Events

Programs, seminars, events, classes, webinars, and other events.

Education is Prevention

Time after time I see grieving survivors say, “If only I’d know…” and “We had no idea…”

It’s true. Family and friends often have no idea that their loved one was contemplating suicide before a tragedy occurs.

I think there is a misconception that this frequent occurrence means we can’t know…which is rarely true.

An educated eye views things differently than an uneducated one. This is true in all areas.

People sometimes sell art worth millions for a few dollars at a garage sale. The sellers isn’t stupid, he merely has uneducated art eyes.

Doctors sometimes misdiagnose patients because they do not recognize the combination of symptoms the patient is presenting while another doctor, who is familiar with the symptoms, recognizes the problem almost immediately. A local woman came down with flu like symptoms while at Myrtle Beach. The doctors missed that she had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever because it’s not a problem at the beach. She died. Doctors in areas where Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is more common recognize the symptoms.

There is so much to know in today’s world. No one can know everything. But we can choose to know things that may be highly important to our life long happiness.

I absolutely loved the movie Avatar but in less time than it took me to see it the second time (which was not nearly as good in 3D as it had been in Imax) I could attend this meeting and learn the 40 different warning signs for suicide.

Education is Prevention

In these free Community Suicide Awareness and Prevention meetings attendees will learn:

  • 40 Warning signs that someone may be suicidal
  • 50 Risk Factors that increase the risk of becoming suicidal
  • Protective Factors that are skill based and learnable
  • When to take action
  • What actions to take when it’s time to act

Some of the Risk Factors/Warning Signs will surprise you as they are commonly considered beneficial characteristics.

Why attend these meetings?

  • With educated eyes you can perceive warning signs that you would otherwise miss
  • Over 1,000,000 people attempt suicide in the USA each year
  • About 42,000 people die from suicide each year
  • Local children as young as age 9 have been suicidal
  • 20 – 25% of adults in the US have an episode of depression each year
  • People try to hide their depression because of the stigma associated with mental health issues
  • We can make a difference, education is the first step
  • Suicide is contagious
  • No one ever wants to suffer this loss, but experiencing it when you learn you could have done something that might have changed the outcome is even worse.
  • 1,200 North Carolinians will die from suicide this year, or will they? Education is prevention.

Why am I offering these meetings for free?

  • I’m tired of seeing the lives devastated by preventable suicides
  • Everyone else seems focused on waiting until the crisis occurs to provide prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  • I’ve saved lives because of the knowledge I share at these meetings, it matters

Meetings are currently scheduled in Huntersville, NC and everyone is welcome to attend.

I am actively seeking:

  • Venues where I can provide these meetings at low/no-cost
  • Groups who would like me to present this life saving information
  • Volunteers to assist with check-in, etc. at the meetings
  • Donations to help defray the cost of the meetings (They can be made through the non-profit I co-founded, Achieve Affinity)
  • Help sharing the availability of these meetings (with your friends/family and media contacts)
  • Your attendance at the meeting

I am willing to travel to provide this information to groups. Please contact me if you would like me to do so.

PS – Do not let yourself believe that suicide could never affect someone you love, or someone they love. If you believe this, ask your family if they know someone who has attempted suicide.

PSS – I, in no way, mean to blame family members or friends who have lost someone to suicide. I am not aware of other any programs that teach the life saving information given in these meetings. If they did not have educated eyes they were not able to help.

Jeanine Joy is the author of Prevent Suicide: The Smart Way and other books focused on Primary Prevention (prevention designed to prevent the problem from ever manifesting). She is the founder of Happiness 1st Institute, Co-Founder of the non-profit, Achieve Affinity and Founder of House of Peace and Love for All.

FREE life enhancing book: When Only You Can Prevent Suicide: Transformative Empowering Processes Provide A Better Way to Prevent Suicide

When Only You Can Prevent Suicide
Jeanine Joy, in conjunction with Happiness 1st Institute and Achieve Affinity (a 501(c)3) is giving away 10,000 copies of her life-saving book, When Only You Can Prevent Suicide. Worldwide suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and it is 100% preventable.

