Everyone is Different
Happiness in life is like a smorgasbord. If 100 people went to a smorgasbord and each put food on their plate in the quantity and mix that each felt would be most pleasing to him, every plate would be different. Even a husband and wife will go up to the smorgasbord and come back with plates that look completely different. Happiness is the same way. Each person requires a particular combination of those ingredients to feel the very best about himself or herself.

Listen to Your Heart 
Your mix is changing continually. If you went to the same smorgasbord every day for a year, you probably would come back with a different plateful of food each time. Each day-sometimes each hour-only you can tell what it takes to make you happy. Therefore, the only way to judge whether a job, a relationship, an investment, or any decision, is right for you is to get in touch with your feelings and listen to your heart.

Be True to Yourself
You're true to yourself only when you follow your inner light, when you listen to what Ralph Waldo Emerson called the "still, small voice within." You're being the very best person you can be only when you have the courage and the fortitude to allow your definition of happiness, whatever it may be, to be the guiding light of every part of your life.

There Are No Limits
A very important point on the subject of happiness is whether or not you feel that you "deserve" to be happy.

Accept the notion that you deserve all the happiness you can honestly attain through the application of your talents and abilities. The more you like and respect yourself, the more deserving you will feel of the good things in life. And the more deserving you feel, the more likely you will attain and hold on to the happiness you are working toward.

Make Happiness Your Key Measure
You should make happiness the organizing principle of your life. Compare every possible action and decision you make against your standard of happiness to see whether that action would make you happier or unhappier. Soon, you will discover that almost all of the problems in your life come from choices that you have made - or are currently making - that do not contribute to your happiness.

Pay the Price
Of course, there are countless times when you will have to do little things that don't make you happy along the way toward those larger things that make you very happy indeed. We call this paying the price of success in advance. You must pay your dues. Sometimes these interim steps don't make you happy directly, but the happiness you achieve from attaining your goal will be so great that it totally overwhelms the temporary inconveniences and dissatisfactions you have to endure in order to get there.

The best thing you can do for yourself is believe in yourself. You know you're a valuable person, and you should act like it. By realizing your own true potential everybody else will too. When you think positively, you develop the confidence that attracts people to you.

When you feel good about yourself and what you have to offer, people recognize this and they want to learn more about you. A positive attitude is the best thing you can bring to any table. You are your own strongest asset. The best way to begin thinking positively about yourself is to "do your homework." Here are five simple steps that can help you fully realize how valuable you are:

1. Assess yourself

Make a mental list or jot down on paper what your best qualities are. It's important to be honest with yourself about this. You need to know these things, so you'll feel confident about communicating them to others. Put aside some time to make this list, so you will be prepared when the time comes. If you're not sure where to start, ask a trusted friend who knows you well to suggest what they think your strongest points are.

2. Keep a positive state of mind

Remember, you CAN fulfill your dreams. If you have had bad luck in the past, remind yourself that there's always hope. Hard work does pay off. You may not find it right away, but if you stay positive, you will get positive results.

3. Re-program yourself

Sometimes the only thing getting in our way is ourselves. Your mind frame has a lot to do with the way you see things and how you get things done.

Make everything you do somehow benefit you or someone you care about. Keep reminding yourself that the end result will be a good one. Next, make little changes that will help you in the long run. Lastly, don't focus on the things you've done (or faced) that have hurt you. Instead, focus on the things you've done to improve yourself and make a list of things you can do from now on to create a positive outlook.

4. Visualize and achieve

The most important thing about positive thinking, is seeing yourself achieving your goal. You know you can do it, so start by telling yourself that. You are your best motivator, so act as if. Visualize yourself in the dreams you desire and you will start to believe. Whatever you do-take yourself seriously. You have the power, so use it. Visualize by imagining or seeing a picture of what you want in your mind. Believing in yourself is the best thing you can do to get closer to your dream. Realize this dream and you will achieve it.

With your newfound attitude, you should be moving fast on the road to success. You will be amazed by the power of positive thinking and how much it can do for you. This will give you the power and confidence to prove yourself to others (and yourself) and show how indispensable you are.

Taken from here:
http://www.lifereboot.com/2007/10-articles-that-changed-my-life/

#1 - Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

For teaching me to stop attributing value to unimportant things, and start trusting my instincts. Before reading Jobs’ speech, I was working a job I hated because it was really the only thing I ever tried. It was what I knew. Jobs says “You’ve got to find what you love.” His article helped me realize that I was wasting my life living someone else’s dream. If I settled for someone else’s dream, I’d grow old and die without ever seeking my own.

