Table of Contents:

1. The One-Minute TIP
2. Welcome Notes
3. Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness
4. Quotes of the Week
5. Strictly Business:  Your Impersonal Dream
6. Resources and Tools for YOUR Success!
7. Humor:  For Those Born Before 1979

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1. The One-Minute TIP

We each find happiness in our own ways. For some, it’s the excitement of discovery. Others are happiest climbing mountains. Franklin Roosevelt enjoyed his stamp collection. Whatever makes you happy, do more of it.


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2. Welcome Notes

The most important thing this week is to say a huge THANK YOU! Last Sunday, a friend sent an email about Cody’s death and she predicted I’d get more response to that TIPS than ever before, and she was right! We got about 400 emails, several cards, a handful of phone calls and even some nice gifts! It is wonderful to be part of such a gracious community! Thank you to everyone who reached out. That meant (and means) a lot! I tried to respond to each of those emails, but if yours got missed, know that it was read and deeply appreciated. Thank you!

I laughed when a friend predicted we’d even get offers of adoptable puppies, and (fortunately) that did not happen! I prefer to believe that TIPS subscribers love their dogs and would never give them away, and in any case, it’s too soon for us. We’ll adopt another canine companion eventually, but it will take a while. I assume when we’re ready, the perfect teacher will arrive.

We leave for Wisconsin in several days, and I can hardly wait! The timing is perfect—the Conference Center is a special, healing place for me, and of course, I love the energy of the WCL Conference! We always have a perfect mix of participants who support each other, and even the weather—rain or sun, warm or cold—always seems “just right.” It’ll be good to be there.

Finally, with travel and the WCL, the timing might be a little awkward but I have two openings for new individual or small business clients. If the time is right and you’d like coaching to move quickly and dramatically forward, contact me. Send an email to Coach@philiphumbert.com  and if I’m on a plane and don’t get back immediately, please persist. If you know it’s time for you to have a coach, make it happen! Get a hold of me and we’ll talk.


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3: Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness

This week I read about a huge survey (over 100,000 participants) that said only 47% of Americans describe themselves as truly “happy.” This is the biggest survey ever on the topic, and it amazes me that more than half of us (think of that!) are not fulfilled, satisfied or “happy” with our lives. How can that be?

In the past couple of centuries, we’ve done well on two of the three freedoms proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence. We’ve more than doubled life expectancy. Progress in medicine, sanitation, and safety give us more years than ever before. And we certainly have more liberty!

We can say, think, travel, learn, buy, do or experience more variety than ever before. Even our parents never dreamed of the freedoms we take for granted every day.

And yet when asked closely about our lives, we are no happier (and perhaps not as happy) as past generations. Headlines proclaim that we are anxious, stressed, cranky or depressed. We take more pills than any people in history. We worry. We feel less safe than our ancestors who faced famine, war and pestilence. What’s going on? How can this be and what can we do about it?

Partly, I don’t think we actively seek “happiness” as much as we might. We are so busy pursuing things and taking care of business that we forget to enjoy our lives. Sometimes I’m not sure we even expect to be happy! In part, I blame our work ethic for this. We are so focused on a better tomorrow that we forget the wonders of today.

I’d like to propose that happiness be considered a kind of skill. There are keys or steps to increasing happiness, and they can be learned. Here are five suggestions:

1. Happiness Requires Safety. When Abraham Maslow introduced his “Hierarchy” in 1947 he began with security. I suspect happiness begins with locking the doors at night, with some money in the bank, with a belief that we and our loved ones are safe. Yes, we could be hit by a bus and we lost Cody suddenly last week, but to increase your level of happiness, take security seriously. Take care of your environment. Nurture a sense of personal control. Save money and invest wisely. For most of us, basic safety is attainable. Take care of yourself and your loved ones.

2. Happiness Requires Community. People are happier when they have caring, loving relationships. Spend time with family and friends. Invest in your neighbors and co-workers. Remember that we are “tribal” creatures and we need our friends. Whether it’s an extended family, your golfing buddies or girlfriends, nurture your community. As I wrote last week, I love the Beatles’ observation that we “get by with a little help from our friends.” Happiness is found in community.

3. Happiness Requires Contribution. This means doing work that gives you fulfillment and satisfaction. Happy people make a difference! Most of us do our work through our jobs, but it can also come from volunteering or in some other way. You have talent and ability! Share it. Make a positive impact in your world. Contribute. It will make you happy.

4. Happiness Requires Fun. Happy people have fun! Whether it’s playing catch, making love, watching a movie or flying a kite, we don’t laugh as much as we could. We take our fun too seriously. Too often, we define “fun” as flying to Vegas or hosting an elaborate party. Why not grill hot-dogs and be done with it? Pillow fights are fun. Watching a sunset or washing the dog can be fun. I like Jimmy Buffet’s observation that “having fun is about as good a hobby as there is.”

5. Happiness Requires the X-Factor. We each find happiness in our own ways. For some, it’s the excitement of discovery. Others are happiest climbing mountains. Franklin Roosevelt enjoyed his stamp collection. Whatever makes you happy, do more of it.


