Finding Your "Happy Place"

"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else."

~Chinese Proverb

What a happy time of year, huh? What are the summer things that make you happy? Family, friends, beach, pool, baseball games, barbeques, vacations, fishing, napping? Which of these things triggers something inside you that makes you feel just right?

It's like hearing that old summer song on the radio that takes you back to a specific, happy time when you were young. Why can't we capture and recreate that happy feeling again and again and on demand?

Well, we can. Every time we help a customer, a colleague, a friend or a stranger in a personal, creative and often surprising way, those same positive emotions are given back to us. And the good news is that we have control over how often we get that feeling. So this week, treat yourself to some old-time happiness by helping somebody in a way they won't soon forget. And by making it a habit, you will find that it will feel like summertime the whole year long.

Brian Sullivan is the author of Precise Selling. You may reach him through his Web site at www.preciseselling.com.