I had a chance to spend some time with some great people at the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency.  We talked about SMARTliving and they were charged with:

1. Learning to make their Butterfly;  This is a process that encourages positive emotions and more time living in the present moment.  To do this you must learn to manage three times well.  The first practice is mindful meditation that helps with awareness.  The second practice involves managing fears of the future by just asking what it would feel like to be without the fear (right wing).  The third practice involves looking for the positive meaning in the event that has upset or frustrated you, reflecting on the fact that most of your growth in the past came from dealing with an adversity (left wing) .
2. Mastering the Hand: It was suggested that there are 5 areas that if mastered would be associated with a much more fulfilling life.  Each areas is assigned to a finger; Vision, Health, Finances, Time Management, and Communication.
3. Getting all A’s on the Citizen Report Card: This is a tool that may be used to increase your social fitness.  If you register you can take the survey on line (that would make me happy), or you can download a hardcopy and review.

Click here download handout: SMARTlecture Handout.  Hopefully those that attended found the information helpful.  It was certainly fun for me : )  Hopefully they will have me back to talk about becoming a SMARTplace.

It may not be readily apparent, your prosperity is locked inside of me, and my prosperity is locked inside of you.  The better I do at becoming me the more prosperity you will have, and the better you are at being you, the more prosperity I will have.  This is because of the concept of “Comparative Advantage”  its easier to show than to write about it so I have created a video that explains it:

• “jbetter”: Why we need us: the principle of comparative advantage in 5 minutes (click the link to view the video)

I got this information from watching the following TED presenation which you may also find helpful:

• TED – Matt Ridley: When Ideas Have Sex (click the link to view the video)

This is in part why this website was created.  A sight to share our journey on becoming better 🙂

I hope this helps

-jb

I was in church yesterday, where the Pastor highlighted a gentleman who regularly ran in marathons.  He reflected that the first time that he tried running, he could only run 3 miles, but through training 3 times per week he increased his distance to 26 miles over a 6 month period.  Then the Pastor posed the question as to whether we could do the same with happiness?  Could we have a “workout” that could significantly increase our happiness over six months? 

The answer to that question is yes.  As it turns out there is research that suggests activities that one can do to increase ones happiness.  And there is good reason to do it; happy people tend to live longer, and more fulfilling lives.  Try the following for 30 days and see if you don’t see a difference.  These task are not difficult but will really increase your mental, physical, and social fitness levels (others have done it and you can to).  Pause for a moment, and imagine what it would feel like to be happier.  Now consider doing the following daily…

1) Keep a gratitude journal writing down three things that went well that day

2) Mindul meditation for 10 minutes per day, you don’t have to clear your mind totally, just don’t hold onto thoughts and increase your awareness of the present moment.   It is good to begin this by focusing on your breathing which should be deep and slow. 

3) 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (which can be broken up over the day); as an alternative don’t sit for more than 60 minutes without getting some movement.

4) Perform one act of kindness for yourself, your family, or those around you (smile, write a letter of thanks, express appreciation for another.  consider getting some ideas by reviewing the Citizen Report Card and take steps to get all A’s 🙂

If you would to hear some entertaining presentations on happiness check out the links below.  Each is less than 15 minutes and have been enjoyed by over a million people each:

TED – Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work

TED – Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life

As an act of kindness, please consider sharing your insights on this web-page, which is a way to be of help to others : )

These acts of kindness speak to the notion of social fitness, which describes what we do that has impact on those around us as well as our planet.  To this end I wanted to leave you with a funny video concerning the group Improve Everywhere, it may give you ideas on how you can spend your time in ways to put a smile on someone elses face, enjoy…

TED – Charlie Todd: The Shared Experience of Absurdity  🙂    Lol