I discovered a Mayo Clinic physician who shared the most powerful example of why we never again want to be so complacent about taking things for granted.

His patient who had bladder cancer just wanted to be able to use the bathroom like everyone else.   That simple.  Because of his condition, an ordinary function that most of us don’t even think twice about became an object of appreciation.

We’ve heard “you’ll appreciate me when I am gone”.

Why do people never appreciate what they have until they lose it?

It’s human nature but we can do better.

This powerful approach breeds gratitude for even common every day things and recognizes appreciation for people we tend to ignore.

1. Find three things to be grateful for three strategic times a day.
2. Wake up in the morning and before getting out of bed or even fully opening your eyes, name three things you are grateful for as you wake up.  It could be the person next to you, the sun shining in, the feel of the rug under your feet.
3. Midday, find three more things to be grateful for in the same manner.  This can be in the form of an email, text or call to tell others thank you.  Or a private recollection.
4. Before going to bed, three more things about the day you’ve just lived that you are grateful for. 

For some, taking time to appreciate at three strategic times a day will be more gratitude than they’ve expressed in weeks or months.

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When I was getting my haircut, I noticed a mother having her hair colored with a son who looked to be 10 years old sitting in the empty chair next to her.

All during the procedure, she had her iPhone glued to her face and said not a word to her boy.  Remarkably, he kept himself busy without the help of a digital device, which is more than his mom could say.

This is a tough world where the allure of a smartphone is an addiction and where the lack of face-to-face interaction with other people including family is fast becoming a dysfunction.  

Let me stop there. 

We all do it. 

I confess as well.

But there is something we can do to retrain the way we use our digital devices and interact with others.

It is being present when we are present.

Lean forward and give 100% of your attention to another person.   No distractions.  No phones.  No daydreaming or fretting about that which tends to stress us out.

Even 5 minutes of this focused attention is powerful and once we get used to eliminating the things that distract us from human interaction, 5 minutes can grow to 10 and beyond.

No one wants to give up their digital devices.

Being actually present when we are present with others – 100% all-in to conversations – is how we take control of our digital world while reclaiming what’s important in life.

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Bruce Lachot and Kent Loo, Scottsdale, AZ dentists are taking their entire office to Hawaii in a few months. 

They are paying for all their expenses – airfare, travel, meals and are shutting down the office and not charging their staff with vacation time. 

It’s not the only time Dr. Lachot and Dr. Loo has done this.  Their practice is new age and employee-centric which is why patients love to go to the dentist if that’s possible.

When Dr. Lachot and Dr. Loo’s employees signed on to work for them, they did not know that Lachot and Loo were going to far exceed what most employers do.  They wouldn’t have any way to know of their regular potluck lunches where doctors and employees work together to solve problems. 

They have exceeded their expectations.

Whenever we exceed customers expectations, they leave happy and return again.  Hang out in an Apple store to see this in action.

And it doesn’t always have to be about gifts or money.

Sometimes it is about time.

Spending extra time with a parent or loved one or a friend that needs your ear and devoting 100% of your attention costs nothing but reaps great benefits.

We are unstoppable when we put these words on our refrigerators and smartphones:  exceed expectations.

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For years the state of Michigan had a problem getting residents to sign up as organ donors.

Even with 800 volunteers canvassing the state.

So in 2011 these volunteers asked the state of Michigan for permission to allow DMV clerks to ask every customer whether they would like to donate their organs.

In just two years the number of new donors went from 320,000 to 520,000 due mostly to the direct in-person questioning of the DMV clerks.

It took 16 years to register 2 million donors and now there are 3 million statewide.

One of the reasons we don’t get maximum cooperation when we want to get something done in our personal or business lives is because we don’t ask for what we want – face to face, directly.

That leaves spouses and partners to guess what the other wants.  

Employees to wonder what their associates expect of them.

It’s not magic.

Ask face to face and you are more likely to get to yes faster.

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If you’re like me, you have no doubt read self-help books to get organized, accomplish more and be happier.

But if the be happier part didn’t result, it may be because the getting things done part can make us a productive dynamo but not often a happier person.

In fact, as crazy as this may sound in our workaday world, planning less can actually help us be happier and it’s not going to kill us or get us fired.

We over plan, over dream, over problem-solve, over produce and focus too much on ourselves.

It’s the old saw about gaining control by giving up control.

Chances are we have plenty of experience to handle that which we need to get done every day without making it a compulsion.

