Alex Shalman.comPractical Personal Development

Liz Strauss is the chief operating SOB (Successful and Outstanding Blogger) of Successful-blog.com. She has the skill and talent of interacting with her reader base in a very unique and outstanding fashion. You can see how people gather around to interact with her during her Tuesday Night Comment nights.

If you visit the work with Liz page, you will see that her career description is Connector and Performance manager. If you’re wondering what this means… it basically means that if you want to use a blog to boost the performance of your business, and you need a coach, Liz is your woman.

Liz founded SOBCon, which is a biz school for bloggers. This year, May 2, 3, and 4 in Chicago, Liz has put together an amazing team of speakers that will help people take their blogging business to the next level. I was personally at the SOBCon07, and I believe the information I learned, and the networking I did was invaluable. This event offers a one of a kind level of interaction between 250 amazing bloggers. I already bought my ticket, and I’m excited to see everyone in Chicago.

Liz is considered to be the web’s most influential relationship blogger, and that’s no surprise with the following moto:

“Relationships are everyone’s business, and every business is relationships”

Without further delay, here is Liz and the…

1. How do you define happiness?

Happiness is something I notice later. . . . To me happiness and happening go together.

When I’m happy, I’m so in the moment, I’m not thinking about who I am or how much time I have. I’m totally a part of what’s happening. I’m focused on the people I’m with, the ideas we’re talking about, the environment I’m in, the sunrise I see. It’s a Zen-like, not thinking.

2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?

I really don’t have a clue. I think I was as happy then as I was able to be. Happy in the world as I saw it in the way I saw myself fit into it.

I have a different definition of happiness now. I think happiness gets easier as you learn how to do it.

3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)

I don’t really do anything on a daily basis. I keep watch for negative feelings and when I see one, I remind myself of the energy they steal. I rewrite them on the spot with new ones. When I can I avoid folks who are negative a lot. Positive people attract positive events and feelings.

4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?

I used to buy into other people’s fights and agendas. Then wonder why they weren’t grateful. I realize now that folks need to fight their own battles. Coming to that conclusion has helped me a great deal.

Understanding that whatever I do for someone else is something I’ve agreed to do has made me think twice before agreeing. Now, it’s always a joyful experience to help. When strangers ask it’s easy to say, “No, I really have to save my time for folks who know me.”

One guy recently wrote to request my “professional opinion” on an idea he had, saying he needed it immediately. I’d never met the guy before. I wrote back saying how flattered I was and how thrilled that he understood that I was a professional.

I said I could understand if he couldn’t afford my professional fee, I hoped he could understand that my “pro bono” hours are booked up for the next three weeks. If he could wait, I’d slot him in then. So far, he hasn’t written back. hmmmm

I’m happy I didn’t give my time to someone who didn’t value it.

5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?

I plan to keep checking off things that I want to do, goals that I want to accomplish. I’m much more focused and walking slower to get where I want to go, enjoying the sunrises and sunsets as I get there.

And making sure that my friends and family are a big part of keeping my head, heart, and the meaning of life in everything that I do.

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To get more info about what the Happiness Project is and isn’t, please visit the Introduction Post. To see a running list of all participants, which I will be updating as things happen, please visit the Happiness Project Page.

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