When Only You Can Prevent Suicide FREE book giveaway

The information in this book has so much potential to save lives that Jeanine Joy was not satisfied with just writing it and making it available. She wants every person who is depressed, who is or has considered suicide, who has a hurting heart, who is lonely, who feels rejected, who feels shame, who feels “not good enough”, who feels the world is against him or her, who feels hopeless, trapped, or lost to read this book. She knows its power to help and she wants to help. She also wants others who want to help to read it–to help them help others.

The techniques explained in this book have already saved lives.

Based on twenty years of research guided by one dominant question: What makes humans thrive? Jeanine has put her heart and soul into providing practical solutions that work with examples that will resonate with a wide audience.

We have the knowledge to prevent suicide now. It requires a primary prevention attitude where we strengthen the hearts and minds of people before they are in crisis mode. These methods work during a crisis, they have worked then, but they are best used long before the crisis when they can help the person ensure he or she will never reach that dark moment.

It just makes sense to increase resilience and each person’s ability to thrive even when circumstances are not perfect. I’m not sure anyone ever has a life where things always work out just as they hoped they would, but we can have a world where people are more nimble in their response–where they suffer less–much less. That world is possible now. Today. Jeanine Joy

For your copy of When Only You Can Prevent Suicide: Transformative Empowering Processes Provide A Better Way to Prevent Suicide, please complete the form below. We do not sell your information and will only use it to in accordance with our Terms of Service. Our Privacy Policy is here. You will also be added to the mailing list for our newsletter.

Once you complete the form a special coupon code will be sent to you that allows you to download When Only You Can Prevent Suicide: Transformative Empowering Processes Provide A Better Way to Prevent Suicide from Smashwords, a leading e-book publisher where you can obtain the book in the best format for your e-book reader.

If you do not want to complete the form, you can buy the electronic copy from Smashwords, Apple’s ibookstore, Oyster, Kobo, OverDrive for $4.99 or a paperback version from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine booksellers for $12.99 USD. It is also available overseas. You may also ask your library to order it for you.

Please share with your friends, family, and social media. So often, we don’t know who is hurting until it is too late to help. This book has techniques that will help people enjoy their lives more no matter where they are, from depression to joy–they can feel better by using the information in When Only You Can Prevent Suicide. It just may help them save someone else.

The e-mail should be there within five minutes. If you do not see the e-mail with the code in your in-box, please check your spam filter.

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Lower Crime is What We Really Want RE: Ray Rice and other crimes

Lower Crime

There is a great deal of media surrounding Rice, debate about what should happen to him, about whether the NFL’s actions were right, wrong, justified, fair or unfair, sexist treatment, and speculation about his relationship with his wife.

I’m not going to talk about that. I’m going to talk about what we want. We want a world where people are nicer to one another, a world where no one spits in another person’s face, where people do not hit each other, and even a world where people don’t drink to the point where they behave in ways they later regret.

Isn’t that what we all want?

I’m going to walk through the scenario that most people are at least somewhat familiar with and explain it in terms of human thriving–it’s causes and what hinders it.

First, both Ray and Janay had been drinking.

If they had been happy, they would not have drank to the extent they did. Hang in there and I’ll explain my comments, step-by-step, in a way that most people will be able to follow.

Why do I say that if they were happy they would not have been drinking to that extent?

Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows the function of the central nervous system. Alcohol actually blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain. This alters a person’s perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing.

When a person is truly happy, drinking makes him (or her) feel worse.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but everything humans do is because we believe it will make us feel better. We may believe that paying our bills will feel better than having our car repossessed, it does not mean we enjoy paying the bill–it means we judge paying the bill as the better feeling of the two alternatives. Or it may be that the person holds herself to a standard that says she keeps her word and so maintaining that standard by paying her bills feels better than not doing so. Some people even find enjoyment in paying their bills because they remember a time when they could not easily pay them.

Or, it could be that we don’t do something because we believe we will feel better not doing it than we would if we did it–even if we want to do it in that moment. Think about something you chose not to do because you knew you’d pay a price by feeling guilty (or worse) if you did it. You chose not to do that thing because you believed you would feel better if you did not do it. It could be a piece of chocolate cake you politely refused or advances from someone you found attractive while on a business trip or even an opportunity to take something that did not belong to you.

We just innately lean in the direction of what feels better to us.

It is truly the way we’re wired. It is not even a conscious decision most of the time.

