10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews

Welcome to Personal Development for the Book Smart! Since this is your first visit, why don't you check out my most popular Personal Development Articles here?
Also, do feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or Email Updates. Thanks for visiting!

“What is more important than being happy?” Andrew Matthews asked the audience in a seminar I attended 6 weeks back. He then started to draw funny little cartoons and continued “I learnt to draw in school during mathematics!”

Everyone bursted into laughter.

In case you don’t know who Andrew Matthews is, let me give you a little introduction. He is an international speaker on “attitude“, “being happy“, “success” and “prosperity” and the best-selling author of motivation and personal development classics like “Being Happy!” and “Follow your heart“.

Andrew is an extraordinary man and I would like to share with you what I learnt about happiness from him. Are you ready to know the 10 secrets to happiness? Listen up!

1) Be happy where you are now

Right now! Be thankful for what you have, instead of moaning about what you lack. Be satisfied with what you have when you are in pursuit of what you want.

2) Happiness, more than anything, is a choice we make every day

Happiness is a conscious decision. You choose to be happy today or you choose to be miserable. Your action/reaction is determined by how you choose to perceive a situation. Andrew gave an amusing illustration of a couple surrounded by a pack of crocodiles. The man thought “OMG Crocodiles!” while his wife thought “OMG Handbags!”

3) Happiness is understanding the things we can’t change yet and working on those we can

Some things are hard to change overnight. It’s unusual to change from a pauper into a millionaire in a day. Happiness is knowing that some things take more time. We can start by working on what we can change immediately.

4) Put a smile on your face. It changes how you think.

I was teaching a friend to ice-skate last Friday evening and there was this beautiful girl I met while getting a drink. She smiled as we both walked towards the vending machine. I smiled back and allowed her to buy her drink first.

While on the ice-skating rink, we passed each other a couple of times. I was trying to keep my friend on his feet while she was falling happily on the ice with hers. Our eyes met again. She smiled and I smiled back.

Then as she was making her way out of the rink, I smiled and waved goodbye. She smiled back. I could hear her friends asking “Is that your friend?” I didn’t catch her reply but I remembered her turning towards me with another smile. I returned the smile with a wave to her bewildered friends.

We didn’t exchange a single word. We didn’t need to. The smiles were enough to brighten up both our days.

5) Whatever you get, accept it and deal with it

All too often, when something bad happens, we are too quick to point fingers and start placing blame on everyone else. Happiness is about accepting responsibility and dealing with what comes your way. Blaming the whole world is not going to solve anything.

6) Problems = Catalyst to take Action

Andrew advises to see problems as a catalyst for us to take action. Problems are good teachers, so learn to love them. Next time, when you face a problem at work/in business, remember to run up to your boss/partner and say, “We have a huge opportunity!”

7) Learn from the elephants!

How do you eat an elephant?
Answer: One bite at a time.

What did the elephant say to the naked man?
Answer: How do you breathe through that thing?

8) Put everything you have into whatever you are doing now

Do your best (100%) and life will support you!

9) It’s not what you get. It’s what you become that matters

Know what to expect - Expect a better you.

10) No one else is going to make you happier. Work on yourself.

A lot of people get things mixed up. A wife thinks about all the bad things her husband does while a widow remembers all the good stuff. That is the ultimate recipe for misery! Isn’t it better to switch the lists around?

Work on your mindset. See things from a positive light.

Conclusion

Happiness is in the way you think. No one can make you happy except yourself. To conclude this article on happiness, I would like to share with you a video of an extraordinary dog (Faith, the two legged dog). I hope Faith will teach you something about happiness that goes beyond words.

Related Posts

• The Best of RichGrad.com in 2007
  Photo by Ennor Today marks the end of an interesting year - A year where I made the decision to...
• Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet Experience
  As promised, I will be sharing my recent experience of being a Vegan for 10 consecutive days. Now, t...
• The FAQ Book on Public Speaking
  *Wait no more! The FAQ Book on Public Speaking is available for RichGrad.com readers now!* Do y...
• Change your thoughts and you change your world
• Pushing the power of intention and manifestation to the limit

If you like this article, buy me a fruit juice!

Subscribe RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or Trackback from your own site.

22 Responses to '10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews'

1. renzze - July 12th, 2007 at 12:58 am

   Love that video about Faith. It really changes your perception about things.

