Happiness Project: Aaron Potts of Today Is That Day
Aaron and I go way back, as he was one of my first blogging friends, and has showed me a great deal about networking and communication. His words still ring in my head sometimes as I decide if I will take a casual or professional tone in a conversation “you got it brother!”
Aaron operates a website called Today is That Day, where he freely distributes invaluable information and products about success. His moto? “My Goal Is Your Success!” I can digg that.
Aaron is a success-entrepreneur. He recently launched a personal development forum, which has a tight knit group of people, all interested in promoting each other’s well-being.
Aaron leverages his experience and knowledge as a personal trainer by providing free information in his site Fitness Destinations. With Aaron’s unique holistic approach to personal development, you won’t find the same voice anywhere else on the net.
Aaron’s books:
- Energy Harmonics
- How To Invoke The Law of Attraction
- Mental Meltdown: Weight Loss Begins in the Mind
- The Definitive Weight Loss
1. How do you define happiness?
Happiness is whenever you are perfectly content to do whatever you are doing at any given moment, and you have absolutely ZERO desire to change anything. If someone were to come up to you in that moment and ask “If you could do anything that you wanted to do right now, what would it be?”, your answer should be “This is it. I’m already doing it.” That’s happiness.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?
I would have to go with #8, and I would say that the number hasn’t really changed that much over the years!
When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot as far as money and some of the gadgets that other kids had, but I was raised in a very loving environment, I was incredibly self-sufficient with a drive to “get out and see the world,” and I had plenty of friends who enjoyed the adventure with me. I was always looking towards the future, though, and I had BIG plans.
As an adult, the situation is very similar. I am happy most of the time – right up there around #8 – and I have more than enough to be grateful for in my life, and to keep me happily doing things that I enjoy doing. However, just as when I was a child, I have BIG plans, and those plans require resources that I am still in the process of manifesting.
In the meantime, a lifetime (so far) of living around the #8 level is something that I can be…uh…HAPPY about! Numbers 9 and 10 coming right up!
3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)
More than anything else, I remind myself consistently throughout the day that I am doing whatever I am doing because I have the CHOICE to do it or not do it. I work at home, or wherever my laptop happens to take me, and no matter what the actual tasks are that I am concentrating on, I know that I am the only person in all the world who gets to decide what I do/don’t do from one moment to the next, and that in and of itself is the accomplishment of one of my past goals.
As far as the consistency of the feeling, it really depends on my workload. If I start to feel overwhelmed, then it is easy for stress to try and creep into my emotional state. However, I am able to keep that at bay for the most part, and productivity practices that I have implemented in recent months have really helped. It’s funny because “productivity” and “happiness” are two completely different words, yet one of them can lead to the other by providing a stress-free environment.
4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?
I am my own worst enemy! Although it is certainly true that I have what amounts to a ridiculous amount of work to do every day, that also doesn’t change the fact that I am the only one who can become stressed, frustrated, or fearful if those thing don’t always get done, or don’t get done completely.
What takes away from my happiness is whenever I feel like I haven’t “gotten the job done” well enough to provide the resources that both my present and my future life need. The best way for me to remove those obstacles is to stay productive. I am a firm believer that once you have truly done all that you can do in any given circumstance, worrying or stressing about what didn’t get done is a total waste of time. I work hard, and I work smart, and I work consistently, and as long as I stick to those principles, I can “shut down” after work each day with a clear conscience, and then I’m good.
5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?
Spend a lot more time at the beach! 
OK, maybe not JUST the beach, but spending more time outdoors, near the water’s edge, and traveling around the world are all things that bring me happiness, yet I do not do them as often as I would like right now.
When I get to the #9 or #10 level of happiness, I will likely be working in the same “arena” that I am working in now, I will just be doing it while spending less time actually “working”. Instead, I will spend more time relaxing and having fun while I plan the next stage of the journey! The next stage is already on the drawing board, by the way, and it will make A LOT of people happy!
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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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Posted by Alex Shalman in Happiness Project | February 14, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 14 comments
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Alex,
Much obliged for putting together this Happiness Project, and for this interview with me.
The more people who realize that happiness is an inside job, the more happy people that we’ll have, and that make ME happy!
You rock, Brother!
Anytime brother! =)
Hi Alex, I am REALLY enjoying your Happiness project! You’ve had so many great people already and today you have one of my favorites as well. Aaron is a tremendous guy and his personal development partners is a wonderful place to be. His genuineness shines through and I loved reading this post. Keep up the outstanding work Alex — I KNOW you will!
Gratefully, Jenny
Aaron, I love your definition of happiness. I am most happy when I spend time outdoors trail running and cycling 5 days/week, and go to bed exhausted and smiling. My goal is to reduce my work hours in the next 3 – 5 years so I can create more time for doing what I love. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my work, but I’d rather love it ~20-25 hrs/week instead of full-time!
@ Jenny – Thanks for your positive feedback! You are such a supportive and generous person, it is no wonder that you have accomplished so many wonderful things!
@Sarah – I couldn’t have put it any better myself – love the work, but just don’t spend as many hours doing it! They say that if you love your work that you’ll never “work” another day in your life, and I agree with that on a surface level However, I also (at least right now) have an obvious difference between “work” time and “play” time in my schedule every day!
Great stuff, Alex and Aaron.
I especially liked the answer to #3 – reminding ourselves of the choices we have in each and every moment of each and every day. Not only does it help the momentary happiness when we realize this, it’s also a great way to keep ourselves on track with where we want to end up in life.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Aaron. And Alex, thanks for putting this project together.
I am so glad to see Aaron as someone interviewed in this project.
I’ve read Today is That Day for almost a year now. I find Aaron’s writing throught provoking and inspirational.
Aaron is good people.
I wonder what would be the 9, 10 on the scale of happiness for you, Aaron?
I think the most important ingredients for my personal happiness are certainly my wonderful wife and our ability to live our life according to our own liking without any external factors holding us back.
Yours
John
@Lyman – Great to hear from you, as always, Lyman! I have been sporadic over at PDP, but I hope to see some new posts from you when I get back over there. Your words are always worth reading!
@Dean – Thank you so much for the positive vibes, Dean. When it comes down to it, the relationships that we have with people are based on our perceptions of them, so I’m glad that I have consistently left you with a good impression!
@John – You have already answered the question, John! When all of my business ventures are at a success level where I feel like there is nothing holding me back and I feel like I have 100% room to move, that’s when I’ll start on those 9’s and 10’s.
It’s a great testament to Aaron’s success that he’s got so many comments on his post, isn’t it!
Way to go, Aaron – and thanks for sharing.
Adam,
It was my pleasure to take part in a wonderful project like this! I appreciate the props, and good to see you out in the “commentosphere” again!
I don’t wish to add to this love in and embarrass Aaron too much, BUT I’d like to offer my 2 cents and say he’s a really great guy. Very genuine, honest and has no issue with sharing knowledge and helping other bloggers out. As somebody that is in the same town as him it would have been easy for him to have shut me out and in fact I thought at one stage he’d done just that (my bad!), but instead he has been supportive and friendly.
I’m hoping to work more closely with him at some stage, but in the meantime wish him every success.
BTW, a fascinating series this Alex!
ROTFLMAO! I misread the date and thought this had been posted last week. How did I get here I have no idea. I need help!