What Makes You Happy?

Ever notice what makes you happy and how you have fun changes as you get older? 

When I was a kid, building things and playing with my friends made me happy. As a teen, it was having fun and getting into trouble with friends and my early entrepreneurial adventures.

Early in my career, it was all about the drive to achieve, the hustle and the wins.

Now, it’s about how I can help other people so that they can achieve what they want in work and life.

But as my kids become more independent and my business matures – and I’ve learned a few lessons about the physical and mental costs of a driven life – I notice that what makes me happy is changing and expanding, and I’m making more of a point of making sure they happen.

Like spending time with my family and friends, and racing cars keeps me happier and healthier.

For Bill Gates, fun in his teens and 20s was all about software. In his 30s, about the drive to put “a computer on every desk and in every home.”

Now in his 60s, with his big goals achieved, he talks about what makes him happy now, in this recent Inc. article. And just like doing your Resilience Rituals to strengthen your mind, body and spirit, making happiness happen is intentional – something to think about at any age.

“When I was in my 30s, I didn’t think people in their 60s were very smart or had much fun. Now I have had a counter-revelation. Ask me in 20 years and I will tell you how smart 80-year-olds are.” – Bill Gates

Bill’s Happiness Breakdown

• Follow through on your commitments. Intentionally choose and follow through on what matters most. Don’t allow yourself to live permanently in feeling stuck or unmotivated. If you want to change, do it. Ask yourself, “Am I doing what I want – what most matters to me?” Listen to your voice of truth and commit wholeheartedly.

• Have a mindset of giving. It’s scientifically proven that giving to others is good for our wellbeing. That generosity can be money, time, mentoring, or paying it forward. Contribute to better someone or something.
• Treat your body like a temple. Exercise – no matter how long or how intense – is an antidote for depression, anxiety and stress. Find something you love, do it regularly – and you might just have fun, too.
• Put family first. Set your non-negotiable family priorities and boundaries first. Then do the same at work. Within those boundaries, you are free to focus and participate fully. Your family will love you even more for it – and you may just live longer.

The Challenge

• Where do you need to put priorities and, potentially, boundaries in place to experience what you want in Self, Work and Life?
• In order to max your own happiness, what adjustments could you make?

About Kevin:

CEOs typically place their first call to Coach Kevin with a crisis to solve. They stay because of his business acumen and no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is style.

Kevin’s career spans 20 years, over a dozen countries and four continents. He’s worked with hundreds of CEOs and executives, helping them to break through business challenges, grow their companies and find personal success along the way.

These experiences inspired Kevin’s book, Your Oxygen Mask First, in which he reveals the 17 habits every leader must know to transcend the perils of success, and achieve even more.

About Lawrence & Co:

Lawrence & Co’s work focuses on sustainable and enhanced growth for you and your business. Our diverse and experienced group of advisors can help your leaders and executive teams stay competitive through the use of various learning tools including workshops, webinars, executive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achieving leaders to have it all – a great business and a rewarding life. Contact us for simple and impactful advice. No BS. No fluff.