It is not just what would feel best right now. All sorts of variables come into play and they take into account our short and long-term goals. It is not just about pleasure seeking in the sense of physical pleasure. Goals such as good relationships, maintaining integrity, good reputation, being good examples, and thousands of other goals that impact how thoughts, words, and actions feel to us are part of the equation that determines what feels best to us.

But, for sure, when someone is truly, deeply happy, drinking alcohol to the point of intoxication feels worse than not drinking. The reason is because when you’re that happy life feels good so the depressant effect of alcohol dulls the good feelings you’re experiencing from life itself. Drinking more than a glass or so of wine will feel worse to someone who is truly happy.

I can’t prove it to you, but if you get really happy, you can prove it to yourself.

Happiness

A lot of people can’t imagine someone who has the income and career Rice had before February 15th being unhappy but if it isn’t already obvious, you need to accept that income, fame, and other often sought advantageous circumstances are not the root cause of happiness. The sooner the world stops believing that achievements are the cause of, or required for happiness, the sooner the real root cause will be recognized and help more people reach true happiness. If you doubt that acclaim and high income are not what causes happiness you’re not paying attention. If they were the cause, the world would not have lost one of it’s living treasures last month.

The root cause of happiness is skill based. Skills that individuals use to help them use their mind in ways that support positive expectations and hopefulness about life are the root cause of happiness.

That using simple and practical skills increases happiness is another thing I cannot prove to you but it is blatantly obvious if you learn how to use the skills. You have to experience it to believe it, but when you experience it, you believe.

Talking about happiness and behavior may seem to be off topic but i assure you it is not. I’ve converted a White Paper on the subject into a blog to make it more accessible to readers.

Empowerment

There is another aspect of happiness that you need to understand to see the connection to this behavior. The more empowered someone feels, the happier the person is. The less empowered someone feels, the less happy the person is. Let’s jog back to the earlier statement that everything we do is to feel better (or not to feel worse). Since we are always doing what we believe will make us happier (or not less happy) we are always attempting to remain stable in our level of perceived power or increase it.

If this is not resonating with you at some level, it might help if you read this article on the root cause of senseless tragedies before continuing. The real cause of happiness is different than most of us have been taught. The real cause of crime and undesirable behaviors is not that some people are good and others are evil. The good and evil explanation can help people separate themselves from those who commit abhorrent actions–something that makes them feel safer and as if they could never do those things. But it misdirects our attention from the real cause, thereby delaying and interfering with our ability to actually prevent such actions on a wide scale.

The truth is that when we feel emotionally good, our behavior is better and when we feel emotionally bad, our behavior worsens.

Think about a time when you were already in a bad mood (or overly tired) and you overreacted in a way you later regretted. I think almost everyone has experienced this at some point. Some people experience it on an almost daily basis. Sometimes the behavior you later regret is something that does not cause a great deal of harm and is easily fixable (sometimes with a side of humble pie). It might just be a snide comment when you later wish you’d been nicer. Sometimes it is an unkind word to someone you care about. Sometimes it is something with deeper ramifications.

There is a combination of factors that impact how bad the behavior is when a person feels less positive emotion than they want to in that moment. One of those factors is how much worse the person feels. Another factor is how that person habitually responds. Another factor is what is “the norm” in the environment the person is accustomed to. There are other factors but these are enough to move forward.

I just Goggled and read about Ray Rice’s early years. I did not know anything about his early years before I wrote the prior paragraph but I would have bet a large amount of money that his early years included strife, so I was not surprised to learn that his Father was murdered when Ray was 1-year-old or that a cousin who became a father figure to him was lost to him a decade later in a car accident. Nor was I surprised to learn that his early years involved financial strain. His actions on February 15th were enough for someone who understands the relationship between behavior and emotional state to discern that there would be adversity in his childhood.

The details could have varied significantly. Poverty and the loss of a parent is not required to produce someone who will behave in that way. A parent who is physically present but who withholds love, or hides it behind strict and punitive behaviors attempting to “make a man” out of a boy who the parent believes is overly sensitive, can do the same. There are many paths, but a childhood that creates a deep and stable sense of worthiness does not lead to that type of behavior–a childhood where that inner sense of worthiness is not developed can lead to undesired behaviors. Paths that make a person feel something is missing, that leave an empty feeling inside, lead to undesirable behaviors.

