I am always amazed by people who are not only very successful and rich but also very happy in their approach to life. I have seen many of them with hearty laughs and pleasant smiles. It is not as if life has not tested them in the past but their positive disposition helps them in overcoming the life challenges. In fact, many a time they convert such challenges into opportunities for further growth. Can we learn something from them so that we can also heartily laugh all the way to our banks and be happily rich?
The first foremost thing I have learnt from such people is that happiness is state of mind. You can be unhappy with tons of money and happy with a small bank balance. One of the greatest learning from my Spiritual and Life mentor is, "Do things out of happiness and not for happiness." In fact, when you adopt this simple philosophy, you have peace of mind and when you work with peace of mind, your success and rich life is a matter of time.
You may ask the question, "Where do I start?" My simple reply is to start with learning to laugh at yourself. Laughing at others is not desirable but no one can object when you laugh at yourself. You may laugh at yourself for simple mistakes such as forgetting to have a cup of coffee because you were so engrossed in reading the newspaper after the bearer has brought. You may have several occasions like losing in a game of chess to a young kid or unnecessarily switching on the lights during daytime or eating twice your normal quantity of food and so on. The reasons are not important as much as your spirit of laughing at yourself. You can take pride in the fact that you are aware of your mistakes and shortcomings and willing to correct yourself.
It is interesting when you decide to laugh at yourself, you also start to enjoy things that were irritating you earlier. For example, when someone comes in a two-wheeler in the wrong side when you are driving your car or when your friend comes always late for your kid’s birthday party or a co-passenger snores like a road engine during a train journey. This is when you realise you are getting transformed. This does not mean you do not lose your cool but that happens very rarely. In fact, your happy disposition becomes an effortless and effective stress management tool for you.
One other important point, I have learnt from many successful people is that they rejoice in others’ success. This needs to be contrasted with many average people who become jealous when their kith and kind or friends succeed. Being jealous is a guaranteed way to delay your success and riches. As a corollary to appreciating others’ success, many successful people also enjoy grandeur and do not question it wherever they come across the same. It can be an elegant car or a beautiful bungalow or the latest I pad. When you learn this, you develop enormous positive energy and that can increase your chances of success manifold.
Enough of concepts and let me give a few live examples. I know two middle aged professionals with almost identical qualification and experience but with a different happiness quotient. The first person, who is always smiling and cheerful, is able to get jobs whenever he desires. The second person, who is more intelligent than the other, struggles to get jobs. The only reason I am able to attribute is that the latter is not as happy and positive like the first person. Another example I can give is that of a lively person aged 68. He retired eight years back but his employers (a highly respected industrial Group in India) are not allowing him to go and have retained him as a consultant.
Our discussion on this lovely topic will be incomplete without the story of a smart boy talking to his boss during his appraisal. The boy told his boss, "You need to give me a substantial rise in pay, since three companies are after me." The boss did not want to lose the boy to a competitor and gave him the rise he wanted. After one month, the boss casually asked the young man, "Can you name the three companies who were after you?" The boy said, "Certainly yes; the telephone company, the housing loan company and the credit card company." Please laugh heartily as you imagine how the boss would have reacted! Happy Mentor will gladly welcome the boy to join our team.
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