Categories
Book Happiness Tips

The Great Cholesterol Myth…and the $40+ Billion Industry

great-cholesterol-myth copyI don’t know how I found it, but I recently read The Great Cholesterol Myth by Bowden and Sinatra, and it was a little bit of a mind opener for me. So if you are taking any cholesterol lowering drugs (like Statin) or know of anyone else that is, I STRONGLY recommend an investment of $20 in this book; which could save $1000’s and some pretty nasty side effects from cholesterol lowering drugs. To make it easy for you, I will sum up the key points.

Caveat: If you are on cholesterol lowering drugs, read the book first and then make an informed decision, which will probably include educating your doctor along the way.

There are 5 big things I took away from this deeply researched book (written by a cardiologist and a PhD nutritionist). And I am sure you will be surprised to hear this, but the cholesterol lowering drug industry makes over $40 Billion a year! Seems to me like 40 billion reasons to keep telling their old story.

1. Cholesterol lowering drugs may not actually work

As it says on the book cover … ‘Why lowering your cholesterol won’t prevent heart disease’. There are millions of people taking cholesterol lowering drugs, but the rate of heart disease has not decreased. Hmmmm – something smells fishy to me.

Categories
Growth Happiness Tips

5 Things You Must Do to Get to the Next Level

nextI don’t know about you, but I am not using 100% of my potential. I am not living life at the top level of Carl Massy. So I am speculating that maybe you too have a few levels to go to really get things shaking and moving in your life. The other thing about going to the next level is it is hard-wired into us. We have a very real need to grow in life. To step up to the next level. Therefore if we are not growing we are also likely to feel unfulfilled.   

So what are the best things you (and me) can do to take ourselves up to the next elusive level of happiness, health, vitality, success and fulfillment?

Let me share with you what I believe are the main things we all need to do to really tap into our inner greatness:

Categories
Happiness Tips

Discover the 8 Key Traits of Highly Successful People

guidetosuccessJust this morning I finished reading a great book on success. And since success and happiness overlap to quite an extent, it was great to find a book that narrowed down 8 specific traits that highly successful people have in common. And since a ‘trait’ is like a characteristic, it is something that can be learned or developed if you don’t have it now.

Richard St John, the author of ‘The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common’ conducted over 500 interviews over several years and tabulated all of the data, to narrow down to 8 specific things that are common in the most successful people in all walks of life. He is also successful himself, so comes from a personal point of reference as well.

So what did he find were common in all highly successful people?

The 8 Traits are:

1. PASSION. They loved what they do.

It is not surprising that passion is at the top of the list. Without the passion all the other things that need to be done would not happen. I also believe that every person’s passion (and style) of it is uniquely theirs. We may be passionate about similar stuff as others, but our passion has it’s own unique fingerprint. So finding and expressing your passion in life, I think, is key to not only success, but true happiness.

Categories
Happiness Tips Success

The 3 Biggest Keys to Success & Happiness (The Things I Wished I Knew When I was 17)

graduation1I was recently asked to do a ‘Commencement Speech’ for an international school in Bali. I thought, that sounds great. Now what the heck is a commencement speech?

It turns out I will have a chance to impart some advice to a number of school leavers and add to their wisdom for the path ahead. Cool stuff! Maybe if I had been all ears when I was 17 I may have passed first year University; not ended up paying that $40 bail after getting selected by a police officer as too drunk to safely walk the streets at midnight; and not ended up in a wheelchair for a few days after doing a back somersault off the bar. Who knows? So what do I wish I had paid more attention to when I was 17? You are about to find out some of the biggies that I will be sharing tomorrow with a younger version of myself.

There is a caveat before I get started: “It is never too late!” Quite often the best time to have done something was a long time ago (maybe decades) and the next best time is now. So if you think there is room for improvement or you are a human being, please read on. 😉

Categories
Happiness Tips

Having stuff, doing stuff and increasing happiness.

doing I have decided to write this article backwards. What the heck does that mean, you may be asking? It is like this. I want to share a very important piece of information for your future Happiness (so you understand it intellectually). Then I will explain in detail the ‘why’ (so you get it emotionally). So here goes.

Research by social psychologists tells us buying an EXPERIENCE (such as a trip, concert, or great meal) will give us more HAPPINESS than buying a MATERIAL OBJECT (such as clothing, jewellery, or electronics).