#2 - Violent Acres’ Most People Are Depressed For a Very Good Reason

For teaching me that being depressed had nothing to do with the serotonin in my brain — the reason I felt depressed was because my life sucked. I was making choices just to appease the opinions of people around me, when I should have been making choices to appease myself. This article helped me realize that medication was not the solution to my joyless lifestyle — the true remedy was to start making my own choices to live a more fulfilling life.

#3 - Steve Pavlina’s Don’t Die With Your Music Still In You

For teaching me that “to abandon a comfortable lifestyle that isn’t deeply fulfilling is to abandon nothing.” Steve’s article helped me understand I was defending a comfortable career without good reason. At the start of each workday, I was reluctant to get out of bed. At the end of each workday, the amount of satisfaction I received from the work I was doing was nil. Steve caused me to ask myself: Why should I stay loyal to such a meaningless job?

#4 - Brian Kim’s How to Find What You Love to Do

For emphasizing the importance of self-assessment. Brian made me take a good hard look at myself and figure out what it is that makes me happiest. What’s more, his article discusses how uncertainty and fear are the most common obstacles preventing you from doing what you love to do. His solution involves self-analysis: identify your skills and interests, then use your strengths to live your passion. In Brian’s words, “conquer indecision and ACT, and you will most definitely conquer all fear.”

#5 - Fred Gratzon’s Top 10 Signs You’re Made to be an Entrepreneur

For helping me understand that the reason I’m reluctant to get a job is because I’d rather be the boss, president, or sole proprietor of my own creation. Thanks to Fred’s article, I was able to see the entrepreneur in me: I’m always looking for a way for things to be simplified, made more efficient, or automated by a computer. There’s a reason I feel this way — and it’s for the same reason that I don’t want to have to answer to someone else.

#6 - Steve Pavlina’s 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

For teaching me that working for other people is stupid. Self-employment using passive income is the best way to earn money without trading away life’s freedoms. In other words, Steve helped me understand it’s possible to be “Happily Jobless.”

#7 - Darren Rowse’s 18 Lessons I’ve Learnt About Blogging

For teaching me to use the power of exponential growth. Like any other long-term investment, creating a successful blog takes time. Along the way, you’re bound to have ups and downs, and people will undoubtedly tell you that you suck. Darren says that so long as you be yourself, work hard, and are willing to experiment, your efforts will be rewarded.

#8 - Caro Clarke’s Are You a Writer?

For helping me realize my dream of becoming a writer. Although many people have tried to tell me that I’m a writer at heart, I always disregarded their comments under the belief that it wasn’t true. After reading Caro’s article, I recognized the writer in me: I get my inspiration from the world around me, and write every day because I enjoy it. When I’m not writing, I’m often thinking about writing. The signs are clear — I am a writer.

#9 - Danielle Gibbings’ Need a Reboot?

For being the very first source of encouragement from a complete stranger. Danielle discovered my blog during its infancy, and was inspired by the movement I was trying to create. She wrote about LifeReboot on her own blog to help lead more readers to my site. She read my site often and left encouraging comments. She sent me my very first donation. Danielle’s supportive attitude helped me more than she’ll ever know. She helped me build confidence in my decision to pursue writing, and caused me to realize how I was finally on the right track.

#10 - My own 10 Reasons It Doesn’t Pay To Be “The Computer Guy”

Chances are, some of these articles won’t affect you the same way they affected me. I believe that’s to be expected, since we’re all different people.

Think about it. Life-altering advice exists online. Advice to help you get out of debt, leave a dead-end relationship, or whatever type of self-improvement you can possibly imagine. All you need to do is consciously seek it out.

You’ll know once you’ve discovered it. The advice will resonate with you, inspire you, and maybe even change your life.

Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
- Mark 4:25

The Law of Attraction states that we attract into our lives that which aligns with our dominant thoughts. For example, think thoughts that align with poverty, and you'll be poor. Consistently think thoughts of wealth, and you'll attract financial abundance.

Many people believe that their conditions give rise to their thoughts. For example, you may think about being alone because you are alone. But the Law of Attraction suggests the opposite is also true -- your thoughts create your conditions as well. This implies you can actually create different conditions by consistently holding thoughts that no longer reinforce your current reality but which instead align with the new reality you wish to create. For example, to attract a new relationship, you would begin thinking the thoughts and feeling the feelings you'd have if the relationship were already part of your present reality.