Last week I saw a video by an author/lecturer who said have 3 goals a day, 3 goals a week, 3 goals a … and he went on and on tacking on more goals.

It may be the other way around if happiness is your end goal.

Be comfortable in your ability to get things done and think a lot less about it.

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Why is it that vacations and holidays are on list of the most stressful things in our lives according to the Holmes-Rahe Scale of Life Stress Inventory? 

They are supposed to be stress reducers, right?

Take the test and see how many points you rack up to see if you are at risk of illness, moderately at risk or only slightly at risk.

Motivational speakers and authors have made a fortune trying to help us cope with things that will help us in handling life’s stressors.

And remarkably, the generation that suffers most from stress is young Millennials.  Their lives have all the challenges of their parents plus the constant presence of digital connection and staying connected socially.

Here is the way to put a major crimp in life’s stressors:

1. Accept whatever you see without giving in to the temptation to characterize it as good or bad.  Postponing the “good/bad” impulse allows us to avoid the inevitable stressors associated with such characterizations.
2. Temporarily forget what you want and get involved in the experience of living in the present.

Most, not all, of the major stressors on the Holmes-Rahe Scale can be reduced if you practice not rushing to a “good/bad” opinion on that which occurs in life and momentarily forgetting about getting what you want.

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1. We like others for how they make us feel not because of who they are.
2. The person who thinks it is all about them is making a big mistake in human relations because if it is all about them, then who is focused on the other person?
3. The most fascinating conversationalist at a party is not as rewarding as one person who shows sincere interest in you.
4. The best work meeting is about the interests of the people attending rather than the ramblings, thoughts, desires or orders of the person running it.
5. A loved one cannot resist the person who makes them feel good about themselves.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong opened his mouth and offended two mothers who worked for him in a botched attempt to rationalize health care cuts.

To his credit, he quickly apologized and reinstated the program.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie apologized many times for putting the state residents through the George Washington Bridge scandal.

Today, apologizing is becoming a political and public strategy instead of a heartfelt way to say, “I’m sorry”.

Apologies are most meaningful when they have these elements:

1. Make amends first.  Promising to do better, be better or change is not as meaningful as making those changes before you pick the right time to apologize.
2. Fix what you’re sorry for.  Talking about it is empty.
3. Keep your word.  In our modern world, the apology is the end all.  But a real apology is just the beginning.  Do what you say you’re going to do to add real meaning to remorse.
4. Expect nothing from the person you are apologizing to.  The apology is for you.  Just as letting go of anger benefits us more than the people we are angry with, making an apology relieves us from hurt that can damage relationships and self-esteem.

Sorry + why + what you’re going to do about it is the best apology every time.

Being loving or expressing love to others transforms us into compassionate people more able to live life in real time.

A loving attitude tends to eclipse more ego-centered behavior that eventually can wind up coming out as ruminations about things that don’t make us very happy.

Just as important is to love oneself.

The deficit of self-esteem is growing to epidemic proportions.

Proceed carefully.  If you rely on someone else to bolster how you feel about yourself, you can become co-dependent to them.

Work this list today:

1. Forgive yourself. 
2. Make positive statements about you and back them up with evidence. 
3. Look past material things to define who you are.
4. Accept yourself as who you are today (you can always be better tomorrow). 
5. Have the courage to be who you are with everyone.
6. Think of 3 positive ways to describe yourself. 
7. Practice receiving love from others. 
8. Do what you love. 
9. Treat yourself no less than the way you would treat a puppy dog. 

10. Never compare yourself to others. 

11. Always do your best but stop trying to be perfect

Even doing one of these things better can be transformational.

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It’s not your imagination.

We really do live in a world where people are focused on themselves.

In prehistoric days when Dale Carnegie wrote his famous book How To Win Friends and Influence People one of his powerful messages was to talk in terms of the other person’s interests.

Today, you almost don’t have time to interrupt self-absorbed people to practice that very human relations principle because so many folks are talking about themselves incessantly.

On the excellent HBO series Girls Lena Dunham brings us a scene where her friend Marnie played by Allison Williams calls to tell her she got a new cat.  Lena’s character Hannah says “I can’t talk right now” but Marnie goes right on talking about herself without missing a beat.

How do you handle people who suck the energy out of relationships by making it all about them?

