If not – it’s time to start allowing this for yourself.

It all begins with deciding that it’s okay to build a life around your preferences.

I became more comfortable with this when I realized that my preferences are the gifts I bring to the world, and that they are unique unto me, just as yours are unique unto you.

Creating a recipe for a happy life by building a life around your preferences and your strengths, is not selfish, it's what you planned to do before you got here.

Wikipedia definition of Preference (also called "taste" or "penchant"): is a concept, used in the social sciences, particularly economics. It assumes a real or imagined "choice" between alternatives and the possibility of rank ordering of these alternatives, based on happiness, satisfaction, gratification, enjoyment, utility they provide. More generally, it can be seen as a source of motivation. In cognitive sciences, individual preferences enable choice of objectives/goals.

Sudbury Valley is a school founded in 1968 and located in Framingham, MA. The school is devoted to helping students learn to think for themselves.

They focus on helping students direct their lives, take responsibility for outcomes, set priorities, allocate resources, and work with others in a vibrant community.

I became extremely interested in the Sudbury Valley School when I first heard about it years ago.

Not because I have kids.

Not because I wanted to teach there.

But because I understood the importance of what this school is instilling in their students at a young age: an ability to set and direct their lives based on their innate interest, talents, strengths and gifts.

This awareness and willingness to create a self directed life CAN be awakened and strengthened, and it's an important part of creating a Wake Up Eager life.

To find out more about Sudbury Valley School, click here.

Here are some of the tools I’ve used to help me bring more of me to my life. Use these resources to build a life based on your own preferences and on your terms.

It is your gift to the world.

On your quest to uncovering your own preferences and your own recipe for a happy life I recommend the practice of journaling.

I write in simple (nothing fancy) notebooks every day.

I write:

• lists of appreciation and focus wheels
• about what I want to happen
• about what did happen
• what went well
• what drained me

I find that journaling helps me become more conscious about how I spend my days and time. It helps me look more objectively at my day and my actions.

personal Development Blogger Steve Pavlina had this to say about, Journaling (Link opens a new window.)

His blog is an interesting, off-beat resource for more insights around life. I don't always agree with him, but I LOVE that he's un-apologetically himself. He's a good example of someone who's found his own recipe for a happy life - living life on his own terms.

In this article he talks about how he uses journaling for finding life purpose and self direction. He shares excerpts from his own journal and he provides a clear understanding of how it's helped promote clarity and provided stress management help:

Blogger Steve P. shares, "Journaling allows you to break free of sequential thinking and examine your thoughts from a bird’s-eye view. When you record your sequential thoughts in a tangible medium, you can then go back and review those thoughts from a third-person perspective.

While you’re recording the thoughts, you’re in first-person mode. But when you’re reading them, you can remain dissociated instead of associated.

This dissociative view, when combined with what you’ve already learned from the associative view, will bring you much closer to seeing the truth of your situation."

Click here for more about journaling, plus journal writing ideas.

As a consultant I've been able to teach and use almost every type of assessment available. They're fun and it's great way to learn more about ourselves.

Over time though, I found that while some of the assessments were 'interesting' and 'fun' - they didn't help me get me to where I wanted to go - the information was not useful.

Then I found the Communication Style, Personality Quiz and the Workplace Motivators Assessments.

Over the years I've 'stuck' with these assessments because the results can be applied to my life. They help name, claim, understand and build your life around your preferences.

These assessments have helped me stay on track and move forward daily, continually refining and shaping my own recipe for a happy life.

These recipe for a happy life assessments the Workplace Motivators and the Communication Style/Personality Quiz Report along with my free online development worksheets and eCourses, can be accessed immediately.

In this article, Finding Motivation, When It's Hell No, Don't Go See how I learned the pain of not following my Guidance, another version of not following my preferences.

This article demonstrates how hard it is to find balance in life when we ignore our preferences and make commitments simply to to please others.

In this article, The Definition of Balance & How to Balance Work Life and Home Life This article includes 5 mindset shifts/actions that are important to creating more balance and harmony in your life.

In this article, What is My Life Purpose? Get Off the Merry-Go-Round & Start Living - Three Simple Steps Get three simple, but not always easy, steps for determining your Life Purpose.

In this video article, If You Wanna Be Happy... Four Actions for Getting in Step with Your Soul Self Use this short video and these action steps to better define and follow your preferences.

In this video article: How to Choose a Career I share the top two things we need to do and what most gets in the way...

I write about my life - how I got to the place of living my perfect work. To find out more about how Wake Up Eager became my life's purpose and my journey along the way, click here.

Go back to Managing My Mind - Achievement Motivation

"You want do something, you go get it. Period."

A Recipe for a Happy Life...

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