A lot of people never get satisfied with what they are doing with their lives, and think that they are not happy. Many of them think that in order to be happy, they should have enough wealth (but what is enough, right?), they should be famous, they should be in a perfect relationship. Some even resort to drugs just for that few hours of being in the state of trance. However, what makes a person really happy?

There are probably endless researches and studies on attaining the true happiness in oneself. One important element that makes a person happy and contented in life is having a positive outlook. This has aided people to attain the happiness they they have been searching all these years. There are eight guides in positive thinking that one can actually keep in mind.

1. Don’t be afraid to ask anyone for help. Keeping a problem to yourself could be utterly unhealthy and gives more stress and anxiety. Be courageous enough to open up to your loved one, your closest friend or even a colleague if the problem situates at work. Talking it over to someone and asking for help lifts off the weight from your shoulder, and they could probably give good advice.

2. Yes, when you feel down, it hurts but always think that time heals all wounds and take one day at a time. Allow yourself to see the best in all circumstances. There is that saying: “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. Keep in mind that when terrible things happen to good people, they become better as a person.

3. When the situation is chaotic, never lose composure. Remain, cool and calm.

4. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. It’s very simple. If you want others to give you the respect you want, you have to earn it by treating others with respect.

5. It doesn’t hurt to have a little faith. Know your God is with you, and miracles do happen. Having faith makes love a possibility.

6. Learning how to make peace with yourself before becoming a peacemaker for others.

7. Always choose to do the right thing. If you think you are in a trap, never forget that there are no regrets in choosing the the direction you know that is right.

8. Choose to be happy. This means that your mindset is already switched on to be in the optimistic world. If you do this, everything else will follow.

I love writing about health and other subjects while I’m out enjoying a beautiful day. I use one of my mini notebook computer while I am out. My Toshiba notebook computer is one of the best ones.

Self-denial and self-restraint are not the same thing.

Self restraint is what keeps us from doing unwise things until our better judgment can step in and help us rethink our first reactions. We still need self restraint because our first reactions are not yet fully dependable. Self restraint tends to be found together with healthy self esteem.

Self-denial, on the other hand, may be a kind of puritanical approach to living that says fun is bad, beauty is dangerous, and any kind of creature comfort leads to corrupt self-indulgence.

It’s a total mistrust of self, and it says we shouldn’t have the good things.

Let’s face it, back in the 14th and 15th centuries, there was a great deal of corrupt self-indulgence in the religious world, and the Puritan movement was a backlash, an attempt to counter some of the more extreme abuses. However, as most backlash movements eventually do, it took itself too seriously and began wallowing in its own “superior, purer” brand of holiness.

Taking oneself too seriously (whether it’s within one’s organization or within oneself) is always a danger, and it’s important to keep dialog open to allow healthy feedback.

We can learn much from the history of such organizations.

One of those lessons is, there is nothing inately good about keeping yourself in poverty (holy or otherwise). You aren’t a better person for doing without things you truly enjoy, like a fine home, beautiful furnishings, comfortable clothes, and excellent health. There’s no evil in those things, and you deserve to have all of those that you desire, as long as that desire springs from a healthy, well balanced self esteem.

Furthermore, if you do have those things, you will be pure and blameless. Neither God nor the Universe keeps any kind of grand ledger in which having some small, paltry amount of the “good stuff” is acceptable, but having more of them is wrong.

Have you ever compiled an inventory of all that you don’t have? Not as a list of complaints, but as a simple list of possibilities you’ve never claimed…. yet.

Or how about a list of all that you do have? Drawing up these two lists might be an interesting way to spend a quiet weekend. Try it sometime and see just how much you’ve been withholding from yourself versus the things you will allow.

Then try to figure out why. (Hint — if you find an answer, you’re wrong. There isn’t one.)

The allowing and forbidding that you do, they’re just something you’ve been doing because… well… that’s the way it’s always been. In other words it’s a habit based upon who you think you are — who your self esteem and self image say you are.

This is one more example of a line you’ve been stopping at for so long, you’ve come to think the stopping place is a real wall that keeps you from moving forward.

And every time you come up to this “wall,” you beat yourself up because you can’t get past it.

Charles BurkeLevel: PlatinumCharles Burke, retired and living in Thailand, is the author of “inside the Minds of Winners” and “Command More Luck. His blog is located at …

For more information on how to shape your future, download the free PDF report “It’s All Good Luck – Five No-Fail Tips for Turning Bad Luck into Good… Every Time” at http://www.more-luck.com/luckyreport/

Here’s some great tips for public speaking and using your voice.

