…Maybe that’s the problem.

Pursuing happiness is like chasing a rainbow. The faster we go, the harder we try, the farther off it becomes.

I have learned that happiness is not a pursuit— it’s a choice. Happiness is a state of mind, obtainable at any time, in any moment of your choosing.

Licking a cone of creamy vanilla Häagen-Dazs makes me happy. But if someone knocks the cone out of my hand, I’m no longer happy. Happiness can be fleeting and unstable, like that ice cream cone. It’s really just a temporary sensation of pleasure, like entertainment, shopping, eating or sex.

Our beliefs about what will make us happy are heavily influenced by other people, Hollywood or commercial media. We race along this “hedonic treadmill” perpetually feeling like something is missing, like happiness is one toy, one trinket or one promotion away, but always just beyond our reach.

And still no rainbow. Disappointing career choices, heartbreaking relationships and midlife crises indicate that our assumptions about happiness and the pursuit of it often miss the mark.

It’s not the pursuit of happiness we should concern ourselves with, but rather the pursuit of fulfillment, purpose and significance.

If I have created a life of meaning in which I have a deep sense of purpose and value, that won’t change because someone knocks my ice cream cone over. Fulfillment is a state of existence, not a fleeting emotion.

What then creates a fulfilling life?

That’s the all-important question you have to answer for yourself. In fact, it’s the subject of the classic tome Man’s Search for Meaning (which I recommend!) by psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl. Typically a life of meaning requires deep relationships, a connection to a community, a sense of well-being, contribution to others and continual challenge, growth, learning and progress. Now those are some virtues worth pursuing. And once you start out on this pursuit, you will realize that crossing the finish line is not what’s most rewarding; the journey itself and the anticipation of achieving your goal is what’s so exhilarating and wonderful.

So what about being happy?

There are two ways you can choose to be happy at any moment.
One: Think about all you have to be grateful for. Some of the happiest people I have ever met are those who have comparatively few accoutrements to be happy about. When you feel gratitude, you cannot feel fear or worry at the same time. Gratitude washes it all away. If you are reading this, you’re breathing and above ground, so you have many blessings to be grateful for—just remind yourself at any moment you want to feel happy.

The second way to choose happiness—the best way, in my opinion—is to do something to make someone else happy. The person who bestows happiness always gets much more of it in return.

The June issue of SUCCESS is dedicated to the topic of happiness—what is it, how do you find it and how do you sustain it? An important enough of a discussion that we expanded the issue by an extra 20 pages (but same price!). And the CD in the issue is crammed with great content. We put my mentor Jim Rohn on it to address this important topic, as well as Deepak Chopra. There is also an excellent interview with the marketing guru Dan Kennedy on it. Don’t miss it.

I hope this issue of SUCCESS and this blog post not only brings you much happiness but also helps you in your pursuit of finding greater meaning, purpose and fulfillment in life.

How do YOU define happiness? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. ‘Share’ and ‘Like’ this post as well.

“I must be the greatest.”

That is what 22-year-old Cassius Clay (who would become Muhammad Ali) said after defeating Sonny Liston in 1964 to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

But as Ali would prove to us, greatness is not defined in moments of victory; it is defined in the moments after a defeat. Greatness is in the comeback.

Three years after winning the championship, Ali was stripped of his title, had his license suspended and was not allowed to leave the country because of his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military.

Without a license to earn a living for nearly four years, Ali went broke. His rival, Joe Frazier, who succeeded Ali as champion, had to loan Ali money to fight his court case to get his license reinstated.

That set the stage for “The Fight of the Century” on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden (even Frank Sinatra couldn’t get a ringside seat, although he did see the bout while shooting photos for Life magazine).

In the 15th and final round, Frazier floored Ali with a hard left hook. Ali struggled to his feet, his jaw badly swollen, only to suffer several more stunning blows. The decision was unanimous: Frazier retained the title, dealing Ali his first professional loss.

In 1972 and 1973, Ali lost twice, to Elmo Henderson (who?) and Ken Norton (who broke Ali’s jaw). Where’s the greatness?

Later in 1973, Ali defeated Norton in a rematch, and in 1974 he would beat Frazier in the “Ali-Frazier II” bout. But Frazier had already lost his title to Big George Foreman.

