Four Essentials for Happiness

FOUR ESSENTIALS FOR HAPPINESS

By Brian Tracy

You may have a thousand different goals over the course of your lifetime, but they all will

fall into one of four basic categories. Everything you do is an attempt to enhance the
quality of your life in one or more of these areas.

The first category is your desire for happy relationships. You want to love and be
loved by others. You want to have a happy, harmonious home life. You want to get along
well with the people around you, and you want to earn the respect of the people you
respect. Your involvement in social and community affairs results from your desire to
have happy interactions with others and to make a contribution to the society you live in.

The second category is your desire for interesting and challenging work. You want to
make a good living, of course, but more than that, you want to really enjoy your
occupation or profession. The very best times of your life are when you are completely
absorbed in your work.

The third category is your desire for financial independence. You want to be free
from worries about money. You want to have enough money in the bank so that you can
make decisions without counting your pennies. You want to achieve a certain financial
state so that you can retire in comfort and never have to be concerned about whether or
not you have enough money to support your lifestyle. Financial independence frees you
from poverty and a need to depend upon others for your livelihood. If you save and invest
regularly throughout your working life, you will eventually reach the point where you will
never have to work again.

The fourth and final category is your desire for good health, to be free of pain and
illness and to have a continuous flow of energy and feelings of well-being. In fact, your
health is so central to your life that you take it for granted until something happens to
disrupt it.

Peace of mind is essential for every one of these. The greater your peace of mind, the more
relaxed and positive you are, the less stress you suffer, the better is your overall health.

The more peace of mind you have, the better are your relationships, the more optimistic,
friendly and confident you are with everyone in your life. When you feel good about
yourself on the inside, you do your work better and take more pride in it. You are a better
boss and coworker. And the greater your overall peace of mind the more likely you are to
earn a good living, saves regularly for the future and ultimately achieve financial
independence.

Life is very much a study of attention. Whatever you dwell upon and think about grows
and expands in your life. The more you pay attention to your relationships, the quality and
quantity of your work, your finances and your health, the better they will become and the
happier you will be.