Now before you think I am telling you to give everything away and head off to the nearest cave, let me assure you, it is about balance. It is also about return on investment (ROI). It is about spending that $100 on something that has the greatest Happiness ROI. In this case, the research tells us, the picnic with friends ($100 for snacks and drinks) will bring you more happiness than the $100 shiny new bracelet. Plus if you want to take it one notch higher, taking photos of the picnic, with friends, will lead to more feelings of happiness well after the event.

Categories
Happiness Tips

Increasing the Power of your Mind by Carl Massy

stuffAs soon as I walked in I felt something messing with my Zen. I felt a little bit anxious or uptight or unable to fully relax and it took me a little while to figure it out, but when I did it reminded me how much our external environment can impact on and reflect our internal environment. Both in a positive and negative way. Now I cannot divulge where I was visiting or whose space  I was in (to protect the slightly innocent), but what I will be sharing is totally relevant for us all.

I remember reading a book last year about neuroscience – which for me is more fun than reading the latest gossip magazine – and the author was talking about the amount of brain power that is used up via distraction. Additionally they spoke about the mind’s amazingly sensitive ability to detect danger around us. In fact our brains are so sensitive to danger and threats to our safety that it is constantly monitoring the external environment for potential danger. And when that environment is a house or room or desk of disarray, it is constantly on high alert. Your minds attention is being pulled in numerous different directions – which doesn’t sound very relaxing to me.

Categories
Book Happiness Tips

Is Happiness the Ultimate Currency (in Life)?

HAPPINESSMaybe before we can answer that question we might need to look at what this ‘happiness’ thing is first.

In The Guidebook to Happiness, I suggest that happiness is quite unique for all of us. For some it is more about a sense of peace, for others it is joy, for others it is about connection, or doing something that has true and deeper meaning for yourself. I them went on to say, or for most of us, it is probably a combination of all of these things, in our own little unique cocktail blend. But the big thing that is common with all of these things is that they are a ‘FEELING’. So with anything that we consider will lead to our happiness – the new job, the new partner, the new car, new house, money in the bank, great health, the world trip, etc. – the end result we are after with all of these is a FEELING or emotion.

“I want (add your greatest desire) because I think it will make me FEEL (add your definition of what happiness might entail for you).

So for me, being a strategist, I then ask. “Is there a way to cut out the middle person?” so I can just start feeling the good stuff now. And on paper, in theory, that is exactly what is possible. I can just practice generating the feeling, because my incredible mind and body can replicate the images, thoughts and chemical cocktail that makes it possible.

Categories
Happiness Tips

3 Ways to Remove Bad Habits by Carl Massy

goodbadNo surprises about what this article is going to be focusing on.

Here is a rhetorical question for you. ‘Do you have any bad habits?’ The answer is a resounding YES for all of us. But the next question is one you may not have considered an answer to, ‘Do you actually know what your bad habit is costing you – in time, energy, connection, health, money, love, joy, success, growth, etc.?’ Now that is a valuable question to ask and worth you taking the time to consider it right now.

What is a bad habit you have, right now, that is costing you something you would prefer not to lose? Think of one right now that we can work with. It might be uncomfortable, but well worth it. Now imagine if you continued to practice this bad habit for the next 10 years. What would that cost you? Feeling any pain right now? I am sure you are. Sorry about that. I just wanted to give you a wee shove, so you would pay more attention to what I wanted to share. The important stuff: how to get rid of bad habits.

Categories
Happiness Tips

How to activate the ON Switch for Increased Energy and Health

on switchWhat we need to do first before the body can get on with the job of making us healthier and more energized

Have you ever stopped to consider what sort of miracle worker it would take to run 1000’s of things each second? Did I say 1000’s? Bugger. I left a couple of zero’s off. Like about 000,000,000!! Since there are about 50 trillion cells in the body, there are billions of things happening in the body each second (cells can only function for about 3 seconds without a replenishment of nutrients and oxygen). Plus or minus a few billion, that is. My leading point is the human mind, is SO astoundingly clever it defies our comprehension or scientific know-how.

Categories
Happiness Tips

5 Guaranteed Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels

rechargedLearn the necessary steps to ensuring your big Goals and dreams for 2013 actually get realized

I am writing this post in February 2013. We are a little into 2013 now. And it is a good time to take a quick look at how our goals are progressing for 2013. How are your ambitious plans for 2013 looking right now? If you are like me and probably about 97.6% of other people who set goals for 2013; you are already feeling a little overwhelmed and perhaps even a little confused. Assuming the goals you set, really are the things that most inspire, excite and move you; the next thing you need is the energy to do what has to be done. What follows are my 5 Big Tips for increasing your energy levels: