Delivering Happiness - the movement

I went to the library last week, and got several books on my current passions.  One that I got was Delivering Happiness:  A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh.  The book is part how he became a self-made millionaire (along with the mistakes along the way), part encouragement to follow your passions, and part how to live your life to be happy.  The last is what I was most interested in, but the book was thoroughly entertaining and quite educational.

I remember hearing when I was a young adult from a wise woman that happiness was for children.  I had a child of my own, and I needed to understand that I needed to buckle down and join the adult world.  That very wise woman was right in many aspects... I was still very childish, and I knew that my dreams needed to be put away for a while so that I could earn a living and support my fledgling family.  But she was also wrong.  I didn't know it then, and am just learning it now.  It is possible to have dreams and follow them responsibly.  Happiness is not a pipe dream for children.  It's something we as adults can do every day.

The second badge above, from Ralph Waldo Emerson, hung in the bathroom my sister and I shared as a child.  It continues to hang in my bathroom today.  They are the truest words ever spoken, and something I've at least attempted to live my life by.  "For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

If you agree, and you'd like to join in making the world a happier place, click one of the badges above.  It will take you to the website.  See what you can do.  Read inspiring stories from others around the globe.  And most of all, remember that anything and everything you can do starts with you first.

"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong.  The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Castaneda.

One more quote from the book that has resonated with me is, "Life isn't about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw.

I can't say it any better today.  Off to explore more on the site.  :)

Books I Love

These are my all-time favorite books (for now).  :)

Barbara Sher's Teamworks! on the left, Barbara Sher's I Could Do Anything If I Just Knew What It Was, Barbara Winter's Making a Living Without a Job, and Barbara Sher's Wishcraft.  Any of these books (except possibly Teamworks! which is now out of print) can be purchased from Amazon.com by clicking on the book in the carousel below, if you're interested in reading them for yourself.

They are the inspiration for my Dream Teams, and we rely heavily on Teamworks!, Wishcraft, and Making a Living Without a Job with our teams.  It was these books, along with a few others, that solidified my desire to create the Dream Teams, along with my coaching practice.

If you have ever seen my LinkedIn profile, you will see that my professional/business experience has really run the gamut.  While I enjoyed certain aspects of nearly every job I've ever had, I knew that each one wasn't a particularly good fit for me.  I enjoy working with start-ups from the idea forward, and I enjoy checking on their progress, offering help here and there when they need it.  But the day-to-day functioning of a business is not for me (other than my own).  But for me, the most fun is the idea phase... which led to my creating Dream Teams.  Seeing someone light up when they realize what it is they want to do is the second best part of my "job".  The first place moment is when I see their dream come true... when the doors to the coffee shop opens, or they leave for their trip across America (or overseas).

What's your dream?