JUST ONE THING
Being Unhappy is a Lousy Place to Live
Episode 69
With Rick White, 180BIZ
We use the word hate a lot. I hate peas. I hate ice cream. I hate this. I hate that. Hate usually comes from unhappiness. We are unhappy a lot, but we don't talk about it. It's okay to be dissatisfied. It's not okay to be unhappy. When you're unhappy about something, you continue to focus on what you're unhappy about and it gets bigger and it gets worse. Remember, wherever focus goes, energy flows. You tend to start acting like a victim. You tend to stare at the problem. When you label something as being unhappy about it, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It means that you're dissatisfied. That's okay.
The problem is not being unhappy. The problem is staying unhappy. When you are unhappy about something, please don't get stuck in the mentality of being a victim. If you’re unhappy with a hotel, move to a different hotel. I'm unhappy with my spouse. I'm unhappy with my job. I'm unhappy with my business. I hate my business. That's where it starts. I'm unhappy therefore I hate it. Ultimately, neither of these, when you're stuck in them, helps you get better.
Instead, ask yourself, “What am I going to do about it?” So, there's something you're not happy with in some part of your life. That's okay. But now ask yourself, “What am I going to do about it?” If it is to be, it is up to me. These are the 10 famous words. If it is to be, it is up to me. I want you to be able to recognize when you're unhappy. I want you to understand what's causing the unhappiness. And then I want you to ask, “What am I going to do about it so that I can make it better?”
When you wallow in unhappiness, it gets deeper and bigger and deeper and bigger. You might be unhappy in just one little area of your life. But if you stay there, it spreads. It infects every part of your life. Don't let that happen. Instead, take control of it. “But Rick,” you might say, “It's not my fault.” No one said it's your fault that it happened and caused your unhappiness. But it is 100% your responsibility to take care of it. “Hey, they closed the road in front of me.” That sucks, and it's not your fault. But it is your responsibility to deal with it.
And that's in every area of your life. No matter what happened, unhappiness is a good indicator. It's a lousy place to live. You can have all the happiness you want, but it's up to you to make it happen. You just can't sit there and wait for something magical out here to happen so that you can be happy again. Perhaps I should change my focus. Maybe there's something that I'm unhappy about in my life that I can't physically change, but I can change how I see it. And I'll give you an example. I’ve been through two divorces that were really tough. But I truly believe that they helped set me up to be a better husband. So I choose to see them as blessings rather than failures. And by doing that, it changes my perspective on things.
You could change your perspective too! God bless, stay safe, have fun, and go make some money.
