This year I’ve been in and out, up and down, square and round, happy and sad, focused and lost, excited and bored. I went from having negative one hundred dollars in December, to spending $6k on business coaching. And the women, that’s another story. Anyway.

Life is like a yo-yo

Have you ever wondered, when will everything be perfect and awesome? When will we manage to find the exit string for this terrifying bitch of a labrynth they call adulthood? How will we stave off the darkness and terror of a seemingly meaningless existence? How do we keep happy, balanced and focused on noble goals?

First, here’s a truth:

Nobody is going to do this for you. Not your mom, or your dad, or your friends. That thing you need to do, is the only thing that will make you happy.

The less you do what you need to do, the less happy you will be.

That “Thing” for me, is nebulous. It’s hard to pin down. It’s many and strong and I battle with it every day. But here is my very basic, blueprint for baseline happiness. Here are my things I do to keep the depression at bay.

In order to feel content, I must:

Spend time with family and friends: When’s the last time you called your sister? Helped out your grandma? Because it makes you feel good to support someone other than yourself. And somebody has to wipe your eventual geriatric pooper. Since I don’t want kids, it will probably be my nieces and nephews. But besides the selfish reasons, whenever I do visit my family I leave feeling a powerful connection to the human experience, like I’m doing what I’m supposed to.

Exercise: Hitting the gym and pushing heavy things, team sports, running, racing on a bike. Amazing! Fatty tissue is transformed into lean, strong muscle; endorphins are released giving a tight high, and testosterone pumps up, increasing libido, and granting connection to that “yes I’m alive and improving” feeling.

Develop Social Skill: I learned how to pickup beautiful women with the power of my mind! And now I make a good living communicating my ideas with the world (or a few hundred random Internet dudes who don’t comment because they’re ashamed to be caught reading my blog). Social skill brings social power. I don’t like to go a day without meeting someone new, or catching up with old friends.

Eat Healthy: When I’m stuffed full of corn syrup, bread, processed meat, caffeine, alcohol and drugs….Actually this is why I feel like poo most of the time. I also take multi-vits, fish oil and pro-biotics. These are necessary, along with plenty of fruit, water and greens. Healthy body, healthy mind.

Self Educate: Reading books, many books. Watching documentaries, great movies, and absorbing culture and art. This doesn’t include more than basic knowledge of network cable reality series. Don’t waste too much time consuming garbage. Read the good stuff. The classics. Tolstoy, Nietzsche, and as much non-fiction as you can. I like biographies, philosophy, psychology. Shit, I like everything. Real men read daily.

Produce Art: Make something out of nothing. I write, play guitar, and teach self-development. This is my joy. Some people make woodwork, or build hobby rockets, or perform stand-up comedy, or blow glass. Do something other than consume. In fact, not creating is my #1 cause of depression. I was feeling rather depressed until I started this article. My spirit has lifted.

Make Enough Money: Who wants to be broke? Make more money to provide for yourself and your family. Go for a promotion, ask for a raise, start a small side-biz. The easy going life isn’t so fun when you live on $1000 a month and can’t afford to eat out even once a week, or travel, or buy new shoes, or go out on a date.

Maintain a clean, sanitary, organized, living and environment: Messy life = messy mind. This is true. Are you living in filth? Hire a maid. I get two girls to clean my apartment once a month, for $100. And I clean up after myself daily. When my place is gross, I feel gross. Why not just do it myself? Because I’d rather spend my time doing thing that make me happy, like coaching, banging my girls, writing posts like these, spending time with family, etc.

Enjoy Work: My job is awesome. Even though I deal with a lot of nerds, and women dump me because they think I’m a womanizer; I’m sort of lucky and blessed to be doing this, where so many people absolutely loathe their work. I can take a few haters to avoid the 9-5 hell. I am incapable of working in a job that makes me miserable.

Conclusion

All I have to do to maintain a base level happiness is to be on track with these points. Of course, a new sports car or backpacking trip to Cuba would be amazing, but it’s not necessary to hold back the bleak darkness of suicidal depression. The above is enough.

What are some things you do?

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