How to Be Happy & Live a More Fulfilled Life
I ask people how much of your day are you working on you? And very few people spend time working on themselves. What is the secret to happiness? Oh, gosh. If there were a secret to happiness, I would hope everybody would be doing it. But, what I think is that the more you like yourself, the happier you are.
If you want to learn how to be happy, either watch my video or read the full transcription below!
How to Be Happy NOW! | Dr. Group, DC
Length: 15 minutes
I've been studying personal and spiritual development for over 20 years. I’ve helped hundreds of thousands of people evaluate and simplify their life. It’s my goal to educate and share information with as many people as I can.
I think that happiness has a lot to do with finding something that you love to do. I interview so many people and ask them — what causes your unhappiness? Why are you unhappy?
Understanding Your Happiness
First, let's understand that happiness comes in spurts. There's no such thing as being happy all the time because we have to learn and grow. If you are just happy all the time, you would probably be in a meditative state somewhere in a cave in the Himalayas. Actually, I've even talked and interviewed monks during my time in Thailand, and there was not one person that I've ever found that can prove that somebody is happy 100 percent of the time.
So, you have to understand that happiness comes in spurts. You're in that balanced state between happiness and the other side — living in a state of stress, anger, fear, jealousy, resentment, having low self-esteem, and all the negative patterns associated with our life that people live through every day.
Identifying the Causes of Your Unhappiness
You have to look at the root cause of your unhappiness, which is the way that I look at things all the time.
I ask people a series of questions like:
- What makes you proud to be you?
- Are you proud of yourself?
- Do you feel like you've accomplished what you want to accomplish?
- Are you proud of what you did yesterday?
You'd be surprised at how many people cannot answer that question.
The other thing that I attribute to happiness is your personal development. I ask people how much of your day are you working on you? And very few people spend time working on themselves.
Below is a video that I just did not too long ago on the five resolutions that'll change your life forever, and this has a lot to do with happiness. It's about devoting time to yourself to be comfortable with yourself, to create happiness within yourself, and doing spiritual development.
New Thoughts | Change Your Life
Length: 41 minutes
Sometimes the most important things in life are the things that we don't do. For example, spending time in meditation, spending time working out and exercising, and spending time eating healthy.
It always seems like the most important things that create health and longevity and wellness are the things that we know we need to be doing, but those are the things that we're not doing for some strange reason.
So, start developing a good spiritual development plan. That means spending 20 to 30 minutes a day — whatever your religion is — studying spirituality, meditating, spending time in prayer, and being grateful for what you have.
Gratefulness is also a trait that brings happiness. Doing things for others brings happiness. Self-confidence and boosting your self-esteem bring happiness. For me, self-confidence is when you look in the mirror at yourself every single day and can answer yes to — am I happy with myself? Am I content with myself? Am I proud of myself?
You'd be surprised at how many people answer no. But then, they don't do anything about it.
If you're not happy with yourself, the next thing that you have to ask yourself is why? Is it my job? Is it the negative information I'm watching on TV that's causing me to be in a state of stress all the time? Is it my weight that's bothering me? Is it the way that I look?
Truly answering what it is that's causing your unhappiness can bring a lot of clarity?
Is it a food addiction? Is it an alcohol addiction? Is it a drug addiction? Try to identify those.
Something that I’ve found to be true is that stress plays a big role in happiness. We all go through stress. There's eustress, which is good stress. Eustress is when you're really excited about something, you can feel your heart pumping, and it's almost like a small state of anxiety. That can be a good thing. That means you're really motivated about something and you're really happy about something, that you're about to take on a task, and accomplish a task.
But then there's the other form of stress, which is distress — the bad type of stress. That can play a huge role in your happiness. So, evaluate your stress levels.
A lot of people are unhappy with their jobs, and that's usually eight hours out of your day that you're working. That's something to look for and evaluate, and all I'm doing right now is just going over some of the things that I've dealt with in my life while trying to learn about happiness.
Because honestly, like 95 to 99 percent of the people that come to us are unhappy. Health has a lot to do with that too because bad health actually creates unhappiness, and a lot of it stems from your gut.
