Everyone is chasing happiness, in one form or another.  So, his week's video go over my five ideas to be happier!  

Having struggled with depression a bit earlier in life, I keep going back to these five ideas to course correct when life gets hard, or when I need to change my mindset.

Before I share my five ideas, what are your ideas on how people can be happier?  Take a few minutes and write down what you think.  I would love to hear your ideas, so please post them below this video in the comments section!

Ok, now to the good stuff.  

Five ideas to be happier, by Shawn Buttner:

1. Learn from everything 
2. Participate in and direct your life
3. Find greater perspective
4. Stop comparing yourself to others
5. Remember - your consistant best is enough

There is more context in the video above, but here you have it folks!  The five ideas that help me course correct when I feel a bit down.

Ever feel like you were mentally drained, and still needed to finish the project, interact with the kids, or just feel better about the day?

Here are five ideas I use to build a positive, energetic brain on those days where I am dragging:

1. Self-care - We can probably take care of ourselve better.  When we get stressed or tired, we tend to eat poorly and/or not take care of our bodies.  Go for a walk outside.   Take the time to do your workout for the day.  Watch or listent to insprational art.
2. Breaks - Take 5 minutes to clear your head by talking with a co-worker, friend, or family member.  Grab some water.  
3. Graditute - In the hustle of daily life, we can sometimes forget how awesome we are doing.  Have you ever forgotten to honor your accomplishments?  Taking a few minutes to recognize and connect with our successes can help energize and motivate us to push on.
4. Excitement - We can also forget to generate excitement through-out our...

Hey All!

Wanted to quickly share what has really been working for me with keeping in with my workouts this week.

After trying to figure out when the best time to work out during the day, I finally marked the first hour before I go into the office as workout time.  

I work out Monday through Friday, and try to get two 1-hour cardio session, and two 30 minute lifts in each week. Friday is a bonus workout/make-up day incase things go crazy during the week.

I've also been walking for 20 minutes outside before lunch, just to get some sun and get away from my desk.

Surprisingly, I have lost 4.5lbs in the three weeks I have been moving around more!  Plus, keeping my workouts consistant has been pretty aweome.

The three steps I uses are:

1. Figure out why you want to get healthier 
2. Schedule one hour of workout time each day during the week
3. Schedule one 20 minute walk before lunch

The Project Ares Challenge

If you want to get healthier, post below you are in the Project...

What is project Ares?  Check out this video to see what crazy ideas I am talking about! 

It’s natural to want to learn new things, to grow and improve in areas where you feel you’re lacking, and keep aiming towards becoming your ideal you. The thing is, it’s not always easy to figure out how to do it. Whether it’s advancing professionally, forming deeper relationships, or refining your skills at a particular hobby, it can be difficult to take the steps to do so, no matter how much you may want to.

But what exactly is holding you back? How did great public speakers, musicians, and athletes get to their level of expertise? What does it take?

The persons you see and admire right now, the ones who make everything look easy, spent months, if not years, trying to perfect their craft. They didn’t make a single big change and maintain it. They took small steps, and they took them frequently, and they kept going.

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new language, or play an instrument, then you know what I’m talking about. There’s no...

Transcript:

Hey, everyone. This is Shawn Buttner, Certified High Performance Coach, and today's video is going to continue talking about courage. And the theme for this month is, in a world of uncertainty, we need to step up and provide strength of character to help make the world better, right? Now I'm Shawn Buttner, Certified High Performance Coach, I help people become more awesomer so that they can live lives with more joy, growth, and happiness, and impact, and right now I just wanted to draw some things that are bugging me, right?

Have you ever felt a little overwhelmed with all the negativity in the news and the world abroad? You feel like you're just trying to make it through the day without trying to make any waves, or trying to feel like you're unable to say the things that you need to say to the people you need to say them to, such as your spouse, co-worker, boss? 

Do you ever just wonder how you can feel certain about the world again when everything seems...

Edited transcript:
Hey, everyone. It's Shawn Buttner, certified high performance coach, and today's video we're going to talk about something related to the fourth of July. Actually, this month’s topic is going to be courage, in honor of the fourth of July.

I help people figure out self development, career planning, and career development that they can live the lives that they really want, and get to that next level of awesome in your life.

Have you ever wondered how the quality, and values, and virtues of a citizen directly relate to their government? I always think about these questions around the fourth of July, because it's a chance to reflect on why I love my country, and it reminds me of family gatherings growing up.

It's humid in the mid-west, there's the smell of spent bottle rockets and other fireworks, and my dad and uncle are playing this very dangerous game of 'drink a lot of beer' and 'blow stuff up'.

Luckily no accidents actually happened. I remember my uncle's...

Hey everyone!

This is the last energy series video, all about moving around.

Have you ever...

• Burst of energy in the morning, then you run out of juice by the end of the day
• Sore back from sitting at your desk at home or at work too much?
• Difficulty staying focused on tasks, and you don't know why?
• Feel that no matter what you do, your are unable to get rid of stress?  Or you are always thinking about stressful things, and are not able to let things go?

Back in 2007, I was struggling with my student loans.  I was overwhelmed, and afraid I would always be in debt.  

Eventually, I got sick of the stress, and started training for a marathon.  So I got moving.

50 years ago, we worked a little less, and in jobs that required more physical movement.  Factory, sales.  We had a family life, and a work life.

Now, most jobs require computer time desk work.  We sit, and for longer hours at work.  And we lost natural movement during the...

Happy Fathers Day!

First, shout out to my Dad for teaching me how to work hard, do what is right, and follow my dreams.  I love you Dad!

In today's video, I'll show you a breathing technique that will help you feel more energetic.  If you ever have had brain fog, trouble concentrating, are easily distracted, or feel trapped with distractions, this exercise can help!

This started for me years ago because I am a professional programmer by day.  Sitting in-front of the "ultimate distraction machine" for my job and side business was really draining my energy.  I was having trouble concentrating and focusing, which are essential parts of my job!

It was getting so bad, I had finally had enough.

I noticed when I was taking voice lessons, that after singing I had more energy.  My voice teacher was showing me how to breath more efficiently so I could sing better.  A-ha!  Breathing better bring more energy.

So I started to focus on breathing.  Next, I...

Have you ever had any of these challenges... 

• Not know how to eat healthy?
• Not sure what’s up with all these crazy diets?
• Not sure what to believe?

In 2010, I was sick of making sandwiched and eating at restraints, so I started to explore how to cook.  So many different things to try, so many things that were healthy and not healthy it was a bit much.  Being overwhelmed, I started to experiment.

I saw a movie and got inspired, and tried a ‘no garbage diet’  I tried veggies, veganism, pasta-sim.  I tried all the diets - no carbs, and paleo. 

At the end, I took a look at my notes, and figured out some common themes you might find helpful.

More importantly, I :

• Lost 20 lbs by eliminating certain foods
• Slept way better
• had more energy
• skin cleared up
• ENJOYED MAKING FOOD!

So what did I learn?  Here are five common threads to fuel your body for maximum energy:

• Eat fresh organic veggies.
• Eat hormone /chemical free...