Jared Akers

How to Live a Happy Life (regardless of your circumstances)

by Jared Akers

Want to live a happy life? Sounds fair enough… after all, that’s what everyone is chasing after right?

Problem is, which almost all of us realize, we’re chasing after the wrong things to make us happy.

If you’re truly serious about finding happiness within, check out Happiness for The Practical Mind.

More than likely you got here by something you entered into your search box about happiness or a happy life. I know how you feel.

Prior to finding true inner-peace and happiness I would wake up each day, look around at my life and wonder, “is this as good as it gets?” It was depressing. [Read more…]

How to be great

by Jared Akers

While listening to the section “Awaken the Greatness Within” of Secrets of Being Unstoppable, Guy mentions some interesting theories on greatness, which got me wondering what it truly means to be great, and more precisely; how to be great.

…it’s not about finding someone to imitate. That has nothing to do with awakening true greatness. You spend your life trying to imitate someone that you think is great and you’ll spend your life in fear and resentment. Fear that if you are even able to achieve some modicum of what they appear to do that you will always know that it wasn’t your own. And resentful for the fact that most of us can’t do that…. what would you think of a pigeon that wants to be a humming bird? Can it do anything but resent other humming birds?
– Guy Finley

This is assuming that we see something great other then character. And in some ways I don’t necessarily agree.

“We don’t ever actually see greatness. We see the expression of greatness in certain individuals.”
– Guy Finley

The concept of not actually seeing greatness is interesting to me. Of course I can see the logic in resenting something I’ll never become due to the laws of nature. But my journey into happiness and freedom began with the idea that I could be great like someone else.

I believe I am great, and I got that way by imitating someone that had qualities I admired, at least that’s how it started. Initially, I just chose someone who I believed had a great life. Maybe you’ve heard the saying “fake it till you make it” or “act as if.” Hey, that stuff works when you don’t know any better. [Read more…]

Living Fearless: Discover the Secrets to Being Unstoppable

by Jared Akers

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If you want to live a fearless life and become unstoppable, you need to accept the idea that we’re not here to possess or win anything. The key to this life for each and every one of us is to learn. The quicker you learn to accept this fact about learning and not winning, the quicker you’ll learn how to be happy.

I want you to listen to something:
5 Simple Steps to Make Yourself Fearless – Guy Finley (.mp3 opens in new window)

That’s Guy Finley in part of his 14 hour program, Secrets to Being Unstoppable.

Fear, Stress, and Anxiety stem from living outside of truth. The truth that in each moment, we fundamentally have everything we need. Yet living in this truth takes time, practice, and the relentless commitment to gaining self-knowledge. [Read more…]

Surrender and Giving up on the Life You Dreamed Of

by Jared Akers

I love things that make me think. The ABC TV show, “Brothers & Sisters” is my wife and I’s show. That and the TV series House, which after about a year of watching recorded re-runs I think we’ve almost seen them all.

A few weeks ago on Brothers & Sisters, Nora Walker, the matriarch of the Walker family played by Sally Field, had started her own radio talk show where she gives motherly advice. She made the comment to a caller (which happened to be her daughter Kitty who recently lost her husband) that:

“You have to give up on the life you dreamed of to
find the life that’s waiting for you.”

I’ve been working hard on a book I’m writing about finding happiness (which is why my posts here at How To Be Happy have slowed to a crawl). The topic I’m currently on is surrender. I believe Nora’s comment hits a nice chord on the topic.

Surrender is about letting go, it’s a control thing. By concentrating on wants and desires (which are never satisfied), you miss out on what you need. What you need to be happy and spiritually fit comes from within and can be found in the moment you’re in right now, not the moments you’re dreaming of in the future. [Read more…]

How to Achieve Happiness

by Jared Akers

Ah, the question everyone wants to know, how to achieve happiness? Let us first look at what the word achieve means:

achieve: to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish

This is the most common mistake when people set out to find happiness in their lives, they set out under the allusion that they can accomplish it like finishing a novel or building a shed. It’s not quite that easy yet it can still be found through hard work.

Achieving happiness is done through looking within ourselves and finding what truly brings us joy in our lives.

Sit back and think about times in your life when you were truly happy. Chances are you haven’t thought of them much lately if you’re here, searching for information on achieving happiness. Learning how to achieve happiness starts with the willingness to really know yourself.

Much like trying to purchase a Christmas gift for a friend you don’t know all that well, it’s hard! The same can be applied to yourself. How well do you really know yourself and what can you achieve that will bring you happiness? [Read more…]