There’s the happiness we may feel in having a career that is going well. There’s the happiness we feel in being with people we love and can be ourselves with. There’s the happiness that comes from helping others – from going out of our way to do something, unasked, for someone else that improves their life or circumstances. And there’s a different kind of happiness we feel when we get the tax refund check in the mail or find a great positive error in our favor in the old checkbook.

Underlying the different levels and types of happiness, however, could be a complex set of circumstances that seem to chase rabbits before they settle into a strongly happy feeling. Somewhere, though, there is a formula, particular to each person, that combines the factors and components of life into an existence that is positive and fulfilling.

The fact is we all look for happiness in our lives, and the “formula” for being happy has many component parts. The basic formula has a work/career component, a self-esteem and identity component, and a family/friends component. As with any formula, each component may be present in different amounts.

For example, if you’re very involved in a career in business, whether in a large corporation or a small, family-run business, you’ll probably have a different work/career component than you will if you are an artist who spends most of your time working creatively with paint, clay or whatever, with little or no influence in your life coming from a corporate environment.

The self-esteem or identity component is often intertwined with the work/career component, which can make the formula a bit confusing at this point. The trick is to be able to separate what we do from who we are, and to understand what parts of each bring us happiness. That way we can shore up the parts of the formula that seem to need it.

There is also an all-important family/friends component, which probably represents the lion’s share of the formula because human beings simply need each other to be happy. Hemmingway wrote “no man is an island” and that statement has been quoted repeatedly since he wrote it. It is, however, true that few truly happy people can live in a world in isolation … and I rather believe that no one can — it’s just simply against human nature. So, it’s up to us to be motivated to do the things in our lives that support the family/friends component, to not let it get lost under the weight of the work/career component and to understand that creatively nurturing our relationships is one of the quickest ways to make ourselves happy and make it last.

Action items/bullets:

All of these components need to be present in our lives in the right quantities for each of us, and each one’s formula is different. Scientists can create simple or complex formulas that define happiness, but it remains hypothetical to many people. It’s really up to each person to weigh the components of their lives and apply the emphasis each requires based how they balance each other.

How can you contribute to your own formula for happiness?

1. Know yourself and what defines fulfillment in your life,
2. Identify your personal and professional goals,
3. Honor what inspires you, and
4. Recognize what supports your self-esteem and what you need to do to keep your relationships satisfying.

After all, the science of happiness is only complex if we fail to study our subject and understand what makes it tick.

Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.SlowDownFAST.com and visit his blog Slow Down FAST Today! at http://www.slowdownfast.com/blog

© Copyright 2007 David B. Bohl. All rights reserved.

Predicting happiness is about building a life for yourself around what feeds the person you are, from your home and family to your work or career to those qualities that define the essence of your humanity. The better you are at knowing yourself, understanding what positively motivates and inspires you, and creating a balance for yourself between your career/work life and family/home life, the easier it will be for you to predict that you will live a happy life.

Happiness doesn’t just hang out there in the ether, waiting to be picked up like an email. Happiness is part of the fabric of our lives. It radiates from those aspects of our lives that nurture our needs and desires. Of course, this isn’t so much about the material needs and desires, though they have a lot of motivational impact on each of us. It’s more about what goes on inside our minds and hearts when we face both the good and bad events that challenge our lives.

Think of how much easier it is to get through any crisis and stay balanced when you have your family and friends to support, comfort and encourage you. Think about the relief you feel when a great career move feeds your sense of accomplishment in spite of a personal disagreement with someone you care about. And remember when you had the opportunity to look at how you are managing the changes in your life and you realize that you have faced them with flexibility and grace. These are the predictors that indicate you can, and will, move past the negatives and live an overall happy life.

Over the years, looking at how people handle the changes, challenges and opportunities life throws at them, I’ve seen three striking predictors emerge that can forecast whether someone is now and will continue to be a happy person.

First, the person who displays a sense of gratitude for their life, for every minute they get to spend doing what they do, lives with the knowledge that their life has a purpose, is productive and contributes to the universe in a meaningful way. Yes, I did say the “universe,” because purpose is more than a self-centered thing: it is grounded in our interaction with people in circumstances outside of ourselves.

Second, the person who shares their life with others and is open to every experience they possibly can have (the good, the bad and the ugly) creates an environment of contentment and fulfillment, which leads to happiness for themselves and their friends and loved-ones.

Third, someone who feeds the universe with their creative inspiration, bringing beauty into the world basks in the beauty, happiness and fulfillment that reflect back on them.

It’s easy to predict that happiness fills people who live like this, and it’s a good example of how each of us can create lives that, by their very nature and structure, allow us to predict our own happiness.

Give these suggestions a try. You, too, can create a happy and fulfilled life.

Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.slowdownfast.com and visit his blog Slow Down FAST Today! at http://www.slowdownfast.com/blog

© Copyright 2007 David B. Bohl. All rights reserved.