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4. Quotes of the Week

"Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the
achievement of one's values."
                                               -- Ayn Rand

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world."
                                               -- Anne Frank

"Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees."
                                               -- Karle Wilson

"Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then make our real decisions for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life.”
                                               -- Eleanor Roosevelt


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5. Strictly Business:  Your Impersonal Dream

I recently read Michael Gerber’s new book, Awakening the Entrepreneur Within, and it touched me. He makes a vital distinction between our personal dreams for success, wealth, fame or whatever, and the “impersonal dream” that lies behind every great business.

An impersonal dream is our belief that what we do will make an essential difference to the whole world. When he launched Microsoft, I’m sure Bill Gates had a personal dream that included things like money, influence, a nice house, a new car and so forth. He certainly didn’t launch Microsoft with a dream of failing!

But he also had an impersonal dream that made all the difference. He wanted “a computer on every desktop.” He dreamed of a world where ordinary people could harness the power of computers to communicate and produce. He had an impersonal dream that his little operating system could open doors he knew nothing about on every desktop and in every office around the world. Now that’s a dream!

Your business needs such a dream. Gerber argues that starting a business to make money or to employ people is nice, but it’s not enough. To keep going when things are tough requires a sense of mission, an impersonal dream that your shop, your book or factory or restaurant will ultimately touch thousands of people in a vital way.

What’s your “big idea?” If a million people copied your idea or bought your products or used your service, how would that change the world?

When managers and owners, entrepreneurs and inventors have huge “impersonal” dreams their businesses flourish because their sense of mission makes everything better.

What’s your impersonal dream to make this small planet just a little bit better? Find it and your business will taken on new meaning, and perhaps, new profits.

(To order Gerber’s excellent book and have it delivered to your door, click here.)


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6. Resources and Tools for YOUR Success!

    #1 Your World Class Life!
     With Dr Philip E. Humbert
     May 15-17th in Green Lake, Wisconsin
     http://MyWorldClassLife.com 

Is your life working the way you planned? Are your biggest dreams and most exciting ambitions still sitting on the shelf, waiting for “someday?” Are you stuck or frustrated, or letting time and chance and other people make decisions about your life, and your future? Is it time to do something about that? This is for you!

Join me for three days in May where the focus will be on designing, creating and living the life you truly want! Top achievers are not different or born under a lucky star. They simply KNOW what they want, create SYSTEMS to achieve it, and then follow a road-map to success.

This is for YOU! It is a Conference entirely focused on helping you design your ideal life, and create systems and plans and skills to make it happen. Living well is an art, but there is also a science to it. There are skills and habits that highly successful people use, and you can learn them! Don't miss this! “Seize the day” and let this be the opportunity that changes everything!
http://MyWorldClassLife.com 


     #2 Use a MasterMind Alliance to Achieve Your Goals
     Get the Support, Advice & Encouragement You Need
     We All Need a Little Help from Our Friends
     http://TheNewMasterMind.com 

Every winning athlete, and successful business person has a team of experts behind them. How would you like a team of hand-picked advisors committed to your personal success? What could you do with expert advice, wise counsel, and a network of successful people at your finger-tips?

Back in 1935, Napoleon Hill wrote that a “MasterMind” group was the one essential behind every successful person he interviewed! And yet very few people create a Mastermind team to help them achieve their most important goals in life! Now you can! Most people “don’t know how” or they fear they “wouldn’t know who to ask.” Now, I’ve written the manual! I’ve create a “recipe” so you can create your own MasterMind whenever you wish! I’ve included suggestions for where, when and how often to meet. I’ve even included simple scripts to get you started. Check it out!

If success is important to you, you MUST have a MasterMind group to help you “get there.” Click for more info. http://TheNewMasterMind.com


     #3 Got a Website?
     Earn Passive Income!
     http://philiphumbert.com/go/1A.htm 

Over the years, I've paid lots of money for shopping carts, autoresponders and systems that were supposed to help me serve my subscribers and make money from my website. None of them worked, or more accurately they worked, but they were complex, confusing and didn't work very well. Then I discovered Don Schnure and the amazing programs he's put together. They work! They are powerful, EASY to use, and they let me automate my newsletter, my affiliate programs and my shopping cart, with no hassle! I love this! And, you can use it for 30 days to check it out. Highly recommended!
http://philiphumbert.com/go/1A.htm


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7. Humor:  For Those Born Before 1979

Paul Vogt recently sent me this and I thought it was particularly appropriate this week. In terms of being happy, I think we worry too much. I love Bobby McFarran’s advice, “Don’t worry, be happy!” If you were born more than thirty years ago, I think you’ll recognize some of these. Enjoy!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on bottles, doors or cabinets were not childproof, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets!.

As children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, not even air bags!

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was considered a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose, not from a fancy plastic bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

With no cell phones, no one could to reach or monitor us all day and we survived and thrived!

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no cable TV, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We rode bikes to a friend's house and knocked on the door or just walked in and talked to them without adult supervision or scheduled play-dates!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who had the luck to grow up before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives "for our own good."

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?


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   Be kind to yourself and to someone else, and
   have a wonder-FULL week!

Philip E. Humbert, PhD,
President, The Philip E. Humbert Group, Inc.


Shameless Marketing TIP:
Dr Humbert is a Success Strategist, author and popular
speaker. Imagine what’s possible! To inquire about
having him speak to your group or organization, or
to schedule an initial consultation, contact him at:
Coach@philiphumbert.com

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