Presented by Tom Muha, Ph.D.

See Dr Muha's column 'Achieving Happiness' in 'The Sunday Capital' newspaper in Annapolis, MD.

Are you asking yourself questions like these? "Why am I unhappy when I have a successful career, a beautiful house and car, and lots of other nice things?" " Why has my relationship with my spouse and kids become a source of conflict rather than bringing me a sense of contentment?" "What’s wrong with me that after I’ve achieved the American Dream I’m still not happy? Isn’t there something more to life?" Of course, you want to be happy. You have accomplished a great deal in your life. But, in spite of having all the trappings of success, you are confused and looking for somewhere to turn for information about how to overcome the sense of dissatisfaction you are experiencing. You can be happier. USA Today front page headlines recently announced, "What makes people happy? Psychologists now know." (12-9-02) For the first time in human history we have a scientific understanding of what makes people happy. A worldwide team of distinguished research psychologists lead by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman has just published the first comprehensive study on Authentic Happiness, and have published their results in a book by the same name. This web site, Achieving Authentic Happiness © , will provide you with an overview of this breakthrough work as well as information from a variety of other sources on how to apply the latest psychological research on happiness to your life. And my email newsletter will give you further advice on how to implement the information you will be learning. Click on Newsletter to subscribe. First, however, you will have the opportunity to measure your current level of authentic happiness. Next, I want you to hear about the incredible benefits that are associated with increasing your level of happiness. You’ll discover that there are actually four levels of happiness. After that, I’ll begin to explain what you can do to create a happier life by giving you an overview of what research has established as a blueprint for building a better life. Then, you will learn that there is now a scientific formula you can use for understanding and elevating your level happiness. Finally, you will find out what you can do to take yourself to the top by following my Seven Steps To Achieving Authentic Happiness ©. As an authentic happiness coach, I am committed to providing all of the resources that you will need in order to help yourself take the Seven Steps To Achieving Authentic Happiness ©. If at any point you feel that you would like personal assistance, just click on Contact Dr. Muha and I’ll get back to you shortly. As a licensed psychologist who has dedicated himself to bringing a higher level of Authentic Happiness into the lives of people everywhere, my mission is to accomplish the following: Teach people to overcome negative emotions (anger, fear and sadness) and replace them with positive thoughts and feelings.   Help individuals identify and cultivate their character strengths and use them in everyday to achieve happiness in their work, love, parenting and play.   Work with organizations to help them develop and support people’s positive emotions and strength of character so that they can make meaningful contributions to the progress of humankind.     Complete our Self-Assessment Form. THE BENEFITS OF BEING HAPPY 1. Better Mental Health: The Harvard Mental Health Letter reports that these are the chief characteristics of people who learn to be happy in life: a high sense of self-esteem a feeling of being in control of their lives the trait of being outgoing an optimistic outlook on life 2. Improved Physical Health: Dartmouth Medical School research demonstrated that optimists are much healthier and heal much faster when they do get sick than do pessimists. CA Department of Health completed a 29 year study and found that unhappy people were: - 50% more likely to have a stroke and - 50% more likely to die from that stroke. 3. Greater Financial Prosperity: Drs. Stanley and Danko study of The Millionaires Next Door found that among people of the same income level: PAW’s (Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth) had learned to be more optimistic than UAW’s (Under-accumulators of Wealth) 2) UAW’s had four times as many concerns about the future than PAW’s 3) UAW’s used over-spending as a means to alleviate their anxieties 4) PAW’s learned how to create a goal and follow a proactive plan to achieve financial security.   WORTH magazine’s net worth survey of the top 1% of the US population (median = $2.34 million) revealed that the most important factor in accumulating wealth was “tremendous persistence” towards that outcome. 4. Higher Career Success: Dr. Michael Mercer’s study of high achievers found that the single best predictor of success is optimism.   An Introduction to Achieving Authentic Happiness.   To learn more about how you can achieve authentic happiness, click on the Contact Us button and let me know how I can help you.