What I Learned About Happiness: Honolulu Edition

Transcript

What I learned about happiness by moving to Honolulu, Hawaii 21 years ago. At the time I was living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And if you haven't been to Calgary, you might not know that it's one of the coldest cities in Canada. So here I was living in a very tiny studio apartment. It is -30, -35 degrees Celsius. I am completely uninspired and sitting in my apartment. By the way, the apartment had a view of a brick wall right in downtown Calgary. And I remember thinking, what am I doing with my life? Why am I living here? And I've always had dual citizenship, so Canadian and American, and a little bit of traveling to Mexico and to Costa Rica really opened my eyes to the big world that was out there, and also warmer climates that were out there. So after much research, and thought, and convincing to my parents, I decided to move to Hawaii and start studying at the University of Hawaii. And I was studying tourism.

So I moved there by myself. I had never been to the islands before, but I knew that I wanted to take the risk. I wanted to try it. And I was sick and tired of living in the cold, and really wanted to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So I want to share three very powerful lessons that I learned by moving to the beautiful island of Oahu and to the gorgeous city of Honolulu. The first is spending time outside, whether that be in the warmth or in the cold. Whatever climate you're in, I want you to think about what climate makes you feel happy. What environment makes you feel happier? Spending time outside increases happiness. So when I moved to Honolulu, I immediately spent way more time outside. I was hiking in the mountains. I was going to the beach. I was walking everywhere. I was just outside a lot.

And that immediately increased my happiness and increased my joy. And since then, that has just been a part of my life. No matter what climate I've lived in, and I've moved since then to cold places again, but I've always spent a lot of time outside. The second thing I learned was you must be studying or working in an area that you have a lot of passion for, that you feel aligned about. So when I was in Calgary, Alberta, I was studying business and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. When I moved to Honolulu, I changed degrees and I was studying travel industry management. I was studying the business of tourism on this beautiful campus, surrounded by people that were also really interested in tourism and travel. So the second lesson I learned by moving there was, in order for you to be happy, in order for you to be well, you have to have alignment. You have to have passion and be connected with what you are doing, whether that be studying or work.

So if you don't feel aligned right now, if you're not right, working on something that lights you up, or you're not working in a company that you feel super passionate about, that is a place to start looking. Because passion and purpose directly connect to your happiness. The third big lesson I learned by moving to Honolulu, Hawaii, is spending time with friends or family... at the time I was spending time with friends and family... really, really increases your happiness. And I wasn't really doing this in Calgary. I was spending time a little bit with friends, but not that much. And when I moved to Honolulu, even though my plate was super full, I was studying, I was working, I had internships. I was busy, but almost on a daily basis, I was doing things with friends.

Exciting things, going on different adventures, discovering the place, and getting to know new people, and building new relationships with people. And the number one predictor of happiness is human connection and time with people that you care about, and who care about you. And also since that point in my life, I have continued to make friendship and time with family really, really important. Now, if I lived in Calgary right now, I think I would be really happy there because I'm in a great place. It's not necessarily about where you live, but it's making sure that where you live is bringing you happiness. And so your environment can absolutely connect to how happy you are, how well you are, how successful you are, in your career and in your life.

If you would like to learn more, go to arriveathappy.com, and I have a free mini happiness class just for you, with five short lessons on ways that you can increase your joy. If you liked this video and you want to hear from me every single week, subscribe to my YouTube channel. There's a new video every single Friday at 10:00 AM Pacific, and I will see you next week.