2. Millionaire Mommy Next Door - July 19th, 2007 at 7:15 am

   SJ, my motto has always been that happiness is a choice. Choose happiness today. Right now. Don’t wait to be happy! I keep a happiness journal (I’ll be describing this in a blog post soon.)

   Just as money attracts more money, happiness attracts more happiness.

   Love the cartoons and the summary.
   ~Millionaire Mommy Next Door

3. Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet Experience | Personal Development for the Book Smart - July 25th, 2007 at 6:34 pm

   [...] meals and even started an exercise routine. Temptation kicked in on the 4th day, which was also the day I met the beautiful girl at the ice-skating rink. I met up with Jimmy for dinner and found out the food court we were at did not serve vegetarian [...]

4. Franxbudi - July 27th, 2007 at 1:44 pm

   When I attend National Congress In KL Andrew is very awsome and inspired me.. Be happy always.. It’s nice article..

5. Honman - July 29th, 2007 at 11:50 pm

   Good post. It is true that happiness lies in our hand. We can choose whether to live happily or sadly. The choice is ours. I had a feel happy advice at http://www.openyourmindtoprosperity.com/prosperity/feel-happy-advice/. Please visit and comment. Thank you.
   Regards
   Honman

6. The Personal Development Carnival - July 29, 2007 - from Creating a Better Life - July 30th, 2007 at 6:42 am

   [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book [...]

7. Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker - August 1st, 2007 at 12:04 pm

   This is a great article, very inspiring. Thanks.

8. Engineer Your Own Happiness: Carnival of Positivity No. 4 « Lemonade Stand - August 7th, 2007 at 2:03 pm

   [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart, saying, “Always look on the bright side of [...]

9. Life Insurance Lowdown » Blog Archive » Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning #13 - August 10th, 2007 at 3:38 pm

   [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart. Don’t make happiness your goal unless you [...]

10. anja merret - chatting to my generation » Blog Carnival of Observations on Life August 12, 2007 - August 12th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book [...]

11. Carnival of Positive Thinking - August 13th, 2007 at 5:35 am

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart, saying, “Always look on the bright side of [...]

12. The Abundance Highway - August 14th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

    Abundance Thinking Blog Carnival 3…

    Thank you to all the contributors to the 3rd edition of Abundance Thinking Blog Carnival.
    I am pleased to see that there are some new faces in this issue. This carnival is focused primarily on Abundance Thinking and secondly the Law of Attraction.
    Thi…

13. Personal Stories of Change Blog Carnival: Edition 3 » I will change your life . com - August 15th, 2007 at 11:48 am

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book [...]

14. Carnival of Money, Growth & Happiness #14 | Credit Card Lowdown - August 20th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart. Finally, the secrets of happiness are [...]

15. Anastasia - Beyond Manifesting - September 4th, 2007 at 12:31 am

    This is a great article. Thanks!

16. LIVE THE POWER UNLIMITED-volume 5 (Live The Power) - September 4th, 2007 at 5:38 am

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book [...]

17. Cultivate Greatness Personal Development Leadership Blog Carnival #017 Leadership Training Personal Development 2.0 Blog, Podcast, and Portal | Cultivate Greatness | Leadership Blog | - October 16th, 2007 at 4:32 am

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart, saying, “Happiness/Misery stems from your [...]

18. Geros mintys iš ger? žmoni? (Lapkri?io 23 d.) at geriau negu vakar, blogiau negu rytoj. - November 23rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    [...] apraÅ¡ytas/ iliustruotas tekstas “10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews”. Tai tikrai ne svarbiausia citata iÅ¡ straipsnio, bet ten yra toks paragrafas: “Ko dramblys [...]

19. Dodgeblogium » Blog Archive » Noel BOMS - December 24th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    [...] Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book [...]

20. The Best of RichGrad.com in 2007 | Personal Development for the Book Smart - December 31st, 2007 at 6:23 pm

    [...] 2007 5 Proven Tips To Get The Most Out Of Any Seminar 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews Patterns of Excellence, An interview with Stuart Tan Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet [...]

21. Serena - January 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am

    I have all of Andrew Matthew’s books except the fax one and I absolutely love the collection and humourous cartoons by him.

22. 101 Affirmations You Can Start Using Today! | Personal Development for the Book Smart - April 24th, 2008 at 11:47 am

    [...] 7 motivational quotes to start your day everyday Do you have dreams you are afraid to go after? 10 secrets to happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews A millionaire’s 9 question guide to goal [...]

Leave a Reply