It may be easier to look at it from the other direction. A man who is confident in his manhood and capable of expressing love and feeling loved would not respond in the way Ray did in that elevator. Ray was not in danger of physical harm, but he was experiencing pain–psychological pain. Psychological pain can be worse than physical pain. Our society does not accept this yet but it will-someday. It is not people who suffer from painful illnesses (arthritis, gout, back injuries, cancer) who commit horrendous crimes. It is those who have suffered long-term psychological pain who commit those senseless tragedies. (I am not referring to Ray Rice here as far as the senseless tragedies–I am referring mostly to murder-suicides and those who commit multiple homicides.)

You have to understand that someone can be loved but not be able to feel loved because he does not love himself. Unless and until you think favorably about yourself, all the love in the world can be sent your way but you cannot receive it. I elaborate on this in more depth in When Only You Can Prevent Suicide which will be released in October, but for now, can you see that Robin Williams would not have been depressed if he truly felt loved? Being loved and being able to feel loved are two totally separate things.Love Yourself first

The same is true of feeling empowered. Someone can have a $35 million dollar contract and be one of the best running backs around, but still not feel good deep inside. Ray Rice did not have a childhood, by age 8 he was working to help his Mom support the family. I’m not making excuses for his behavior. I am attempting to demonstrate two things. One is that it is possible to teach Ray Rice skills that would ensure he would never again behave in that way. Skills that he did not have the opportunity to learn. In fact, most people do not learn these skills.

A Path Built on False Premises

The way our society is currently structured, few people adjust their happiness level using skills and their sense of empowerment is not increased using pro-social, skill-based methods. Humanity created a much harder, false path to greater empowerment and happiness. That path tells citizens that money and success are the path to feeling empowered and happiness. In many ways this makes it worse for those who achieve either one. While a person is striving for the things society teaches can lead to happiness and a sense of empowerment (money and success) they can feel hopeful that when they achieve their goals, that emptiness inside will end. When reaching their goals does not provide the sense of fulfillment they desire, it can be even worse. Society expects them to be happy. Those who have not yet reached success still believe that the successful person should feel fulfilled and happy. So society now judges the person more harshly if the person acts out in ways that are socially unacceptable. Yet, those behaviors are symptoms of someone who does not feel good on the inside.

Think about it. While I believe all would agree that we do not want any adult to hit another adult and especially not a strong man hitting a woman (or a much smaller man, or a child), is Ray Rice being judged the same way he would if he had never achieved his position at Rutgers and then in the NFL? If he had dropped out of high school and was working a minimum wage job somewhere, with the same history, would we not be less judgmental. We would. Why? Because in many ways we would see it as inevitable–the difficult childhood, the poverty, the apparent dead end trajectory of his future. We still would not condone it, but we would feel we understood it better. Isn’t his perceived success playing a role in the public judgment of his actions that day?

Most people think he had what almost everyone wants–financial success and a brilliant career. But that is not what we really want. Oh, it’s great to have it–if we feel fulfilled inside. But when we sought it for that feeling and then the feeling does not come, it is worse than still being hopeful that if we manage to achieve it we will feel better.

We want financial success and a good career because we believe they will make us feel better.

Let me ask you this. In our society, when a person is super successful with these external measures, but the person still feels that unfulfilled emptiness inside: Who do they have to complain to about it? Who will even listen? Who will lend a sympathetic ear? Almost no one–because they won’t be able to understand why he does not feel that way. They still believe that what he has accomplished should make him feel fulfilled and empowered. They believe that if they had what he has, they would feel fulfilled and empowered. They’re living in a delusion society has created and reinforces in many ways every day.

A belief is just a thought you’ve thought long enough until you develop a belief.

Most of us have been taught to believe that financial success will lead to happiness and a sense of fulfillment.

That this is a lie does not matter.

When you believe something, your brain interprets the world as if the belief is true.

How many of those with great achievements–athletes, comedians, actors and actresses, businessmen and women, scientists, artists have to demonstrate to us that their phenomenal success in their career and financially has not brought them happiness or a sense of fulfillment before society throws out this false belief? The Galileo Effect is still going strong.

With my understanding of human thriving, I see things in an opposite way than most do. I’ve been studying and working with human thriving for two decades now. I think Ray Rice was more likely to behave the way he did on February 15th because he had achieved fame. No–don’t assign the reason society tends to give for that–arrogance that he is so powerful that he won’t have to pay a price. That is not why I believe as I do.

