Episode 10 · May 27, 2021

I Choose to Be Happy: Happiness Is a Daily Decision

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In this installment of his 12-day series on the 12 Prosperity Pillars, George Wright III of The Daily Mastermind delivers Principle Number Seven: I choose to be happy. It sounds simple. It is not always easy. But George makes a compelling case that happiness is less a destination you reach and more a path you walk every single day.

If you have ever told yourself you will be happy once you get the promotion, the income, the relationship, or the house, this episode is for you. George challenges that assumption head-on and gives you practical tools to start generating happiness right now, not someday.

Why We Keep Postponing Happiness

Most people treat happiness as something they have not earned yet. They set it as a prize at the end of a long road. George points out that this mindset is exactly what keeps joy out of reach.

"It's not about finding happiness. Happiness is the way."

That quote, which George keeps on his desk daily, comes from Wayne Dyer. The insight is deceptively simple: happiness is not waiting for you at the finish line. It is the experience of running the race with intention and presence.

What You Really Want (It Is Not the Thing)

Here is one of the most reorienting ideas in the episode. George asks you to think about what you actually want. A car? A certain income? A relationship? Then he invites you to look one level deeper.

"What you truly desire are the emotions that that new car is going to give you, that that relationship's going to bring you, that that income or that lifestyle is going to afford you."

This reframe matters because if emotions are what you are really after, you do not have to wait for external circumstances to deliver them. You can learn to create them yourself, right now.

How to Prove to Yourself That You Can Create Happiness

George offers a straightforward exercise. Close your eyes and recall a moment when you were genuinely happy: the birth of a child, a major achievement, a moment of recognition. Play it back in your mind like a movie. Notice how those emotions return. That is your proof. You already have the ability to generate the feelings you want. The question is whether you will use it deliberately.

Building Your Personal Emotional Toolkit

George recommends creating what he calls a "book of power," a personal collection of quotes, stories, and memories that reliably trigger positive emotions. He also suggests using music strategically, whether that is putting on a playlist before the gym or leaning into something that lifts your spirit before a hard conversation.

The goal is to stack the odds in your favor. You cannot control a car breaking down or a difficult boss. But you can engineer your environment to make choosing happiness easier every single day.

"Success is not to be pursued. It is to be attracted."

When you walk around in a state of deliberately chosen happiness, you become magnetic. You attract the outcomes you want rather than chasing them from a place of lack.

Happiness Is a Daily Practice, Not a One-Time Decision

This is the piece most people miss. Choosing happiness is not a single declaration. It is a commitment you renew every morning. George is direct about this: you cannot set it and forget it. You have to be proactive. You have to create your emotional life on purpose, minute by minute.

That means building rituals, creating memories, using anchors like music or meaningful quotes, and consistently reminding yourself what you are really after: not the things, but the feelings those things represent.

Action Steps

Identify one powerful memory from your past when you felt genuinely happy. Practice reliving it vividly each morning for one week.
Start a "book of power" by writing down three quotes, stories, or memories that reliably shift your emotional state.
Choose one piece of music that immediately elevates your mood. Use it intentionally before a challenging part of your day.
When you catch yourself saying "I'll be happy when...", pause and ask: what emotion am I really after, and how can I create it today?
Set a daily intention to notice and document one genuinely happy moment. Over time, this builds an emotional library you can draw from.

