You all may be wondering how I went from having the social media presence of your technically challenged grandma, to posting EVERY day about Happiness Hackz. Why? Because WHY! I found my WHY! Thats why! Have you ever heard one of those motivational speakers talk about “finding your why” and tapping into your undiscovered potential? You sit there wondering… HOW do I do that? I experienced this when I attended D2D Con and Ed Mylett spoke about chasing the version of ourselves God envisioned us to become. He had this theory that when he died, he’d meet the version of himself God had planned for. He wanted to look that guy in the eye and know that he had been chasing his heels up until the last breath. The world may call people like this crazy… and yes, they are. But why does the world say chasing your dreams crazy? Steve Jobs, founder of Apple said,
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Happiness Hackz is my attempt to chase the greater version of myself, to push me to do things that I have never done before, and change the world for the better. Today, I will guide you through my thought process on how I found my WHY and how my WHY inspired me to start Happiness Hackz: my life long project, business, and mission. So that's our game plan for today. Lets begin.
The foundation of my why started when I heard a Rachel's Challenge presentation in High School. From that day on, I was inspired that one person can create a chain reaction of compassion. Rachel Joy Scott was the first victim of the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999. After her death, stories upon stories surfaced about small acts of kindness she had performed for kids who needed a friend at school, to strangers stranded on the road with a flat tire. Rachel consistently went out of her way to show love to everybody she met. One of her journal entries boldly proclaimed, “I have this theory, that If one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.” I was changed by this idea and by her example. Rachel’s life served as evidence the chain reaction theory was true. Because of that high school rally, I decided I would take Rachel’s challenge and start my own chain reaction.
I went through high school striving to just be kind to people. Still inspired by Rachel’s story, I joined the “Friends of Rachel” (F.O.R.) club after I heard about it on a club fair day. The choir teacher was the club sponsor and provided the space and resources for kids who desired to start a chain reaction. My senior year, F.O.R. launched a campaign to encourage “Random Acts of Kindness.” The choir teacher bought hundreds of blue wristbands that read, “Random Acts of Kindness, F.O.R.” and F.O.R. members secretly scouted out good samaritans in their efforts to be kind. If you were seen doing something kind, somebody might give you one of these blue bracelets. It was a simple campaign that aimed to make kindness the new “cool.” In addition to our campaigns, we provided a safe environment for kids who wanted to meet friends, talked about being a friend to those in need, and ate donuts. Friends of Rachel was so special to me that I put a big F.O.R. patch on my letterman jacket. I was proud of it. Being kind is cool! I’ll never know the full impact we had through that club, but that was never the point. We didn’t look for empirical data to track kindness episodes. We just wanted kindness to be contagious. From Rachel’s example, we knew it would spread like wildfire, we just may never see it, and that was ok.
You could say my WHY is to make a positive impact on the world. To encourage, inspire, and uplift. Spreading kindness and positivity is a foundational principle of who I am. It makes me happy! Happiness Hackz is a vehicle by which I can do the things I love and eventually make it my “full time job.” I can change individual lives through coaching, spread positivity through coaching, talk to extraordinary individuals, and create a powerful, positive change in the Word.
All of us are here on this earth for a reason. There shouldn't be any shame in admitting that we want to make a difference in the world. Get loud about what is important to you and ACT to make something happen. Who cares if you fail miserably while trying to do something good! It is better than sitting and wishing you had tried! I have thought about some questions we can ask ourselves that can help us find our WHY and how to live it out.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME? WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY?
What makes you smile? What do you enjoy? When do you feel the most fulfilled? What do you want others to remember you by? If you could get paid to do something the rest of your life, what would it be? Think about those things and write them down. You could be a plumber and want to provide the world with the best craftsmanship there ever was. You may want to cure cancer. Maybe there are injustices that you want to help solve. Maybe there is a cause for which you want to spread awareness. Example: I was recently made known of the nightmares of human trafficking. Helping rescue children from sex-trafficking is imporant to me and supporting O.U.R. would be fulfilling to me.
WHERE IS A NEED?
What do people need right now? Is there a need for counseling? Is there a shortage of kindness? Is there a need for medical workers? Is there a need for awareness? Are there third world communities that need running water? Maybe there is a need for more dentists! Whatever it is, there are countless needs in the world! Find a need that is important to you!
WHAT SKILLS DO I HAVE?