The Science Behind Happiness
Scientists are finding that gut health has a direct connection to brain neurotransmitters and BDNF — brain-derived neurotrophic factor. That's why they're saying your brain is in your gut. Your happiness hormones — your serotonin — and the hormones that make you feel good are actually produced in your gut.
So, just because you might think that you’re unhappy all the time, it could be coming from an imbalance of hormones and a toxic amount of chemicals. These chemicals come from heavy metals, poor gut health, the toxic sodas that you're drinking, the alcohol that you're drinking, the diet drinks that you're drinking, the processed and microwaved foods that you're eating, chemicals that you're taking in through the air and water, GMO foods, and the MSG. All of these things have been associated with changes in the brain.
When is the last time you've done a cleanse? When is the last time you've done an intestinal cleanse or a liver and gallbladder cleanse?
Traditional Chinese medicine and ancient Ayurvedic all associate emotional tension and emotional disruptions with the gut and the bowel. More research is coming out on the negative changes in the bowel, the microbiome, and how it affects our mental health.
How to Become Happier
I would classify happiness as looking at your spiritual, physical, and emotional states, and the causes of what is disrupting your spiritual state, what is disrupting your mental state, and what is disrupting your physical state because there's always a root cause for everything.
I also found that a lot of the happiest people are the ones that are always helping other people. They have this internal desire to help other people. The more you help people; the more that you feel like you're contributing to society and making a difference.
The reason why we're here on this planet is to try to do good. We're here to try to do good things, we're here to try to grow as individuals, we're here to grow spiritually, we're here to grow physically, and we're trying to grow mentally.
When you die, there's only a certain amount of time that we have on this planet. When you look back, you realize you don't take your money with you, you don't take your possessions with you, the only thing you take with you is how much you've improved yourself, how much good you've done for the planet, and how much good you've done for everybody else.
You will learn intuitively about what you love to do.
I love helping people, and it brings me happiness. I love being well, and I love trying new things — these are my passions. Your passion, dream, or vision can be anything, but it takes courage and self-discipline to live by your dream and to follow your dream.
That quote basically means, if you don't follow your dreams or if you don't live by your vision, you're going to have a hard time being happy. So, you might want to think about that as well.
The Cleansing & Happiness Connection
Scientists are finding a link between fungus, parasites, harmful organisms, tapeworms, and Toxoplasma gondii and disturbances in the body that cause mental illness.
I've always said, that the majority of negative health conditions are caused by toxins, harmful organisms, or metals, and that's why cleansing and healing the gut and liver, eliminating harmful organisms, and cleansing all the chemicals and toxic metals out of the body is so important. After cleansing, your body's self-healing mechanism can become active again.
So, those are all some of the things that I think contribute to depression and sadness, which are the opposite of happiness. But if you take care of those, and address the root cause again, then you can start progressing down the road to happiness.
Start Looking Within
Another thing is your character. What is your character like? Have you ever thought about that? The Greek word for character is chisel or mark left by a chisel. A chisel is a sharp piece of steel you use for making sculptures. That was the original meaning of character because the ancient Greeks would chisel away until they had a perfect character sculpture.
But if you think about it, you should always be chipping away your character to become a better and more spiritual person. Seeking to become better should happen on a regular basis.
Try to become a role model. Try not to get caught up in the news media and watching all the negativity. Try not to be in an environment with high electromagnetic frequencies. Try to get proper sleep. Try to improve your health a little bit every day.
I'm telling you that by improving your health, you will have more days of happiness than anything else, and you’ll reduce your stress levels.
Just remember, you can identify any of these situations that are going on in your life, and literally write them all down. Then, start to identify the root cause of all these things. After all, when you identify the cause, then you can find the solution.
You have the power to change your life and happiness. I’d love to hear what have you tried to increase your happiness. Share your story below!
†Results may vary. Information and statements made are for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. If you have a severe medical condition or health concern, see your physician.
Dr. Edward Group, DC
FOUNDER | HEALER | ADVOCATEDr. Group, DC is a healer and alternative health advocate, and an industry leader and innovator in the field of natural health who is dedicated to helping others. He is a registered doctor of chiropractic (DC), a naturopathic practitioner (NP), and proud alum of Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Dr. Group, DC is the founder of Global Healing – a mission and vision he has shared through best-selling books and frequent media appearances. He aims to spread his message of positivity, hope, and wellness throughout the world.
