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Happy Living | Inspiration into Action“When something is right, it will feel easier and much more effortless.”
(Sherry Argov)

In just ten days, 2016 comes to an end, and wow, what an amazing year it has been at Happy Living. My annual theme for this year was Neutrality: With a life view of satisfaction, with the emotion of trust, and the process of release. My intention was to coast through each day, pushing less, accepting more. I was a bit worried that pushing less would result in getting less done. What I learned is that slowing down and paying attention actually meant I achieved more. It also meant that the things life presented to me were more in alignment with who I am and what I want. That brought with it a great sense of ease
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Effortlessness

At the end of 2015, our strategy became crystal clear to me; Happy Living’s job is to inspire others to take action on inspiration, and to believe that a better self is always possible – today, every day, for the rest of their lives. That meant that in 2016, our second full year in business, we woke every day knowing our purpose. With that knowing, our work flowed more easily and our 3 Cs expanded naturally and with less effort. Our content, which began as weekly blog posts, has now expanded to include books and talks. Our community, which began as a small group of family and friends, has grown by nearly 400% and has expanded into all twelve Amazon marketplaces around the globe. We continue to make meaningful connections with like-minded people through our Something Significant interviews, bringing in guest writers, and suddenly we are being invited to give interviews and talks at conferences.

#MotivationalMonday

When we launched Happy Living in March of 2014, we committed to twice weekly blog posts. It pleases me that we have maintained that commitment without fail. Beginning in the brand new year of 2017, we’ll be expanding into Mondays too.

Every other Monday, we’ll be featuring a creative little accident we call Blog Theatre. I am very excited about this first-of-its-kind mash-up of blog posts and theatrical performance. Blog Theatre brings our most inspiring blog posts to life with rousing theatrical mini one-man shows. I hope these performances will add a short burst of inspiration to your Mondays in an audio-only podcast format.

Other exciting additions are coming in the New Year too. I define financial fitness as having the means to provide for yourself and others, and charitable giving is a central belief in my philosophy. So Happy Living will be officially partnering with its first charitable organization. One Monday each month, we’ll feature an inspiring video from Make-A-Wish . Our first video features basketball superstar Steph Curry[1] and Ashley, a 16-year-old girl with Leukemia. This is a Wish story of exhilaration, selflessness, and the love that matters most. It’ll bring tears to your eyes and joy to your heart.

Easy Expansion

In My Philosophy for Mental Fitness, I shared how the more I do the things I love, the more I’m rewiring my brain to love the things I do, and this in turn creates more emotional wellbeing and happiness. But it does even more than that. When I immerse myself in the work I love (reading, learning, experimenting and writing about things to improve the health and wellbeing of the world, one person at a time), it seems the Universe conspires to help me, too. Just consider these three unforeseen opportunities that just flowed to me.

Over the summer, I made the decision to become an active fundraiser for Make-A-Wish. In September, I met with the CEO of our local Make-A-Wish chapter to discuss building a closer relationship between her North Carolina branch and Happy Living. Then, in October, I was unexpectedly invited to a lunch meeting with Make-A-Wish’s creator and co-founder, Frank Shankwitz. Stay tuned for an inspirational Something Significant interview with Frank in the coming months, and for his movie, Wishman [2], to be released in the summer of 2017.

Focusing on my writing brought a rapid, surprising, and diverse expansion in speaking engagements, including two keynote[3] addresses, three workshops[4], two webinars[5], one radio podcast[6], an on-line interview as a gut health expert[7], and a twelve-minute-convo[8] to help a podcaster from Trinidad and Tobago set a world record.

Then, just two months ago, I received an unsolicited 900+ word email outlining a strategy to “further our message and expand our platform” at Happy Living by setting up an office in the United Kingdom. I’m excited to visit the two inspiring women who sent the email and explore their ideas early in the New Year.

Priorities for 2017

Engaging in the work I love at Happy Living continues to ignite a whole stream of new connections, unforeseen meetings, and assistance that I never could have imagined. It also lights my inner fire. My top priority for 2017 is to wake every day “on purpose” and work happily to inspire others to take action on inspiration, and to believe that a better self is always possible – today, every day, for the rest of their lives.

Happy Holidays

This is our final post for the year. It’s time for me to shut down, disconnect, and pour love on my family and friends.

2016 was another amazing year at Happy Living, and we thank you for joining us [9] on this incredible journey.

I wish you and yours every joy you can imagine this holiday season! See you in 2017!!

Love, Matt

Image via Unsplash | This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and then purchase we will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for reading & supporting Happy Living!

[1] @StephCurryNBA

[2] Wishman the book is available now

[3] ICPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV and Paleo f(x) in Austin, TX

[4] ICPA Annual Conference, Paleo f(x) and the World Domination Summit in Portland, OR

[5] Character Day and A Simple Business Forecasting Process for Entrepreneurs

[6] This Way to Happy Living with Matt Gersper on Dr. Lo Radio

[7] Video Podcast (Nov ’16): The Gut Health Turn Around Series 2.0

[8] 12 Minute Convo

[9] Receive Blog Theatre, deeply moving Make-A-Wish videos, and inspiring, five-minutes-to-read posts about creating a more meaningful, successful, and happy life… all delivered right to your inbox once a week