Right now, you have a tool belt of countless skills that separate you from others. Maybe you come from another country and can speak another language. Maybe you are an excellent motivator. You could have leadership skills, or maybe you have fine attention to detail. You also have experiences and stories that are valuable. Write all these things down. Before I thought of Happiness Hackz this was the most powerful exercise in the creative process. I wrote down: Spanish, positivity, talking on the phone, cheerleading, exercise and wellness, habit formation techniques, organization, and writing. Even though I knew I wasn't the BEST writer, it was a tool I had in my tool belt. I decided a weekly blog would help me sharpen that tool. Last week, I used the word queue, instead of cue. One meant pool table queue, and the other (cue) had the correct denotation relating to behavior. Thank you Kelly! The point is, list all of your skills. You have more than you think. Maybe some of them have not been sharpened for a while, but you can fix that with practice, failure, redirection, and improvement.
HOW CAN I MEET A NEED WITH THE SKILLS I HAVE?
This may take some thinking. How can you connect your skills to a need? If your skill is speaking another language, and you love helping people, you could become a medical interpreter. If you love to rollerblade, and there is a charity that's important to you, you can use rollerblading as a platform to raise awareness. If you love to dance and you want to have a positive impact on low income communities, you could start an affordable dance studio. There are countless ways to fulfill a need with the tools you already have in your tool belt.
THINK BIG
I'm going to be honest here. Happiness Hackz was originally only going to be a “Positive Apparel” clothing line. I saw a need (happiness) and I thought a good way to address it was through positive clothing. This would be a simple way to promote positivity, kindness, donate proceeds to Operation Underground Railroad, and grow a business. Think bigger, Austin. Think Bigger. What other tools do I have in my tool belt?
I talk on the phone A LOT. Everyday I have intriguing conversations with people who never fail to amaze me. I recognized talking to others was a tool. How could I use that tool to meet a need? Well… people love talking about themselves and getting their message out. What if I interviewed people who have accomplished incredible feats and helped them SHARE that story? Whether you recognize it or not, you have experienced something that has put you in a position to lift others up. I decided that part of my Happiness Hackz movement would include a Youtube Channel. I will interview thousands of people over the course of my lifetime and help them share their stories. That is thinking big. What else… Well, I am positive, motivational, have a degree in exercise and wellness, and my car is an audible self-help university…What could I do to help spread kindness with those tools... Life Coaching. These little exercises helped me find WHYs in my life that I can begin to pursue with the tools I already have. NOW THINK BIGGER! I’ve got big big plans with Happiness Hackz and I know that I can’t do it alone. That’s where your network comes into play.
WHO DO I KNOW THAT CAN HELP?
As I began to think big, I started to realize there is a lot I do not know. I can compensate through researching online and reading books, there are a lot of areas where I simply need help. Yes! I need help! There are countless individuals around you that have tools you may never have. Usually when you reach out to these people they are more than happy to help. Example: When I was 8 years old, my dad flew the C5 galaxy in the Air Force. While flying he became good friends with another pilot. Dad and his friend would get their families together and I became friends with their son. With time, life happened, we moved, and I never thought I’d see them again until last week. I mentioned to my mom how I’ll need to learn how to do video production for my business and Mom instantly thought of our family friends whose son had just graduated in video production. I was able to reconnect with my friend and we realized that he only lives 3 hours away from my home in GA. Pretty soon here, I’ll have him help me with the Happiness Hackz launch video. Who would have thought that these tiny connections we made through our families would come back around to edify both of us? Not only do I get to catch up with childhood friends, we both get to help each other in our life long goals. Making connections (networking) is one of the most exciting and valuable aspects of our lives. You will never know when those small connections will come back around and enrich your (and the other parties) life. It’s not always about what you know, but who you know!
Are you dreaming yet? I want you to be dreaming of possibilities you can accomplish in your life! Chase that version you were meant to become and realize that you will make a TON of mistakes along the way. Remember, this is the only way to improve. Recognize the failure, make a plan to redirect and improve, and keep trucking. Happiness Hackz was never meant to lead people to a destination of happiness, but to teach people to find happiness in the journey. The only way we live a happy life is by chasing that WHY! Take a leap of faith and chase your WHY! Chase that version of yourself you were meant to become. If it doesn’t pan out to be a world changer, at least you changed YOUR world.
I hope this got you thinking about your WHY and how you can use your tool belt, a need, and the people around you to accomplish spectacular feats. Please email me at happinesshackz@gmail.com and share with me your dream. I would love to support you in your efforts!
PLEASE SHARE WITH 3 FRIENDS! Let’s spread some positive messages and encourage people to chase their WHY!
Until next week folks! Spread positivity and kindness and these Hackz!