As women entrepreneurs, the joy we experience in business and life are intertwined. We don’t operate on a 9 to 5 time line or leave our work at the door. Our “work” – and the satisfaction we get from doing that work – greatly defines who we are… as mother, as entrepreneur, as wife, sister, daughter and friend.

Our ability to simply be happy has a ripple effect that stems far beyond ourselves. And, as we put our entrepreneurial hats on, the reality is that people want to be around, and do business with happy people. Our ability to “be happy for no reason” (a great book by Marci Shimoff) has a dramatic effect on our ability to attract and retain those ideal clients we dream about.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” ~ Denis Waitley

Most people believe that happiness is based on external forces like other people. That happiness is something we have to work hard to experience or a destination we have to get to.

I’ll be happy when…

I’ll be happy if…

And many believe that happiness is something that can be taken away.

The reality is that we each hold the key to our own happiness and we don’t have to relinquish it to anyone or any situation.

Is life feeling a little more frustrating lately but you’re not entirely sure why? Does “being happy” feel like an act for you? Are you tired of putting on a happy face and ready to really FEEL that happiness?

If you answered yes, it’s time to RAISE your happiness vibration! Just the tiniest shift in your awareness will help you to attract more happiness into your life.

So what is Happiness? According to Wikipedia “Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.”

I don’t know about you but I want as much of THAT as I can get

And a sure-fire way to experience more happiness is to become the source of contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure and joy.

Here are five tips to becoming your own happiness ambassador:

1. Accept Responsibility for your happiness…

Recognize that YOU (your beliefs, your self-talk, your behaviours, your responses, your actions and inactions) are the primary source of the happiness or unhappiness you experience. Unfortunately most people are operating by default. Give yourself permission to slide back into the drivers seat of your life!

2. Choose to be happy…

“Live each day as though it may be your last because one day you’ll be right.” ~ author unknown.

So often we WAIT to be happy; we tie our happiness to a destination or an achievement or a set of circumstances that you believe have to occur before you can be happy. The reality is that each of us can be happy right here, right now if we choose to be.

3. Get Clear About What Makes You Happy…

How? take inventory, pay attention and collect evidence of what makes you happy. What does happiness mean to you? Sometimes we need a little nudge in the right direction. The best strategy for this is to develop contrast. Sometimes we need to know what bugs us to gain clarity and see what makes us happy and then, we can turn those negatives into positives.

4. Activate Your Happiness GPS…

Want to know why it’s so important to get clear about what really makes you happy? Your brain wants you to be happy!

What you focus on expands and activates your reticular activating system or R.A.S. I like to call it your Happiness GPS.

If you focus on happiness, that becomes your predominant experience.

The RAS is an automatic mechanism inside your brain that serves as a filter between your conscious and subconscious mind bringing relevant information to your attention and it plays a vital role in your ability to achieve goals.

It’s like wearing golf ball finder glasses. When golfers lose their golf ball in the underbrush, the technology of these cool glasses eliminates the light from background objects and makes the golf ball itself stand out. The relevant information is the golf ball, the golf ball finder glasses is your RAS.

And it gets way more exciting…

What’s’ really cool about your RAS is that you can deliberately get it working for you by choosing the exact messages you send from your conscious mind (i.e. getting really clear about what makes you happy).

And it gets even better…

Your RAS cannot tell the difference between what is “real” and what is “imagined”. Many professional athletes use visualization techniques to practice and perfect their performances before actually doing it. They know how to get their RAS working for them.

So are you ready to get your RAS working for you?

Once you have crystal clarity about what makes you happy and develop a specific vision of happiness in your mind, your RAS will then begin to filter all relevant information and bring what really matters to your attention.

5. See evidence of the happiness that already exists in the little things:

The happiness we experience each day is the culmination of the little things: a friendly smile, a snuggle with a pet, words of praise, shared laughter. It is in these small moments when we are most alive. The key is to take notice and cherish them.

I want to challenge you to notice the little things every day… as you do you’ll begin to shift your focus from what you don’t have or this big elusive goal of happiness to what already exists for you every single day.

You’ll likely discover that you have a lot more to be happy about than you realize. And then… notice and enjoy the ripple effect!