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More Stuff = LESS Happiness?!

Russ H

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This was a recent segment on 60 minutes.

I've watched this several times already online.

It's worth dealing with the constant commercials to see the whole segment on "happiness".

HINT: Be sure to move the indicator window in the lower left hand corner to "60 Minutes", then select the subsequent videos:

Their Secret
Humiliation Helps?
You Don't Say?
We Can't Have it All
Happiness Defined
Why Americans Are Unhappy
He Practices What He Preaches
5 Easy Steps

(any video gurus here who can make access to these videos easier, PLEASE, do!!!)

Looking forward to a discussion on this! :chatter:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6462862&ch=4227541&src=news

-Russ H.
 
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Jonleehacker

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Good one Russ, I hadn't seen that show, but I caught this one on 2020 that goes more in depth into the reasons Denmark is the happiest country.

http://i.abcnews.com/2020/story?id=4086092&page=1

It's pretty fascinating, since they have one of the highest taxation levels & very low social status (meaning a garbage working is not "ranked" lower than a doctor in their society). There are some other surprising factors too.
 

AroundTheWorld

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I watched 2 of the video's - and read the article....

Interesting stuff. What follows are my random thoughts, of which hopefully some are somehow related to this topic... if perhaps only by a thread :coffee:

:smxB: I have to wonder how much the media plays a role in the relative "unhappiness" of America (compared with the Danish). It seems that the media tells us time and time again that if we don't look like x and have y and z - - - we just don't measure up..... does that lead to a lack of happiness?

:smx1: After a month in Mexico, hubby and I have noticed how money driven things are back at home. It just wasn't like that in Mexico. Of course, people thought about money - but it wasn't "everything." There were other things that were more important; relationships, etc.

:smxB:It seems that imbalance leads to unhappiness. Too much focus on money will mean a loss in some other area - - relationships or giving back, or a hobby, or creativity. I recently saw a video in which someone said that there are four types of people:
  • Those who want to win
  • Those who want to be liked
  • Those who want comfort
  • Those who want to be right

I was left thinking... What about those who want to Leave a Legacy? Those that want to Make A Difference. Those that want to Be Happy?
 

Russ H

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What makes you happy, Bear?

-Russ H.
 

MJ DeMarco

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These are great videos ... took me a few days to get thru them all. I recommend anyone viewing this thread to take a few minutes and review them.

Overall, I agree with the premise and the claims of the professor.

Personally, I know all the superficial drama in my life is the result of *stuff* ... at one time, I simultaneously owned a Lamborghini Diablo and a Viper - the maintenance on these cars was such a hassle (driving them to the repair shop, getting a ride home, getting a tow truck) that many times, the drama of owning them outweighed the fun of ownership.

Similarly, my *dream house* has been a great source of drama in my life. It is self-induced -- no one says I need the big house on the hill with the drop-dead view and a pool. I will admit it has caused distention trying to mold this house into my dream house. It has been anything but a dream!

Speed for the post+
 

Jill

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. . . there are four types of people:
  • Those who want to win
  • Those who want to be liked
  • Those who want comfort
  • Those who want to be right
I was left thinking... What about those who want to Leave a Legacy? Those that want to Make A Difference. Those that want to Be Happy?
I think you can usually take some of those a step further to get the answer to your question. e.g. WHY do they want to win? Answer: To achieve xyz in order that they may Leave a Legacy.

Tony Robbins goes into a great deal of detail in his exercise to help you determine then define your core values. Continue to ask yourself, "but WHY do I want that?" until you finally arrive at a feeling. That is your core value. The challenges come when you have conflicting values. For instance, I value comfort. I also value accomplishment/success.

To reconcile these, I had to come to the realization that I want to succeed in order that I may buy more creature comforts (more comfortable car, house, airplane seat, hotel suite, custom made clothing, etc.) Therefore, I will have to put my "comfort" on the backburner for now, and get off the couch and get UNcomfortable in order to have that thing I desire - comfort - a permanent thing in my life.
 
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yveskleinsky

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Good one Russ, I hadn't seen that show, but I caught this one on 2020 that goes more in depth into the reasons Denmark is the happiest country.

http://i.abcnews.com/2020/story?id=4086092&page=1

It's pretty fascinating, since they have one of the highest taxation levels & very low social status (meaning a garbage working is not "ranked" lower than a doctor in their society). There are some other surprising factors too.

