Journey to Happiness

Know your self first,

Then find your Purpose - Ikigai - A tool 

To find this reason or purpose, experts recommend starting with four questions:

• What do you love?
• What are you good at?
• What does the world need from you?
• What can you get paid for?

Finding the answers and a balance between these four areas could be a route to ikigai for Westerners looking for a quick interpretation of this philosophy. But in Japan, ikigai is a slower process and often has nothing to do with work or income.

In a 2010 survey of 2,000 Japanese men and women, just 31% of participants cited work as their ikigai. ikigai will likely lead to a better life “because you will have something to live for”, not something grand or extraordingay, but the purspose, 

How people understand ikigai can, in fact, often be mapped to two other Japanese ideas – ittaikan and jiko jitsugen. Itaikkan refers to “a sense of oneness with, or commitment to, a group or role”, while jiko jitsugen relates more to self-realization.

• Why you wake up in the morning is - What’s your reason for getting up in the morning? i.e. your Purpose. 
• What you want from life - is your vision/Goal and 
• How you would want to achieve it - or what is done to achieve your goal and the benefits you get out of it - is your mission. 

In other words:

• What - Goal
• Why - Purpose - What's your reason?
• How - Mission - What is done to achieve your goal

The BBC’s vision statement is a good example: ‘to be the most creative organisation in the world’. 

BBC, mission is ‘to enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain’.

BBC, for example, has six public purposes, which are set out by Royal Charter and Agreement. They are: ‘sustaining citizenship and civil society; promoting education and learning; stimulating creativity and cultural excellence; representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities; bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK; and delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services’.

This should be in alignment with your Values - The Value system:

Alliances are not easy – It will work only when there is alignment in value and mission. Are they in the mindset of giving or taking? These day’s it’s hard for people to come together. Even if there is a small stench of self-interest, the alliance will not work. Alliance need to meet and have some source of inspiration. 

Dr. John D Martini.  – Value Alignment. 

Vitality vs. Longevity : Secret of living a long and happy life. Vitality in life is directly proportional to the vividness of your vision, the articulation of your speech, and the clarity of your mission. That’s the source of your vitality. We automatically plateau when we don’t have a clear vision but when our vision is clear, we have vitality. Vitality is automatically also proportionate to the details you put in your mind. So if you’ve got everything delegated and you’re clear about what you do, your vitality is up. And when you do something you love to do, you don’t age as much. ……….anytime you’re doing lower priority things, you’re more in your amygdala. The amygdala is always trying to avoid pain and seek pleasure and so it tends to subjectively skew your reality. You tend to then have a fear of loss of your infatuations and a fear of gain of your resentments and you are living in phobias, and that ages you. It puts time and space in your mind and occupies your mind and distracts you. That’s what ages you and that’s what entropy is.  – Dr. John Demartini

Value Alignment: Understand top three values, you will be able to add value to other value, and help make money. If you don’t fill your day with high priority actions, it will automatically be filled with low priority distractions. 

Some times we are to busy being too busy being too busy

Asking 11 questions, identify values.Top three item that fill out your

1. Space: 
2. Time: 
3. Energy: where does it not drain?
4. Money: Where are you spending most of your money?
5. Organized: Where people need not tell you to do it
6. Disciplined & Reliable: Top three areas of your life?
7. Dominant Thoughts:
8. Visualize Most:
9. Inspires you the most:
10. Consistent Long term goals:
11. What do you want to study?

From the answers to the above questions what is your 

• 3 Highest Values?
• 3 least values?

Spend time doing things of highest value. 

Top 3 Action you must stop – (Automate, Delegate, outsource) : 

Top 3 Actions you must start – 

Commit yourself. 

Value Alignment: Understand top three values, you will be able to add value to other value, and help make money. If you don’t fill your day with high priority actions, it will automatically be filled with low priority distractions. 

What kind of lifestyle would you want to live? - Minimalistic, materialistic, middle path. In other words, i.e. Fame, Freedom? 

Once you identify these, there is something more to do. 

Goals are like GPS - you know where you are, where you want to be; but the most important thing is getting there. 

• Understand
• Manage - Mind, Space, Objects, (MSO); Time (Allocation, Energy, Money), Body - Can use SAVERS Technique - Silence/Affirmations/Visualisation/Exercise/Reading/Scribing
• Accelerate - Networking, circle, energy balls. 

Have BHAG - and sub goals. 

