But even Walt Disney himself knew that it was dangerous to contain happiness to a particular location. He said, “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things. So I think happiness is contentment but it doesn’t mean you have to have wealth. All individuals are different and some of us just wouldn’t be satisfied with just carrying out a routine job and being happy.”

The most powerful happiness is created in your mind. Remember that you are creating your own happy place. The happiest place on earth can be wherever you are. Through your writing and creative work, you are creating your own reality. And you can invite others there to enjoy it too.

Happiness is not some distant time or place in the future. It’s right now, and you can create it. It’s not in the future somewhere when you publish the next book, get the deal, or reach some other goal. Happiness has to lie in the work you do each day.

Happiness can be created right here, right now. All you have to do is change your mindset.

Daily Question: Do you believe you can experience happiness right here, right now? Why or why not?

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There are a lot of questions you have probably asked about the results of your writing. Here are a few of them:

Will it make my life better?

Will it make me money?

Will it increase my status?

Will it grow the size of my audience?

Will it get me closer to a publishing deal?

Will it give me material I can use elsewhere?

Those are all good and valid questions to ask about your writing. Here is another important one to consider:

Will it make me happy?

That doesn’t mean writing is only a self-centered pursuit. If happiness is the only measurement we use to determine the value of an activity, our lives will always be focused inward.

That being said, happiness is a good indicator of whether you’re doing the right kind of work in the first place. Ernest Hemingway certainly felt this way about writing. He said, “Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done—so I do it. And it makes me happy when I do it well.”

Note here that Hemingway put a condition upon the happiness that writing brings into his life. He said, “… when I do it well.”

Can writing make you happy? Yes, of course. But happiness that truly lasts is not the result of external measurements. Money, the size of your audience, or a publishing contract will not bring lasting happiness.

Instead, happiness in your writing will only come when you have done the job well… when you have put the time, effort, and excellence into the work.

External rewards are unpredictable and depend on the judgments or actions of other people. Internal happiness is something you can enjoy every single day, no matter what other people do.

The post Does It Make You Happy? appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.