To use the voice to best effect in ashow involves us having to put a large amount of effort into how we manipulate it. So how doyou best use your voice?

1. Adding some confidence. If our audience doesn’t believe in us, then why will they trouble giving us the time of day, let alone sit through our presentation?

2. Conviction in what we are asserting is also key. Putting across our passion, despite the incontrovertiblefact that we are genuinely convinced in our own discussion, could cause our audience to question us and put query marks over what we have got to say.

3. Zeal, too, is critical. If we are assured and are convinced in our own debates, then highlylikely we will also come across as enthused. Being ardent is also infectious. If we sound all fired up by what we say, the chances are we are going to have an easier ‘sell in’ of our ideas than if we appear not so turned on by the topic matter in hand.

4. Our integrity is also something that must never be brought into question. If we attempt to bluff our way through a sticky patch, we will be able to be sure the fans will surely catch us out with the result that nearly everything else we say might also be challenged.

5. Of course, if we are able to show we have got a widespread grasp of the subject in hand by having the ability to show off our data, then that too is important, though not necessarily necessary. Or is it? Broadcasters most frequently talk about a subject with which they don’t seem to be very familiar. Of course , not every broadcaster can be well versed in each subject. But the fact that they have done their research thoroughly gives them the wherewithal to ask looking questions of their interviewees and, as such, shows them to be ‘instant experts’!

Ultimately, having a good voice is definitely a valuable asset, but is not really necessary to a good show. Few are graced with really gorgeous voices, but there are thousands more who are good presenters.

Ensure you add using your voice and enhance your public speaking confidence.

Try this experiment sometime; sit in a dimly lit room and look directly into a mirror, into your own eyes without wavering or looking away. Really stare. Blinking is okay, but don’t look away.

Keep doing this for at least five minutes. Let your thoughts go blank; put away your inner chattering, your sense of identity, your self esteem or lack of it. At some point, the face you’re looking at will change and will suddenly seem to morph into someone else’s. Just keep staring.

I’ve heard various theories to explain this face change.

Some claim it’s one of your faces from a previous life; others say it’s the face of your higher self. I think they’re guessing, so I don’t necessarily believe or disbelieve any of the suggestions I’ve heard. However, I don’t have any theory of my own to offer you — only the experience itself.

Reading about doing this has no power to move you, but sitting and staring into your own eyes for an extended period — now that is a gut-level experience that needs no words. It transcends self image and self esteem.

You’ll come away with some interesting insights into yourself, insights that will probably surprise you.

Okay, playtime’s over — let’s get back to the subject of who your maker is.

In an absolute sense, of course, your maker is whatever or whoever you consider the highest power. You may call this force God, or the Universe, or some other name. Changing the name doesn’t change what it is — our ultimate cause.

But let’s step down from those lofty heights for a bit and consider the question of your identity rather than your existence.

When we come into this world we have minimal identity. But as we spend time around other humans, we tend to pick up and imitate bits and pieces of what we see, so before long we’re a mish-mash of things we’ve gathered up and adopted. As we adopt these traits and behaviors from others, we do it consciously, but after we’ve repeated them often enough, we forget how we chose to be that way.

And as we gain bits of identity, we often give up little bits of our self esteem. It’s not necessary, but that’s the way it’s often done.

Eventually we look at all the little bits we’ve acquired and think “that’s the way I am” or “that’s just who I am” and we find it difficult to change this long-standing “identity” that we’ve cobbled together.

The truth is, the “self” we think is us — that’s a sort of Frankenstein’s creature that we built along the way, with no plan except coping with the passing moment.

Any and all parts of our identity creature are more or less arbitrary, and could be changed at will — if we knew how and were willing.

But our self has taken on a life of its own. It has become what we call our ego. And IT isn’t very eager to change. Further, our self esteem has, by now, become so compromised that it may not be much help in driving change.

Nevertheless, you have just met your maker… the unformed infant who picks up and keeps sparkly pieces of this and useful bits of that, till “you” are formed and functioning, for better or for worse.

Charles BurkeLevel: PlatinumCharles Burke, retired and living in Thailand, is the author of “inside the Minds of Winners” and “Command More Luck. His blog is located at …

For more information on how to shape your future, download the free PDF report “It’s All Good Luck – Five No-Fail Tips for Turning Bad Luck into Good… Every Time” at http://www.more-luck.com/luckyreport/