It seems that the reason behind their happiness, (at least professionally) is because they have their priorities in order and they don't let their job title define them. That being said, I think anyone who embraced those two points would increase their level of happiness.
 

Jonleehacker

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After watching the full version on 60 Minutes last night, I realized that the Danes, were actually the most "content" people in the world. However the survey was defined, I think that they skewed the results from happiness to contentment.

I would say that the two are certainly not the same. Many successful people could be extremely happy, but are not necessarily content.

Wanting happiness is probably universal, whereas contentment is probably not something that everyone would agree that they desire.

I have a piece of software that I use in my business which actually puts a score to a word based on how effective it is as a selling phrase (done by performing statistical analysis from known to be profitable advertising) and here are the results for the two words:

content - Score: -10
happy - Score: 49

contentment - Score: 5
happiness - Score: 80

Seems like we do respond quite differently to each of the words.

[btw...one of the highest scoring phrases in the tool: "discover happiness, results guaranteed" 238 :) ]
 

Russ H

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Jon Lee Hacker said:
. . . one of the highest scoring phrases in the tool is: "discover happiness, results guaranteed" score: 238

Ooh, ooh, where do I click!!! :D

Seriously, Jon, I'd love to see your tool.

No wait. That didn't come out the way I wanted it to . . . :smxE:

Lemme rephrase: Since we do PPC, seeing what our phrases are most powerful would be helpful.

There, that's better. :banana:

-Russ H.
 
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CarrieW

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www.wordtracker.com is another good source for seeing what people are searching for and how many times its searched.
 

Jonleehacker

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Ooh, ooh, where do I click!!! :D

Seriously, Jon, I'd love to see your tool.

No wait. That didn't come out the way I wanted it to . . . :smxE:

Lemme rephrase: Since we do PPC, seeing what our phrases are most powerful would be helpful.

There, that's better. :banana:

-Russ H.

Glad you clarified that! :)

Here's the sales page: http://webtrafficconverter.com/copy/

The software is called GLYPHIUS if you want to google for some reviews.

I'm just running out the door, but when I get home, I'll send you the old version to play with. I don't use it since I upgraded, and it will give you the idea, however if you like it I'd recommend going for the new one, since the data has been updated.
 
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Russ H

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Jill said:
Tony Robbins goes into a great deal of detail in his exercise to help you determine then define your core values. Continue to ask yourself, "but why do I want that?" until you finally arrive at a feeling. That is your core value. The challenges come when you have conflicting values. For instance, I value comfort. I also value accomplishment/success.

To reconcile these, I had to come to the realization that I want to succeed in order that I my buy more creature comforts (more comfortable car, house, airplane seat, hotel suite, custom made clothing, etc.) Therefore, I will have to put my "comfort" on the backburner for now, and get off the couch and get UNcomfortable in order to have that thing I desire - comfort - a permanent thing in my life.

Rep speed for this, Jill. :)

These are the kinds of things that we've been working on in the PLAN thread.

That's why it's so important to ask these questions.

Absolutely brilliant "aha" for you.

Sometimes, to get where we want to go, the journey is much faster if we take it through areas where we *don't* want to be.

Like dealing with and overcoming fear-- as much as I didn't want to deal with it, learning to quiet my demons was the best thing I ever did to accelerate my journey.

Made it much more fun, too. :smx2:

-Russ H.
 

Russ H

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CarrieW, Jorge, and Jon Lee-

Many thanks for the links!

I will use them. :)

-Russ H.
 
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kimberland

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I would say that the two are certainly not the same. Many successful people could be extremely happy, but are not necessarily content.

Well, I hope never to be content.
If I feel I've done everything I want to do,
why would I look forward to tomorrow?
My version of Hell is where everything is "perfect."
 

Jorge

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My version of Hell is where everything is "perfect."

This is why the first version of the Matrix didn't worked and had to be upgraded into a non-perfect world :cool:
 
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Jonleehacker

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Russ, bad news...my tool is awol!! :)

It's been 2 years since I used the old version and during the last computer upgrade I must have figured that I'd never use is again since I have the new version...drag.

