It’s easy to postpone happiness until we achieve our most recent list of goals and dreams. We often tell ourselves that we’ll be happy once we have this, or once we get that done.

The problem of course, is that such thinking is both circular and self-defeating. It’s great to have goals; they keep life fun and challenging.

But those of us in the developed world need to get a grip and slow down for just a second!

The truth is happiness is a choice and nothing more. You can decide right now to be happy for the rest of the day.

It sounds simplistic because it is. Force yourself to smile right now and hold the position for two minutes.

I guarantee you’ll feel legitimately happier thereafter. We make this whole game of life way too complex; any time we choose we can become truly happy.

And of course practicing this power will get you closer to all the fun stuff you want to have and experience in life! My challenge to you right now:

Regardless of your circumstances today, decide to be happy and thankful for all the goodness in your life. Look… 

I once lived in my car for an entire summer because I was so broke. When business slows down for me these days I look back to that summer and have myself a good laugh!

Life is good, and we are so blessed just to be a part of it. Get good at being happy in the now, and you’ll open up a whole new world of power and possibility.

It’s amazing how negatively conditioned most of us are by default. Few people stop to consider the seemingly trivial thing they are taught to say and think by their parents, friends, and the media, but a quick review can show you just how damaging such conditioning is!

Here are a few examples of how debilitating thoughts and ideals can be put into our thought processes by the people around us.

Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees You Know – Did your parents ever say anything along these lines to you when you were young? Mine certainly did.

Maybe the exact phrase used was a bit different. For instance another common saying of this nature would be “Hey I’m not made of money you know”.

While the intention behind this statement is innocent enough, the truth is it plants a seed of lack and scarcity that will grow into quite a mess of weeds later on! Be honest: do you often find yourself thinking in terms of how much money you don’t have, and do you regularly worry about your spending because, after all, there is only so much money to go around?

He’s Filthy Rich – Statements like this are extremely common. I first heard this as a child and you probably did as well.

It’s interesting to note that when I was very young and hearing this kind of talk for the first time it seemed really bizarre to me. Fast forward 30 years and I know it sounded odd because it’s highly unnatural!

Nearly everyone has said this once or twice, but the truth is such connotations are very negative, and can actively work to prevent you from having as much money as you desire!

If you’ll be extra mindful I guarantee you will see that people who say things like ‘they’re filthy rich’, ‘it’s an obscene amount of money’, etc. are also the very same people who harbor great resentment toward folks with plenty of cash. I’ll bet you’ve seen what I’m referring to before.

The subject of a wealthy individual in your hometown comes up and terms like ‘filthy rich’ get kicked around. The next thing you know you can literally hear the bitterness in somebody’s voice as he or she says something like “yeah it must be nice!”

There Just Isn’t Enough Time In A Day – Here’s one that appears quite harmless on the surface. But this kind of negative affirmation will have an enormous impact on your subconscious mind. In this case you are convincing yourself that no matter how hard you work you simply cannot make the right kind of progress.

Again most of us can admit to having heard this from a parent or elder when we were children. Of course these people were not trying to harm us; clearly they have no idea how a few simple words can have a counterproductive effect on them and the people around them.

You Only Have A Few True Friends In Life – Here is yet another example of well-intentioned wisdom imparted to many of us by an elder. But now that we’re having an honest look at things this one is especially grim isn’t it?

Imagine teaching a child to expect only a few ‘real friends’ over the course of an entire lifetime! I know many, many people who still buy into this ideal as adults and to be honest I accepted it myself for a long time.

True Love Is Hard To Find – Here’s an example of a sentiment implanted by the popular media, from broadcast radio to sitcoms and movies. And a quick glance at our mainstream society will prove this myth is hugely accepted by many, many people.

The first step in getting clear of your subconscious, negative beliefs is to identify them. Spend some time writing down all the casual limiting beliefs you hold and express with sayings like the ones above. Then start to catch yourself thinking like this during your daily life and replace these limiting thoughts with abundant ones.

Do this and you’ll soon be on the way to changing your life!

The way we think and feel about money will define how money comes into our life, the role it plays, how much of it we will have, etc. Let me give you a classic example of bad thinking that will keep you broke, vs. right thinking that will help you prosper:

You will probably agree that we all have monthly bills to pay. There are expenses like housing, phone, gas, cable, groceries, and more that are going to be a part of our lives every month without fail.

Your list of regular expenses might be a little different from the above, but don’t get lost in the detail. My point is everyone has standard bills and expenses, and this fact is not going to change unless our global economy evolves past money into some sort of Star Trek system.

In other words: you will be paying your bills month after month for the rest of your life.

You can choose to groan and complain, and feel badly about this fact. The result will be a scarcity consciousness and constant fear of running out of money, not having enough, etc. This is a pretty lousy way to live, and I promise you abundance will never come into your life while you are thinking like this.

Instead, you can choose to think abundantly: Feel joy because you get to contribute to our modern economy by circulating money to your phone providers, grocery store, and cable company. You are adding real value to the world and helping these businesses prosper, create more jobs, and provide better service to their customers!

And notice the term circulate. Stop spending money right now and begin to circulate it instead! When you”spend” something it’s gone, but when you circulate it, you’ll see and hold it again when it passes back through your life.

This simple exercise of changing the way you think about your bills will have an enormous impact on your life. You’ll feel a weight lifted, and you’ll begin to feel happy about the normal process of using your money to pay for necessary supplies and utilities.

It’s a blessing to be part of an advanced society that allows us to have cell phones, computers, readily packaged foods, and more. So practice being thrilled to participate, and blessing the companies you circulate your wealth to.

You will benefit tremendously from your new prosperity mindset.