How to Do Everything and Be Happy: Your step-by-step, straight-talking guide to creating happiness in your life

by Peter Jones

Overview

Do you ever feel that you could be – well – just that little bit happier? This simple book reveals how you can be happy every day, through these surprisingly easy tips and advice.

Whoever you are, whatever you do, and whatever is holding you back, you can do it AND be happy.

How To Do Everything and Be Happy is a book for ordinary people, with ordinary lives. People who have been ambling along and wondering if things would be better if they were just a little different. It's a book for most people. It's a book for you.

Peter Jones was once a normal guy. Sometimes frustrated, often dissatisfied, but always working hard towards a ‘happily every after’ he would share with his wife Kate.

But when Kate died in Peter’s arms after just 2 years and 3 months of marriage, he realised his days had been spent working towards a fantasy, instead of making every hour count. Alone, at rock bottom, Peter discovered that the secret to happiness is simple: it’s about filling your time with the things that make you happy.

If you've got a brain in your head, if you can pick up a pen, if you've got half an idea about what makes you smile, this book will show you how to do that.

Peter’s ideas are born from hard-won experience. Like Boxing Day: originally a day Peter and Kate spent together, without plans or restrictions, as an antidote to the chaos of Christmas. When Kate passed away, Peter continued the tradition by himself, doing whatever came to mind: it turned out to be the most refreshing, relaxing and fulfilling few hours he’d ever had. And its effects could be felt throughout the month.

Practical, amusing and mumbo-jumbo-free, How To Do Everything And Be Happy does exactly what it says on the tin.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780007506712
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/13/2012
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,038,982
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Peter Jones spent several years working as a consultant in credit card banking, fixing various issues in high-profile organisations. (And thereby most likely causing the credit crisis and global recession.)

Peter’s outlook on life changed dramatically when Kate, his wife of 2 years and 3 months, passed away due to a brain haemorrhage. He left his job in finance to follow his passions: now he has written both fiction and non-fiction, and currently runs workshops and talks on his subject of expertise: How To Do Everything and Be Happy.

Peter lives just a few miles outside London. He doesn't own a large departmental store and probably isn't the same guy you've seen on Dragons' Den.

For more information, visit Peter’s website howtodoeverythingandbehappy.com

Peter Jones spent several years working as a consultant in credit card banking, fixing various issues in high-profile organisations.

Peter’s outlook on life changed dramatically when Kate, his wife of 2 years and 3 months, passed away due to a brain haemorrhage. He left his job in finance to follow his passions.

Peter lives just a few miles outside London. He doesn't own a large departmental store and probably isn't the same guy you've seen on Dragons' Den.

Table of Contents

To Begin With 1

Why the Long Face? 5

General Unhappiness 5

Cause Number 1 Lousy Work/Life Balance 7

Cause Number 2 Lack of Control 13

Cause Number 3 External Forces 16

Doing Something About It 22

Making Time to be Happy 24

Boxing Day 24

The Principles of Boxing Day 27

Managing Your Time 35

Finding the Right Diary for You 40

Action Points 42

How to Use Your Diary 44

Potential Boxing Day Problems 49

Advanced Boxing Day - Extra Tips! 66

Doing Those Things You Always Wanted to Do 72

The Bucket List 72

Creating a 'Live Life Now' List 75

Deciding What's On the List 78

Categorising Your Now List 80

Making Your Now List 'Happen' 85

Now List Day 87

The Trophy Board 90

Taking the Trophy Board One Step Further 95

Potential Now List Problems 101

Feeling Happier? 106

Pointing Your Life in a Better Direction 107

What Do You Want? 107

The Power of Focus 109

Focusing on the Wrong Things 114

Focusing on Nothing 117

Making a Wish List 122

The Power of Three 133

Use the Power of Focus 137

Potential Wish List Problems 140

Making Life What You Want 148

You Can Change Your Life 148

Turning Wishes into Goals 150

Step 1 Getting Personal 152

Step 2 Being in the Moment 154

Resistance Is Futile 156

Step 3 Making Them Measurable 157

Step 4 Setting a Deadline 161

Step 5 Penalties! 164

Step 6 Rewards! 166

Making Your Goals 'Happen' 169

Goals Day 170

Rules of Goals Day 172

Determining Your Next Action 174

Goal Minutes 177

Finding Yourself a Goals Partner 188

The Day of Reckoning 191

Resetting Your Goals 196

Potential Goal Problems 200

Final 'Wish List and Goal' Thoughts 207

Putting it All Together 208

The End Is Nigh 208

What Do You Want? 209

Focus and Evidence 211

Making It All Happen! 212

Arranging Your Diary 213

Living by Your Diary 215

Advanced Diary Tips - Other 'Days' 216

A Day in the Life of You 221

You Still Here? 225

Final Remarks 225

If You've Enjoyed This Book 227

Acknowledgements 229

About the Author 231

Editorial Reviews

Jones was living the life he thought he was supposed to live—married to the girl of his dreams, working a steady job and getting paid decent money to do it, and so on. But when his wife dies suddenly of a brain hemorrhage—just a little over two years after their wedding—he realizes he hasn’t been taking full advantage of his life, and resolves to change things the only way he knows how: “by making plans, and lists, and taking control of my own destiny.” What he found during his ensuing soul search is that most people’s lives are unbalanced—there’s just “work and ‘everything else.’” In order to shake things up—and help readers revivify their lives—Jones outlines a number of practical suggestions, from how to effectively use a planner to drafting a “‘Live Life Now’ List” (as opposed to a bucket list) and learning how to distinguish reasonable from far-fetched goals. His chatty, informal approach won’t appeal to every reader—especially those looking for something more grounded in secondary sources—but his advice on self-discovery and time management is truly valuable. Illus. Agent: Becky Bagnell, the Lindsay Literary Agency (U.K.). (June)

Publishers Weekly

The pursuit of happiness is as relevant now as it was when America's Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence. Recent titles such as Meg Leder and Rachel Kempster's The Happy Book and Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project (both books, LJ 11/15/09) indicate that the quest is still going strong. Bowen, founder of the nonprofit organization, A Complaint Free World, and financial consultant Jones offer varied suggestions for how to achieve happiness. Bowen proposes that readers can achieve personal satisfaction by recognizing when negative internal thoughts occur, ridding themselves of resentment, and accepting life on its own terms. His steps include changing self-talk from negative to positive, freeing oneself of clutter, and developing a spiritual practice. Jones, on the other hand, reminds readers that they are in control of their own lives and encourages them to make lists of short- and long-terms goals—now lists and wish lists—and to review them daily. VERDICT Both books have a lot to offer, although Happy This Year provides a more comprehensive analysis.

Library Journal