RICK HANSON
HARDWIRING HAPPINESS
+ HEAL: Have a positive experience. Enrich it. Absorb it. Link it.
= Inner strengths are the supplies in your backpack: a positive mood, common sense, integrity, inner peace, determination, a warm heart
= By letting your mind be, it’s like stepping out of a movie screen and watching from 20 rows back. Let your stream of consciousness run on its own – don’t chase.
= Mental states become neural traits. Day after day your mind builds your brain
= the mind takes its shape from what it rests upon. If you rest on self-criticism, worries, irritants, your brain gets shaped into depression, anxiety, vulnerability. If you rest on pleasant feelings (I have a wife, I have a home) you hardwire positives. HAVE IT, ENJOY IT.
= To develop more gratitude, rest your mind on feeling thankful. More loved? Look for and stay with experiences where you feel that inclusion.
= If you don’t make use of this power yourself, other forces will shape your brain FOR you- pressures at work, technology, the past, irritating people, etc
= When we’re afraid, we dream smaller dreams and cling to things more tightly.. and feel fear and anger towards “them.”
= the brain’s operating system has two settings; responsive and reactive. When you feel safe you’re in the responsive mode- relaxing, calm, etc.. contentment. In the responsive mode, you meet challenges without them becoming stressors. Use the shock absorber in your brain.. keep that underlying sense of security.
= People become friendly, playful, curious, creative when they feel safe, Satisfied, connected. WHEN THE LIGHTS ON YOUR DASHBOARD ARE GREEN you can do everything confidently. Make it your natural home base without having to fight to get TO it.
= IN that green light zone your neural networks are no longer in a state of deficit or disturbance; you don’t crave. Less aversion, grasping, clinging.
= THE GREEN LIGHT BRAIN is contagious; when you come from a responsive place it draws others there too. When you don’t project pushy or needy.. when you’re not irritated, you don’t provoke others. When you feel centered, it’s tough to become provoked.
= Regularly look for opportunities to take in the good! Positive experiences- especially fresh ones- fire up your dopamine!
= As your mental garden fills with flowers, there’s less room for weeds to grow!
= Are you a better friend to others than you are to yourself?
= Feeling better helps you act better which helps the world treat you better.. which helps you feel better
= Taking in the good isn’t about chasing pleasure or chasing away pain. It’s about bringing the chase to an end. When you build up the sense of already being peaceful, content and loved your well being becomes less conditional – less dependent on a nice marital or work partner or having a “nice day.”
= Figure out LIKING instead of WANTING. You should LIKE the good experience w/o WANTING it
= When you notice something good in your experience, gently encourage it to last w/o trying to hold onto it. Your brain tends to keep looking for something new to want.
= Feeling good about yourself doesn’t make you conceited; as your sense of wort grows there’s less need to impress others
= Let go of frustrations, disappointments. See if you can find a sense of “enoughness” in the moment with no wish for the moment to be anything other than what it is> Feel a growing contentment. There’s no basis for grasping – you’re not chasing anything inside the mind or out in the world
= PLANT YOURSELF WHERE YOU ARE
= PLAY YOUR NOTE IN THIS SYMPHONY- play it well, but don’t play anyone else’s! Not your job.
= FEEL ALREADY FULL with no reason to chase
= Spend time looking for things that give you pleasure. Like water seeping into soil, pleasure can become part of you.. a resource you can take with you wherever you go
= Be the hammer not the nail.. create agency for yourself.
= the sweet spot in life is to pursue your dreams and take care of others with your whole heart while not getting fixated on or stressed about the result. In this place, you live with purspose and passion but without losing your balance or falling into a state of pressure or depletion
= Contentment is a global sense of well being with no wish whatsoever for this moment to be anything other than what it is. Pleasant experiences pass thru your awareness with no need to hold onto them. You feel fulfilled with no greed or possessiveness. Feeling full inside, you become generous w/other
= Remember a time you were wanted, sought after or chosen. Consider that you value others but don’t always show it; the same way others value YOU but don’t always show it
= Walk across the room with dignity- like someone who adds value