Results/current Reality = Action+Emotions+Thoughts+Beliefs+seeds (10% conscious , 50% to 60% subconscious and 30% to 40% is unconscious mind) If you compare mind to a computer, Conscious Mind= Keyboard Monitor, Subconscious mind =RAM and Unconscious Mind =ROM. To change your reality, first, you must know it clearly. Your thoughts influence your reality. If we want to change something, we must first know what to change. Story: A king, could see only green - he painted everything green in kingdom, and asked all to wear only green, when he could have used a green spectacle  himself. Clarity on reality is the first step to mastery. Change is tough in the beginning, back breaking in the middle, and magnificent at the end. If not tough, its not real change. 

Life is a journey from B to D and there is C in between. Choices, chances, changes, connections. 

Goal setting is a conscious process, and achieving goal is an unconscious process .

I/10th of Iceberg is above the surface and 9/10th is below the surface. What we see in front of you is what is above the iceberg.

Below the iceberg - Actions, decisions, emotions, opportunities, habits, personality, expectation set points and experience. 

• the root - Upto 7 years - experiences - Reptilian brain is developed.
• Stems - mammalian brain - emotional brain
• RAS - Reticular Activation System - Bundle of nerves sitting between reptilian brain and Mammalian brain - Inner composs. - It works as a magnet to attract opportunities to make more money and have a better life.  - Don't understand the difference though between positive and negative. 
• When we spend time, money or energy on something, your attention goes there more. When you get something for free, we do not cherish it. 
• RAS is the gatekeeper in the brain. It stops the strangers. - Our Goals are strangers, with it there is a potential threat. There is a good news and bad news. bad news is this is designed when you were 7 years old, we are in a loop of creating same experiences. Good news is  neuro plastic. i.e. it has ability to constantly change. It will go through the same cycle, unless you break the loop, and it can be broken by being a Life long Learner. 

How do you know brain is changing for good? 

Life

Long

Learner

You feel more:

• Energy
• Focus
• Inspired
• Productive

You feel worthy, you break the loop and your focus is on solution. It is now moved from Survival, 

How you create habit and how it is broken

Put together your hands, folded, which thumb is up - right or left? try again, its same. Intentionally put the other. Are you feeling comfortable? No. Why? Because - as child you are used to - Your Reticular Activation System is used to it. 

You might have constant intention to change your habits. Trillions of cells are more powerful than habits, that is connected to the personality. Same personality cannot create changed results. How many thoughts do you remember that we had yesterday? If your thoughts create your reality and you do not remember them , how are we going to change it? 

Transformation is not easy. Only person who like change is the baby in the wet diaper. Everytime you fight you are releasing your A&C. Based on habits, you miss your opportunities. 

We pass out from same place, but get different results. High mark people may not be successful. Why?

Same opportunity, different results?

Answer is who you are is important, rather than what you are. 

Very Important - Example - We set goals, during the first week of January. Think: Reptilian brain - Father, Mammalian brain - Mother, and Neocortex brain is - Child. Child will  ask, are you okay to help me to mother? Mother say okay tell us what you want? Child say - Energy. Father is watching mother and child. He asks mother what is happening? Mother tells him child's pan. Father says okay - but seems reluctant. Two weeks strong. Father is seeing the struggle, he says how initial excitement is and wants to put back in safety mode. Mother is pulled between Father and son, with instances from past being repeated, and the question mark in brain put by father, start getting paranoid and start releasing stress hormones. Son start waking up with drag, think of drooping out from goal in the third week of jan. Father again goes to the mother asking I don't understand why it is needed, says this is not the focus, if you want carry on, I am not with you. Mather is fully into paranoid. A&C released. Mother takes back struggle and survival. 

Which week do you drop your goals?

Only way to get this in order is working on Reptilian brain, release past stored, and allowing it to connect with the neocortex. Bridge is connected.

Burn away your fears. 

Four prescriptions:

• Listen. 
• Reach back.
• Reexamine your motives.
• Write your worries in the sad.

Anyone can ring happiness out of life, if you are worthy of happiness. Rise above circumstances. It's our attitude towards others and life, that determine our happiness. If a person cannot find in the daily life now, they cannot find happiness when they wake up tomorrow morning. 

Every day in our life is successful or unsuccessful. Each of us in reality, shapes our world in our own likeness. 

" Whatever beings there are, may they be free from suffering. Whatever beings there are, may they be free from enmity. Whatever beings there are, may they be free from hurtfulness. Whatever beings there are, may they be free from I'll health. Whatever beings there are, may they be able to protect their own happiness".

A prayer from " The Lizard Cage"  by Karen Connelly