Happiness is not something life hands you. It is something you choose, build, and practice. As George puts it, it is never too late to start living the life you were meant to live.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. I'm George Wright III and I'm here to provide you with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education so you can create your ultimate destiny. Thanks for being part of The Daily Mastermind today and also for making me a part of your daily rituals for success. Today I'm really excited about the topic. It's principle number seven and just as a reminder we are on day seven of a 12-day series on the 12 prosperity pillars. So today's pillar is principle number seven. I choose to be happy. Let me repeat that again. I choose to be happy. Now I want to start out this morning with a quote because I actually have this quote on my desk and I use it all the time and it's by Wayne Dyer and it goes like this. It's not about finding happiness. Happiness is the way. Let me repeat that again. It's not about finding happiness. Happiness is the way. See, this is one of the things that we all struggle with. I do. I'm sure you do as well as an entrepreneur and an individual that's constantly struggling to find happiness and fulfillment. So why is it that it's so hard to find happiness if happiness is simply a choice? Well, I'll tell you why. And I've thought about this a lot myself. It's really because we define happiness as something in the future. We define it as something that we we don't have yet. How many times have you asked yourself or how many times have you told yourself that you'll be happy when you get XYZ, a promotion, when you make this much money, when you get this type of relationship when you get to this point in your life It always about something in the future but here the thing Happiness is not a destination It is a path Wayne Dyer puts it really really well It not only a path but it actually the way to fulfillment, is to just choose to be happy. Because happiness is simply a choice, plain and simple. No matter how well we, or how eloquently we say it, happiness is simply a choice. You don't control the circumstances that are happening to you in your life right now. You can't control if your car breaks down. You can't control if your boss is riding you or giving you a hard time. You can't control people outside of yourself in your relationships. But here's the simple truth. You absolutely can control your mind and you can control your decisions. And so you simply need to make the decision to choose happiness. But here's the difficult part. You have to make that choice daily. You have to choose to be happy ongoing. You can't just let it handle itself. You've got to be proactive. You have to create your life and choose happiness. So let's talk about how you choose happiness. So before I do, let me just ask you a couple of questions. Actually, let me just ask you one question. What do you want? What do you want in life? Think about that for a second. Do you want a car? Do you want a house? you want things you know most of us want to get that certain job we want to get that certain relationship we want to get those things that income that lifestyle but here's what I'm going to mention to you I would have you consider that what you really want are the emotions that those things will provide for you I want you to consider that those things are actually not what you truly desire What you truly desire are the emotions that that new car is going to give you, that that relationships going to bring you, that that income or that lifestyle is going to afford you. The bottom line is we're all seeking the emotions of the things that we're chasing and here's the irony of it. You can create those emotions right now. I mean, think about it. Just imagine a time that you felt really happy. Let's just play this back in your mind like a movie. Think about a time when you were extremely happy. Maybe it was the birth of a child. Maybe it was a promotion. Maybe it's when you got recognized. Think about one of those times that you were extremely happy. Get that picture in your mind very vividly. Now can't you begin to feel those emotions again? Because I know that when you relive very good memories, you can relive those emotions. So if that's the case, then we can prove to ourselves that we can create the emotions that we're looking for. And here's the secret. The secret to being happy is being able to create those emotions while you're traveling the path to your destinations. Simply that. So here's what I would recommend. I would recommend you set a goal for yourself to create more memories. Create more emotions every single day. Make it a game. Maybe what you do is you try to make it a game to where you can vividly and distinctly create memories and you can also remember them. I happen to have I call it a book of power because what I do is I have certain quotes certain stories You might have certain music you know music that gives you that certain feeling of emotions that you looking for whether you're putting on some music before you go to the gym or whether you happen to be at, you know, a Sunday service for your church. The bottom line is we can do things to stack the odds in our favor to create the emotions that we need. And that is what you need to do because you see success is not to be pursued it's to be attracted that's that's that's that's the key here so you need to be able to choose your happiness you need to put things in your path and in your way that will allow you to create those emotions that you're seeking and once you're consciously aware that you can create those emotions and that that's what you're looking for for happiness happiness truly will be the way it won't be a destination so go ahead and really think about this this week. I want you to put this into practice and I want you to try to create more happiness, more emotions on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis. I know you can do it. You have greatness inside you. My goal with this podcast and also with the Daily Mastermind app is to help provide you with those tools that will help you to create the emotions, live the happiness, and create on a conscious level the world that you want to create, the life that you want to create. And so I'm going to help you with this on a daily basis to unleash your true potential because I know and I believe that it's never too late for you to begin living the life that you were meant to live. So that's our message for today. Tomorrow I'm super excited to also be able to share with you Principle 8. I always think win-win. So have an amazing day and we will talk soon.