Colbert - The Happiness Habit

About Mind Whispers: Developing the Happiness Habit Audio File

The print version of this book includes a CD entitled Mind Whispers: Developing the Happiness Habit. We invite our ebook readers to download this audio file by going to http://www.gillmacmillanbooks.ie/the-happiness-habit.

F or centuries people have sought excellence for themselves, striving to do the best they could, searching for ways to be the best they could be. Many messages have been delivered through the philosophers, teachers and so-called prophets of their times. And while many of these made sense, they havent really been able to affect peoples behaviours and emotions in ways that would be long lasting. In the 1800s and 1900s interest in the psyche of people grew and more theories developed. In the 1970s a myriad of groups emerged offering theories, ideas and seminars that promised the elusive journey to excellence. Almost forty years later the one that continues to withstand the test of time successfully is NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

NLP focuses more on asking how rather than why and on applications rather than theories. Based on models, language and behaviour, NLP has proven to be unparalleled in its application when used as it was intended to be used so many years ago. It has also spawned many techniques by people all over the world and, as any other well-founded technology, has been compromised by some that have wandered off the proven path of simplicity.

NLP is often challenged by academics and others who view its lack of scientific testing as some kind of failure. But the proof of NLP and its efficacy is in the success of those who have been able to change their lives, learn to achieve their goals and communicate more effectively with their loved ones, not in the labs of intellectuals. It is important to remember when reading this book that NLP was never an intellectual exercise, it is an interactive one. It requires doing, not just knowing. This book has exercises for you to do.

The essence of this work is to be happy, making it a habit. More and more evidence is being published about the effects of people being happy and affecting their lives in a positive way mentally, physically and spiritually. Brian is offering you many ways to achieve this. What you have here is a very easy to read, easy to follow and easy to use book that Brian has used his experience and expertise to put together. Enjoy it and feel good!

John La Valle

Co-author of Persuasion Engineering with Dr Richard Bandler, and President of The Society of NLP

Y ou hold in your hands right now an exciting opportunity that will dramatically transform you in ways you may have never dreamed.

Since my childhood I have had a burning passion for understanding human behaviour and have always focused on what makes people tick. I have spent almost all my life exploring, dismantling and investigating practical tools for personal development, change and transformation. I have read books, attended courses, studied gurus and modelled excellence. I have worked in business for years and even experienced the darker side of human behaviour.

As a therapist, mind coach and NLP master trainer, I have had the privilege of training thousands of people over the last fifteen years. I have witnessed first hand the powerful effect of these techniques on myself and on my clients and the many delighted seminar delegates that I have trained throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe, Brazil and America. What you are about to learn is powerful beyond measure. I have distilled what I have learned from the disciplines of NLP, Healing, Shamanism, Mysticism, Hypnosis and Magick and combined them in this book.

Whether you have had a tough past or are currently going through some challenges in your life, whether you are looking for a second chance or are simply curious and want to get ahead in life, this book will have something of benefit to you. Something that will hopefully offer you a further insight into the wonderful complexity that is the human condition.

This book is teaming with tools and techniques, which once used will serve to release the powerful creative force that is in you and this in turn will make you so much happier that you did. Time and time again I have had the good fortune to meet people who tell me of the great transformations that have taken place in their lives as a result of using these simple but powerful and effective tools of change. Much and all as I would like to take credit for them I have learned the majority of them from some of the worlds greats such as Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Robert Anton Wilson, Win Wenger, Aleister Crowley, Timothy Leary and many more.

If I am to take credit for anything it will be for my capacity to bring a variety of disciplines together and make them work as one unit. My focus is your happiness. This book will provide you with the tools to achieve happiness.

One set of tools that I have used, which dominates the pages, is NLP. NLP is a transformational, feel-good, mind and mood management technology that helps you to build confidence, stay positive, face adversity, overcome challenge and persuade more easily. NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Neuro refers to your brain and how to run it better. Linguistic refers to language and this includes body language. Programming refers to your ability to learn how to program your brain and other peoples brains for positive results.

NLP originated in the early 1970s when Richard Bandler, a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was transcribing taped therapy sessions of the Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls. Richard recognised particular language patterns and behaviour structures that determined Perls success. He showed his findings to one of his lecturers, John Grinder, a linguist, and together they decided to model other successful therapists, such as Milton Erickson and Virginia Satir. As a result NLP the science of success was born. NLP has become a global phenomenon. From its early roots as a therapeutic tool it has spread its wings across the world of business, politics, sports and comedy. Notable users of NLP include Bill Clinton, Andre Agassi, Tony Blair and Jimmy Carr. Nowadays NLP is an essential tool for anyone in the helping professions, from life coaches to GPs and even your dentist.

Much of my focus is centred around the latest research findings on happiness. Dr Michael Fordyce published the results in 1977 of the worlds first comprehensive experiment designed to increase personal happiness. He later refined this in 1983. In 1980 New Zealand scientists S. Lichter, K. Haye and R. Kammann also conducted happiness-increase experiments. Their combined research has become known as the science of happiness-increase. Their findings demonstrated that individuals could be taught to increase their happiness dramatically (by an average of 25 per cent) through training. I know the tools in this book will do far more than that.

Here are the findings of some of this research:

Happy people consider that life has a purpose.

Happy people spend up to 50 per cent less time than their unhappy counterparts thinking about unpleasant experiences.

Happy people actively sort for the positive when bad things happen.

Happy people keep records, journals and/or diaries and write down their goals.

Happy people choose long-term, inter-related goals involving career, education, family and geography, which amount to about 80 per cent of life satisfaction.

Happy people compete to better their best and avoid negative comparisons with others.