1. Keep focused on your own inner emotions at least part of the time.  If you don’t give it all away, you’ll feel less drained.
2. When there is a break in the conversation, jump in with what you want to talk about.  Warning:  like Marnie, they may just go on talking about themselves. 
3. If this person wants something from you, be careful what you promise.  Only do what you can do and want to do.
4. Set a time limit and get out.  When you begin to feel drained, exit the conversation.  You choose the time you will spend listening to someone else go on about themselves.
5. If a person oversteps your boundaries by being focused on him or herself on a regular basis, it may be time to move on.  There are still person-centered people in the world.  Perhaps it’s time to find one.

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“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non- judgmentally”.

This gem comes from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn.

And Eckhart Tolle who wrote “The Power of Now” says, “People look to time in expectation that it will eventually make them happy, but you cannot find true happiness by looking toward the future”.

Perhaps that way so many people with terminal diseases let go and live the time that they have left in a way that they could have never imagined.

Don’t drown in a downpour of your own thoughts.

You don’t need the past to define who you are as a person or the future for feeling fulfilled.

This is empowering for people of all ages.

Planning is forethought.

Obsessive thinking about the future is fear-thought.

Take these 14 words of Dr. Kabat-Zinn and integrate them into daily life and accomplish the previously elusive goal of living and enjoying the present moment.

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Super Bowl champion football coach Pete Carroll did it his way with positive energy and a rah-rah approach to winning.

The “defeated” Denver Broncos coach John Fox was more deliberate but no less competent.

Carroll’s team was a defensive monster. 

Fox’s team an offensive monster.

What a matchup.  But somehow it didn’t turn out that way – at least on the field.

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning bluntly admitted it is tough to forget losing the Super Bowl but he forgot to mention that already won one.

Never forget success – make it an IOU and use it again and again.

Coach Fox should be thinking that he is blessed to be alive after emergency heart surgery just a few months before the big game.

I wrote a book about embracing the advantages of disadvantages because we can’t always win but we can always learn from adversity and win another day in some way.  It doesn’t have to be the same way.

Coach Fox who celebrated his 59^th birthday Super Bowl week had it right when he said, “Setbacks are setups for better things to come”.

Always succeeding is lucky.

Learning from both success and failure is how we make our own good luck.

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There is nothing that works as effectively as what I am going to share with you this morning to improve happiness.

No prescription plan required.

No doctors or psychologists.

When you want to feel better immediately, this is the best approach I have ever seen.

1. Embrace your daily flow of life activities by doing both that which is familiar and comfortable for you and something new and different.  If you make the same breakfast every day, add a new twist.  If you hold your meetings the same way, conduct them standing up – something different.  The “new and different” actually changes the physiology in our brains and promotes happiness.
2. Do things that are meaningful as often as possible.  Meaningful matters.
3. Close the mental file on the past and the future.  Yes, we can visit there but only visit.  When we spend too much time in the past or trying to live in the future beyond planning purposes, we tend to ruminate on things that make us unhappy or even depressed and negative.

Something old.

Something new.

Something that has meaning.

And slam the mental files on anything that takes us out of the beauty of the present moment.

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Guess how long it takes to get used to winning the lottery?

Psychologist’s say the joy lasts only a year at best and long-term can transform that happiness into sadness, loss of friends and even going broke.

Everyday pleasures feel just as good as winning the lottery.  Really.

Loyola researcher Fred Bryant and University of Michigan researcher Joseph Veroff scientifically studied the art of prolonging happiness by savoring all types of good things in life.

1. Celebrate the good moments or as Amit Sood says, do not postpone joy.
2. Slow down and consume good and happy moments the way you lick an ice cream cone or enjoy a latte.
3. Ease up on some of the good things that occur – like eating candy, don’t eat it all at once or you’ll get sick. 
4. Simplify your life.  Too many options can reduce your pleasure.  We like options.  Just not too many if we want to remain happy.
5. Share your happiness the moment it happens.  Sharing is a natural extender of that which is good. 
6. Doing something new boosts happiness because it is in the now. 

Savor pleasure by consuming it as it occurs.

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Many workplaces are toxic, and yet we need a job.

We are intertwined with friends and associates who we might ordinarily not pick out of a lineup to be real friends.

And we can’t choose our own family which means we deal with what we have inherited for better or worse.

So what’s a person to do?

Discovering and articulating the negativity we see and hear around us helps insulate us from being those people.

Saying it to ourselves – “this guy is really depressing, so negative about the future”.

Or, again to ourselves — “what a sad view of life she has”.

Once we get used to articulating the negativity around us, we automatically distance ourselves from the destructive attitudes that bring us down.

Humans become like our environment – we adapt to circumstances as well as prevalent attitudes.

