the authentic life

Dr. Steve McSwainSpeaker, Author, Leadership Coach,

Life Guide

The Authentic Life©All Rights Reserved

What’s the one thingEveryone Wants,Few People Find,

and Fewer Still KnowWhere to Look?

Happiness,

Fulfillment, What

Aristotle Called

“The Good Life”

CONFUSED?

Yes, Many are Confused, As to Where Such aGood Life is Found.

Are You?

“All men are created equal…endowed with certain unalienable rights…

among these…the right to Life, Libertyand the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS…”

Even the Founding Fathers were confused.They believed happiness (or, the GoodLife…Human Flourishing) was like aCommodity one pursued, claimed orcaptured.

We Know Differently Today

•In year 1998, the American Psychological Association adopted the terms “Positive Psychological to refer to a new branch of study .

•This new research focuses on human flourishing and “positive emotions”…from where they come, how they function, and in what ways they contribute to human flourishing…to happiness.

The HappinessFormula

Martin Seligman, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Edward Diener

1998

American Psychological

Association

“Positive Psychology”

Happiness = Brain’s Set Point + Life Situation + Voluntary Actions

Happiness = Brain’s Set Point

50%Genetic

Martin Seligman

Happiness = Set Point + Life Situation

The “Situations” or

Life Circumstances where

People Commonly Seek Happiness

Martin Seligman

Happiness = Brain’s Set Point +

Life Situation + Voluntary Actions

(Choices)

Martin Seligman

Right ChoicesPathway to

The Authentic Life ©

Path to HumanFlourishing…What

Martin Seligman Calls“Authentic Happiness”

1) Choose to BE HAPPY

“I choose to be happybecause half my happiness

depends on it.”-- Dr. Steve McSwain

2) QUESTION EVERYTHING

Who Am I?

Why Am I Here?

What Do I Believe?How Do I Want to Be

Remembered?

3) Create aLIFE MAP

What is Your Life

Plan? Where Will

You Be in 5 Years,

10 Years, etc?

To See the World in a Grain of Sand and a Heaven in a Wild Flower

To Hold Infinity in the Palm Of Your Hand, and Eternity In an Hour

– William Blake “Auguries of Innocence”

5) GO DEEP, Life is Calmer

There

Meditate More than You Medicate

6) LIVE IN SPACE,Not Time

Every Now and Again… Pay Attention to Nothing

7) Look for the LIFE LESSON in Every Experience

“There are no mistakes,no coincidences.

All events are blessingsgiven to us to learn from.”

-- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Is this True?

8) Do Unto Yourself as You Would have YOUR SELF Do Unto

You

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” (The Golden Rule)

The Way You Treat Others is the Consequenceof the Way to Treat Yourself

9) Think aboutDEATH…

…DAILY

“All my life I thought I was learninghow to live; now, I realize I’ve really

been learning how to die.”-- Michaelangelo

What Value is There in Thinking from the End?

10) Be FORGIVING…..and 4-GIVING

You Cannot Give What You Have Not Received

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