How do I find happiness? So many people seem happy all the time, what’s their secret?

Let me start by saying that you are not alone in your search for answers. All of us ask the same question at some point, if not multiple times, during our lives.

Anne Frank said

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.

Well, I’m here to tell you that happiness is NOT some big mystery. There have been people studying “what makes people happy” for decades. Luckily, they’ve done the research so all we have to do is apply their answers to our own lives.

In this article, you’ll learn the answer to “What is happiness?”. You’ll also get my tips on being happy, and the areas to work on in your own life to find true happiness. At the end of this article, I have an awesome exercise that will help you apply what you’ve learned by using your imagination.

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Pop quiz; what does a century old cocktail, an Asian kid in a Jazz band, and an Artist who charges ugly people extra, all have in common? Answer; they’re all things we experienced on our dream date in New Orleans.

We decided to explore such adventures after reading Tim Ferriss’s Dream Date Challenge. He posed the questions; If you had to plan your ideal dream date weekend, what would you do? Where would you go? What adventures would you embark on? He asked readers to post the full details of their ideal dream date weekend.

He gave his favorite picks a first edition copy of his book, The 4-Hour Work Week. Then he posted a follow-up post where he challenged readers to pick one of the dream dates to do this past weekend.

That was just the kick-in-the-butt I needed to plan something for my wife and me. Luckily, one of the locations named was New Orleans, which is just under an hour away.

In this article, I’ll share with you our dream date weekend results, including how our dream date ended up being FREE, and some other recommendations on creating your own New Orleans dream date.

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To kick off our first Reader Question Thursday, I decided to answer the question; What is Lifestyle Design?

In short, lifestyle design is creating a plan of action to realize your goals and dreams while eliminating unnecessary clutter and work for works sake. Put another way, it’s how to take control of your life!

The term lifestyle design was made popular by author Timothy Ferriss’s bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek.

The 4-Hour Workweek is a fabulous book about adopting lifestyle design, giving up the deferred life plan, and becoming a member of the new rich.

In his book, Tim breaks down the sections using the acronym D.E.A.L. The following excerpt from his book explains how each part is laid out.

D for Definition turns misguided common sense upside down and introduces the rules and objectives of the new game. It replaces self-defeating assumptions and explains concepts such as relative wealth and eustress.

Who are the New Rich and how do they operate? This section explains the overall lifestyle design recipe-the fundamentals-before we add the three ingredients.

E for Elimination kills the obsolete notion of time management once and for all. It shows exactly how I used the words of an often-forgotten Italian economist to turn 12-hour days into two-hour days . . . in 48 hours.

Increase your per-hour results ten times or more with counterintuitive New Rich techniques for cultivating selective ignorance, developing a low-information diet, and otherwise ignoring the unimportant. This section provides the first of the three luxury lifestyle design ingredients: time.
A for Automation puts cash flow on autopilot using geographic arbitrage, outsourcing, and rules of nondecision. From bracketing to the routines of ultrasuccessful New Rich, it’s all here. This section provides the second ingredient of luxury lifestyle design: income.

L for Liberation is the mobile manifesto for the globally inclined. The concept of mini-retirements is introduced, as are the means for flawless remote control and escaping the boss. Liberation is not about cheap travel; it is about forever breaking the bonds that confine you to a single location.

This section delivers the third and final ingredient for luxury lifestyle design: mobility.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of The 4-Hour Work Week yet, do so RIGHT NOW! This book will change the way you look at work and life FOREVER. While I have quite a few books I highly recommend, this one is a must-read for anyone who wants a happier, fuller life.
Want to see your question answered next Thursday? Send it now!

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Raise your hand if you take notes regularly. *Raises hand* Now, keep your hand up if you keep your notes well organized, functional, and easily accessible. *Puts hand down*

I think most of us agree that we scribble notes on various notepads, envelopes, and maybe even napkins, but how well organized is that?! Personally, I have notes all over the place, including different yellow pads and on separate computer documents.

It’s time to get our note taking under control to increase productivity and save our sanity!

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