For the rest of today, see if you can make a mental note every time you see or hear a negative situation developing.  And see if it doesn’t make you feel instantly better.

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Two Harvard psychologists, Daniel Gilbert and Matthew Killingsworth, created a smartphone app to get to the bottom of how frequently people’s minds wander.

They then contacted 2,250 adult volunteers at random intervals to ask how they were feeling, what they were thinking about and what they were doing.

They found that their volunteers spent approximately half their time thinking about what was not going on around them instead thinking or even ruminating about the past, the future or things that may never happen at all.

They were happiest when they focused their minds on what they were doing in the moment.  Research backs the advice of many who insist that happiness and fulfillment can only be found in the present moment.  Thinking about other things is a prescription for unhappiness.

This is not to say we cannot plan for the future.  We just can’t live there before it’s time.

Nor is it saying we cannot learn from the past.  Just life today does not exist in the past.

Our brains can be retrained to live in the moment by becoming conscious of even mundane things that we do.  The more we try to reside in the moment, the easier it is to unconsciously live in the now and reap more of the happiness benefits.

There is no pill, no therapy greater than focusing on the here and on.

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No matter how anxious two people are to solve the problem existing between them, there is a greater urge that they almost always give in to.

The need to be right.

Most people can only listen to each other for only so long – and that’s usually not very long at all.  As David Burns says, “One attitude that gets in the way of good communication is the need to solve problems. I often tell troubled couples that they must refuse to solve the problems in their relationship if they hope to experience greater love and closeness”.

Being upset, arguing, bickering is not communicating.  And if anger is not shared openly – and it almost always is not – then game over.

The awesome power of listening is the tool that makes salespeople richer, careers more rewarding, relationships closer and it requires no skill other than keeping our mouths shut for a moment while simultaneously opening our ears.

Resisting a good argument even if you are “right” or if it is absolutely about “the truth” is the direct path to problem solving.

A friend of mine who brokers hundreds of millions of dollars of radio stations used to tell me that the terms of the deals often took a backseat to the dynamics between the dealmakers.   And that even when they wanted to do business together, they couldn’t get out of their own way.

When in doubt listen. 

Overcome the need to be right.

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Some of the best coaches are teachers.

No, all of the best coaches are teachers.  And teachers know that everyone learns at their own pace. 

As a professor at USC I soon learned that students don’t care whether the next class is about the history of whatever.  They care when you engage them.

I had a professor in college, John Roberts, who used to do an opening monologue and made the class laugh.  By the end of the semester the class thought it had hijacked the professor, he made radio and television that much fun. 

But he later shared his secret in which he kept stimulating the discussion until students started asking questions about what he had already planned to teach.

At work, we give orders.

At home, we give commands.

The best way to get someone to win cooperation and get results is to change your mission and create in others the burning desire to learn.

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There is one sure way to get what you want.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say, “will what God wills” and you’ll always get what you want.

For the less religious, the same principle applies – accept more things and be happier.

This is not to say don’t have goals, ambitions and drive.  Perhaps you know people who never relent until they get what they want only to find out that what they wanted didn’t make them happy for very long.

The secret is to have many victories of time – not just one.  The Olympian who works a lifetime for a medal they may not win can leave them feeling worthless for the rest of their lives if they haven’t learned to savor smaller successes along the way.

And here’s the great revelation.

Getting what you want feels the same no matter whether the accomplishment is major or minor.

To cultivate that feeling of pride and self-satisfaction that we all seek, learn to savor many small accomplishments over time rather than withholding satisfaction until or unless you accomplish your goal.

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A natural depressant is being sedentary. 

We’re designed to be active. 

Over the weekend I met a woman at a funeral who is well into her eighties.  She mall walks two miles a day leaving her “girlfriends” winded at the closest Starbucks kiosk.  She told me she jumped from a cliff using a glider ten years ago when she was “only” in her late seventies.

I was so impressed with her enthusiasm level – and remember, this was at a funeral imagine what she is like on a happier occasion – that I went looking for evidence that exercise was the bromide we have all be searching for.

In a 2007 study in Psychosomatic Medicine, some 202 people with major depression – not just the blues – were divided into three groups.

One group was randomly given the antidepressant Zoloft, another received supervised home exercise programs and the rest got a placebo.

After four months, the exercisers were just as likely to enter a remission as the group taking medication.

We know exercise improves our mood so to not take full advantage of increased daily activity is like turning down a free gift.

As Ellen DeGeneres says “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the heck she is.”

But wherever she is, she’s healthy and happy.

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