Be Happy: An 8-Day Happiness Course

In the Be Happy course, participants are given a gratitude journal to fill in daily over the eight weeks. Gratitude is often referred to as the shortest shortcut to happiness. How so? First, gratitude helps you to remember what is important in your life. Remember, to be happy you have to be willing to sacrifice what is not important for what is. Second, gratitude helps you to be more receptive. As my friend Chuck Spezzano says, "When the receiver is ready, the gift appears."

Be Happy Exercise: Your assignment today is to review this eight-day mini version of the Be Happy program and make a list of at least eight blessings, breakthroughs and benefits you have experienced. The miracle of gratitude is that the more you practice gratitude, the more things you find to be grateful for. The gift of gratitude is that it helps you to participate more fully in your own life and to notice what is already here. This is so important because, in the final analysis, the only thing that is really missing in your life is more of the real you. 

Robert Holden, PhD, is the director of the Happiness Project and creator of Be Happy, the eight-week happiness program. His innovative work on happiness has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America and also in two major BBC TV documentaries, The Happiness Formula and How to Be Happy, shown to more than 30 million TV viewers worldwide. He is the author of the best-selling books Happiness Now!, Shift Happens! and Authentic Success. His latest book, Be Happy, is published by Hay House. He is also the host of a weekly radio show for Hay House Radio called Shift Happens! For further information, visit RobertHolden.org.