Then came “The Rumble in the Jungle” on Oct. 30, 1974, pitting Ali against Foreman. read more »

Let me acknowledge something:
It can be tough out there!

Every day we’re bombarded with scary, ugly, scandalous and tragic news.

Being an election year, the political rhetoric is at epic levels, with repeated messages of how broken, corrupt and terrible everything and everyone is.

Even your own friends, family and colleagues are parroting these sentiments around water coolers, in hallway conversations and at cocktail parties.

Over time you might even find these  attitudes echoed in the voice in your own head. It can become maddening.

What do you do? Where do you turn?
How do you break this self-perpetuating cycle of fear, worry and negativity?

THAT is why we’re here. That’s the purpose of SUCCESS.

Through the fog of all the negative, fearful and worrisome messages that continually swirl around us, we are here to be your beacon of light and hope—a resource you can turn to for inspiration, optimism and to find out what’s right with the world.

We also show you what’s possible for you; if you take the wheel of your ship and captain your own destiny, we will be the wind in your sails. We will provide you the map needed to chart a course toward your long-held goals, dreams and ambitions, and to finally make them real.

These are times of the greatest opportunities in all human history. Don’t let anyone or anything convince you otherwise. There has never been a better time for the individual—the entrepreneur—to take control of his or her financial future.

Unlike any other time in history, you now have the entire globe as your marketplace literally right at your fingertips. And at SUCCESS magazine we are here to support, encourage and help you accomplish your entrepreneurial dreams.

Our empowering message is one thing that sets SUCCESS apart from other publications. Another thing that distinguishes SUCCESS is the CD enclosed in each issue, which has become the heart and soul of our experience together. This is a feature not available in any other national newsstand publication today or at anytime in publishing past. This is done at great expense and considerable additional effort. We think it’s worth it.

Why do we do it? read more »

In this age of information and technology, we have a world of resources at our fingertips.

Much of human knowledge has been scanned, transcribed, recited and digitized for immediate Google access. Today there are more teachers, preachers, coaches, consultants, mentors and “experts” at your disposal than ever. But the most overlooked, underutilized and divinely powerful resource of them all is you—your own inner voice, intuition and instinct.

I think many people have lost contact with their inner resource.

We live in an era in which everyone around us is telling us what we should do—the government, religious authorities, academic leaders, news media, commercial marketers, our bosses, our parents and now hundreds of friends on Facebook and Twitter every day.

I believe the deluge of all these available resources, ideas and opinions can overwhelm us, put us into a bit of a stupor and make us lazy. As Albert Einstein once said, “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” You cannot simply study the wisdom of others. You have to think through ideas yourself and tap your own inner wisdom.

Too often we are consumed by some epic hunt for the Holy Grail. We’re looking for someone else’s secret, answer, formula or big idea in order to get where we want to go.

Over time, and through practice, I have found that the answers to life’s most vexing questions don’t exist on Ask.com, YouTube or Wikipedia, but reside within us. The Holy Grail, as it were, isn’t out there to be found, but lies within us, waiting to be discovered.

As you know, I interview people for a living. It’s true that incredible insights, inspiration and distinctions can be found by interviewing and studying people who have already been where you wish to go. But when it comes to the big issues—to those vexing questions and momentous decisions of life—the most insightful person to interview is read more »

As a society, I think we often misunderstand the word success.

Our society celebrates those who obtain fame, wealth, power and celebrity, no matter the means—ethical or not—and we call them successful. Success is often equated  to an achieved status, rather than to a measure of value or contribution.

We are taught early in life to strive for  success, to achieve the status—win the trophy, get the notable degree, land the big position, win the impressive title, acquire the bigger house, bring back the enviable vacation photos and collect the cars, boats, jewels and big bank account. And when we are waving from the mountaintop, having finally achieved these trappings of “success,” we often feel a stark emptiness inside.

What’s wrong?

We might have acquired everything we ever wanted, except the one thing that really matters—significance. We want to know that our lives meant something, that we’ve had a positive impact on the lives of others. And only significance provides that; success by itself cannot.

The interesting thing is you can be successful and not significant, but you cannot be significant without being successful.

In 2007, when we took over the stewardship of this legendary magazine, we decided not to change the name. Instead we have attempted to change the definition of success. We see success as read more »