If you send me some of your AdWords campaigns I'll score them for you and you can get an idea of what it can do...PM me [unlike you I accept them :) ]
 

Russ H

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Will do.

Thanks, Jon. :)

-Russ H.
 
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T

TheGreatBear

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What makes you happy, Bear?

-Russ H.

I dunno, I'm content with everything except my finances(and knowledge and skills), which will always have room for improvement.
But I'm pretty content with life the way it is now. Improvements can always be made but I don't feel I lack much.
EDIT: A beautiful piece of classic music definitely cheers me. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxFtL9vE6p0"]YouTube - Antonio Vivaldi - Violin Concerto in E Minor - Allegro[/ame] for a sample:)
 

AroundTheWorld

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:smxB:It seems that imbalance leads to unhappiness. Too much focus on money will mean a loss in some other area - - relationships or giving back, or a hobby, or creativity. I recently saw a video in which someone said that there are four types of people:
  • Those who want to win
  • Those who want to be liked
  • Those who want comfort
  • Those who want to be right

I was left thinking... What about those who want to Leave a Legacy? Those that want to Make A Difference. Those that want to Be Happy?

What I was getting at here is that focusing on one area particularly if it is...

  • I want to keep up with the Jones
  • I want to have the latest, biggest, greatest thing
  • I want........ more stuff

certainly could lead to unhappiness. Perhaps those that have "more stuff" are so focused on the feeling of WANT that it could easily slide into the feeling of unhappiness.

As one gets closer to the CORE VALUE ..... the deeper meaning by following Jill's exercise below..... then perhaps the "stuff" becomes less important and the core value brings fulfillment and happiness.

Continue to ask yourself, "but WHY do I want that?" until you finally arrive at a feeling. That is your core value.

Love this Jill. Great way to get to your own core value!
 

Poudda

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I recently saw a video in which someone said that there are four types of people:
  • Those who want to win
  • Those who want to be liked
  • Those who want comfort
  • Those who want to be right
I was left thinking... What about those who want to Leave a Legacy? Those that want to Make A Difference. Those that want to Be Happy?

Oddly enough, the four quadrants listed above are based on Carl Young (SP?) four personality types. The company I work for is doing a team building exercise and this is the foundation for communicating effectively. Each personality type is represented by a colour:

Red: Those who want to win - Professionally conservative, like to be in control, early adopters, enjoy the fight, want to know the bottom line - Happiness means taking control or winning.

Yellow: Those who want to be liked - these are the people who take the most risks, extremely open and touchie. They are the early adopters and have the neatest things. Happiness is doing new and exciting things in a group - being the centre of attention.

Green: Those who want comfort - Like to blend into the crowd, open yet cautious with people, don't like to fight, acceptance is very important - Happiness is spending time with family and friends

Blue: Those who want to be right - very practical and logical, organized. Do not like conflict and think things through before action. Happiness is learning something new.

Within all of these personality types, they can all want to leave a legacy, or make a difference or be happy; they will just do them differently
 
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Russ H

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Thanks, Bear.

I played violin for years when I was younger (a *lot* younger!), so I can definitely relate to your love of classical music.

A good Beethoven piano concerto, a Mozart opera, or a Bach string quartet and I'm a happy guy. :)

-Russ H.

PS Given my past, I do have a soft spot for violin concerti . . . :)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_pkRH2DZuw"]YouTube - Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade (1/5)[/ame]
 

Rawr

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How about this:

You are exactly where you want to be

Think about it - every decision you make led you to where you are. Unless someone forced you to do something, you have forced yourself to do it, or choose not to do it.

And less is more, clothes - cars, houses, things. 20% of things around you make 80% of your life, so why expend energy on the nonessentials?
 

AroundTheWorld

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Oddly enough, the four quadrants listed above are based on Carl Young (SP?) four personality types. The company I work for is doing a team building exercise and this is the foundation for communicating effectively. Each personality type is represented by a colour:

Ah, maybe that is where this idea came from in the video. I don't know why.... it just rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I don't really like "classifying" people - - -

I like what you said - - - they don't need to be mutually exclusive.
 
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Russ H

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I suppose I could break out my armpit harmonica . . .

Haven't played that since 3rd grade, though. :)

-Russ H.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e7D6-oFAnw"]YouTube - Chris Makin' Armpit Music[/ame]
 

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