to find happiness in our lives but that is not where we will find the structural key. When we learn to look inside, we can find the way to increase our daily happiness! Be inspired by the story of a little boy and simple, practical ancient wisdom and learn a proven technique that will help you to increase happiness in your daily life.
The story of the unhappy little boy
A little boy comes home from school, looking unhappy. His mum notices and asks him what it is. “It is my teacher. He makes me very unhappy,” the little boy responds. He starts to cry and explains why he hates his new teacher. Nothing is good about him. The little boy does not want to go to school anymore.
Mum listens patiently and lovingly. After the emotional outburst is over, she says, “Wow, that is tough for you. Let me help you.” “How?” the little boy says, “There is nothing you can do.” “Well,” says mum “I have a challenge for you, will you take it?” The child likes challenges and, with a faint smile, says, “Ok, I will take it. What is the challenge?” And mum says, “Next time at school, find one thing you like about your teacher.” “No,” the boy responds, “That is not possible.” But mum insists, “You said you wanted a challenge.” The little boy reluctantly accepts.
When he comes home the next day, his mum welcomes him and asks, “And?” “I still hate my teacher!” the boy shouts. “But did you find one thing you like?” mum reminds him of the challenge. And, hesitatingly, the boy says, “Yes, I found something. My teacher can draw very well.” “Great,” mum says and asks her son, “Are you up for another challenge?” He is, and she continues, “Tomorrow at school, find a second thing you like about your teacher.” The boy again resists but decides to also accept this second challenge.
“And?” his mum asks when he arrives home the next day. “I don’t like my teacher but I did find another thing,” the boy answers, “My teacher sometimes tells a good joke that makes me laugh.” “Great,” mum says, and continues with, “Up for a new challenge?” And so the boy goes to school finding a third thing he likes about his teacher. He succeeds again. The teacher tells exciting stories on history.
Mum continues to give him the same challenge for ten days in a row. And the boy addresses them. The teacher wore a nice shirt today. The teacher helps you when you need it. Every day the boy finds something new. After delivering on all the ten challenges, he comes home with a big smile on his face, and he looks very happy. His mum notices and asks him what it is. To which he responds, “I love my teacher. He is the best I have ever had!”
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change
It is wise to realise that we live in a dual world. There is positive and there is negative. Beauty and ugliness. Opportunity and problems. Good and bad. Light and darkness. When you look intently, you will find that everything and everybody has two sides. We live in a world of duality.
When we allow our happiness to be led by this dual external world, we will feel good when the world presents us with good. But we will feel bad when the world presents us with bad. Our happiness will vary dependent on the circumstance, the situation, or the person. We are not in control.
Unfortunately, the world has a negativity bias. Look consciously at the news or social media, and you will realize that the vast majority of the information presented to you is about drama, problems, concerns, disasters. When you allow all of this negativity into you, you will experience and feel the negativity. Your happiness is impacted.
The wise mum teaches her little boy an important wisdom secret that works for all of us and that serves as a powerful remedy for our happiness: we have the power to choose our focus and, by doing so, to boost our happiness! Happy people know how to benefit from this secret skill of the mind. Happy people create their happiness by consciously choosing their focus on what is good, whatever the circumstance. The late eloquent Dr. Wayne W. Dyer says it perfectly in his best-selling book The Power of Intention, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” When you change the way you look at things, you can positively impact how you feel.
We always have a choice! When you learn to choose your focus deliberately, you gain control over how you feel. When you train the focus of your mind, you acquire the power to increase happiness in your daily life.
The Positive Choice practice: a proven, simple technique to increase your daily happiness
Inspiration itself does not result in change. We need action. Only action, through practice, will make the wisdom real in our lives.
I know this from my own life. I started deliberately applying wisdom lessons some fifteen years ago and I can testify, based on my experience, that wisdom works if you decide to work it.
So here are my questions to you:
Do you want to be in charge of your own happiness?; and,
Do you want to increase happiness in your daily life?
If your answer is a twofold “YES!”, I have a simple practice for you. I call it the Positive Choice practice. It will allow you to become the owner of your own happiness.
The Positive Choice practice has two steps:
When you wake up in the morning, sit down quietly, close your eyes and affirm silently for three minutes, ‘Today, I choose positive.’; then,
As you go through your day, and whatever happens, consciously choose your focus on what is good, on what works, on what is beautiful, on what is the opportunity. In other words: throughout your day, choose your focus on the positive.
If you take the action and practice the Positive Choice technique, you will be like the little boy. You will increase happiness in your daily life. Guaranteed.
Enjoy and choose happy!
Anton Broers, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Anton Broers is a leading mindset coach and trainer based in Europe. He is a former senior business leader at a global brand who spent time in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Anton is a keen student of ancient spiritual wisdom made simple for modern-day application. As the CEO of Mind ur Life in the Netherlands, he helps children, adults, and businesses toward happiness, success, fulfilment, and freedom. Anton’s mission is to introduce the world to the power of the mind to create the life and results we desire.