The quote above is from one of Jesus' parables, and it can be interpreted as a description of the Law of Attraction. Whatever you believe you already have, you'll attract more of. Whatever you believe is scarce in your life, you'll eventually lose. The phrasing of the quote also suggests some kind of third-party action at work. Your results are either "given" to you or "taken" from you as a result of universal law.

The line Jesus spoke immediately preceding this quote is: "With the measure you use it, it will be measured to you -- and even more." The Law of Attraction isn't an all or nothing endeavor. If you use it to a magnificent degree, you'll get magnificent results. If you use it weakly, you'll get weak results.

I've noticed a fairly consistent pattern with those who successfully manifest major life changes with the Law of Attraction. These people do not merely dabble. They go over the top in shifting their thoughts away from what they don't want, away from what they're already getting, and onto what they want to create. Such people are able to hold these intentions because they immediately begin turning their new thoughts into habits. This ensures they successfully hold their intentions long enough to dissolve the old thought patterns.

On the other hand, those who fail to get results with the Law of Attraction also follow a consistent pattern. They never turn their intentions into habitual thought patterns. After they create positive intentions for their desires, they still spend most of their time thinking about what they don't want or about what they're already getting. So in accordance with Jesus' quote, these people are just "given more" of the same, and nothing really changes.

If you focus on what you already have, you'll continue to get exactly that. But you can manifest major changes in your life by learning to focus your thoughts on your desires instead of your pre-existing circumstances.

If you're already delighted and fulfilled by your present circumstances, that's wonderful. Focus on them all you want. Feel grateful for them. Allow yourself to attract more of the same because it's all good.

However, if you find yourself experiencing circumstances you'd like to change, then you must -- absolutely must -- begin to withdraw your attention from those circumstances and get yourself thinking about what you want.

What gives you the ability to do this is the power of conscious choice. Regardless of your present circumstances, you have the ability to choose what you think about. It's too easy to get sucked into the pattern of dwelling what you're already getting, so you need to take steps to ensure that you're able to stay focused on your desires. In other words you must turn your new mode of thinking into a habit. If you fail to do that, your efforts with the Law of Attraction will be in vain.

Once you form a new intention, I suggest you alter your physical environment in such a way that it's impossible for you not to think about the intention several times each day. Post the intention on your walls, use it as your computer's background wallpaper or screen saver, or post sticky notes all around your house. Literally stick your intention right in front of your face, so you can't help but notice it.

For your most important intentions, I recommend you create an intention shrine in your home and/or office. Select a specific physical location, and fill it with symbolic representations of your desire. For example, a while back I assembled a small 'shrine' in the corner of my house to represent my intention to manifest greater financial independence. I used an old printer stand for the base of the shrine. On top of it I placed a fountain, representing the flow of wealth; two "lucky bamboo" plants, representing good fortune and growth, a small turtle statue, representing stability; two candles, representing energy; a mirror, representing multiplicity; and a small crossbow replica, representing clear aim and focus. The total area used by the shrine was only 1.5 feet by 2 feet, and setting it up was easy.

Every time I entered my home 'office', I couldn't help but notice my wealth shrine. It was only 2 feet from my desk chair, so I can't help but notice it. The shrine was very low maintenance, but I occasionally tended to it by watering the plants, adding water to the fountain, and lighting and replacing the candles, so it was always refreshing itself in my mind. To everyone else it simply looked like a collection of interesting decorations, but to me it was a symbolic representation of my intention to live in the flow of abundance. Even when I didn't think about it consciously, I knew my subconscious mind was getting the message.

Once you shift your thinking to a mindset of 'intention', your reality will gradually chang to reflect it. As part of the original intent to experience this change "for the highest good of all," I'm freely sharing these ideas so you can benefit from the same process.

I'm not suggesting the shrine itself had any magical power. The benefit of an intention shrine is that it serves as a constant physical reminder of your desires, helping you permanently shift your thoughts towards what you want. A shrine helps to amplify your intentions. By using symbolic representations that hold meaning for you, you bypass left-brained resistance and deliver your intention straight to your subconscious. Whenever you catch a glimpse of your shrine, even if you don't consciously notice it, it will reinforce your intention in your thoughts.

Whenever you form a new intention, take the time to make it a part of your physical reality. Don't waste time vainly trying to hold your desire as pure thought. Make it real and give it form immediately, so that on some level, you're proclaiming that you already have what you desire. Then in accordance with Jesus' statement, you will be given more, and your intention will soon begin to manifest.