Achieving fame and financial success but not getting the true desire, the sense of fulfillment inside, made him feel worse (emotionally) than he felt when he was still striving for those things and believed they would fill that void inside. Our society does not shine a bright light on the path that leads to the sense of fulfillment. In fact, we light up another path and fill it with signs that say, “Come this way for fulfillment and happiness.” Those road signs are wrong.

There is nothing wrong with financial success. There is nothing wrong with a successful career. But neither will give what everyone truly desires–happiness and a sense of fulfillment. It is possible to have the sense of fulfillment and happiness with or without financial success and/or a successful career. Happiness and fulfillment come from an inner satisfaction that is achieved by using one’s mind in a health supporting manner. It does not require high intelligence to do it. In fact .

Achieving the level of success Ray Rice achieved and not simultaneously finding the sense of fulfillment he expected (because society teaches us financial/career success leads to fulfillment) would have made him feel worse. In our society, he would not have known where to turn. Many would have ridiculed him if he had publicly admitted that he was not happy despite his success on the field and his ability to help his mom–one of the motivations that helped him achieve his career success. Did he talk about this with his mom? I don’t know but I doubt it. He actually seems like a caring man (despite the action on February 15th) and he might have felt his mom would feel guilty if he did all that to help her and that he was unhappy. He could have felt she might feel guilty if she knew and remained quiet to spare her. I don’t know Ray Rice. I just understand a great deal about human thriving and inner motivations. This may or may not be true, but it is a definite possibility.

So, What Do We Really Want?

Don’t we want to be sure he does not commit another crime? Isn’t that one of the things we want? I’ll get to the other point soon. What I am saying about Ray Rice goes for every person who commits a crime. We want to be sure they will never do it again.

But our society attempts to do that by punishing the person. In the paradigm where we do things (or don’t do things) because we believe we will feel better, punishment is meant to make it feel worse (fear of punishment) to do things society does not want individuals to do. It is one method of preventing undesired behaviors, but it is not an effective one.
Recidivism is a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially: relapse into criminal behavior.

About two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years.

Punishment fails in at least 76.6% of the cases and I would bet dollars to donuts that it fails even more often in actually deterring undesired behaviors. Some of the 23.4% who do not go back to prison just become better at not being caught and some of them die before they are caught.

About 7% of the US Population is incarcerated. About 14% of adults in the U.S. are on probation or parole.

I do not believe society wants 7% of the population incarcerated in institutions with revolving doors. Read on for a better solution.


What we (as a society) are doing is not working. The solution is not more laws or more prisons. The solution is to treat the root cause of crime instead of symptoms. Our criminal justice system is much like our current medical system, it treats symptoms instead of the root cause.

Lower CrimeThink about this, people who feel good treat other people better. People who feel bad treat other people worse.

Does punishment make people feel better?

Does punishment make people feel worse?

Is punishment the way to achieve society’s goals?

Yes, sometimes an individual is such a potential menace to society in his or her current mental/emotional state that incarceration is necessary to protect others from the likelihood the person will commit a violent act. I’m not saying that incarceration is unnecessary in some situations.

But we’ve expanded it to be the default response to almost all crime. We’ve focused our efforts on punishment which simply increases the likelihood that person will commit another crime.

There are poor people who do not commit crimes.

In fact, there are people of every color and religion and ethnic heritage and any other label that society slaps on people to separate us from one another who do not commit crimes.

There are rich people who commit crimes.

In all cases, crime is the result of someone who feels disempowered attempting to feel more empowered or to escape from the disempowered feelings.

Let’s look at the drug addict. Happy people do not become drug addicts. They do not want to escape from reality. Happy people are less susceptible to peer pressure because peer pressure is actually just a form of punishment. “I’ll make you feel so bad that agreeing to what I want from you will feel better than the punishment of ostracization.” When someone feels happy and peaceful inside they do not require outsiders to validate their worth, reducing the power of peer pressure.Lower Crime

When the drug addict steals to support her habit, she is doing so because she believe that having money to buy drugs that help her not feel the inner pain will make her feel better.

Let’s look at white collar crime, which increases substantially when the economy goes down, because people are more afraid than they are in a good economy. The increased fear of losing something they’ve worked hard for feels worse than the potential of being caught. When they aren’t afraid, the fear of being caught feels worse (because the gain does not feel as important as the potential loss.)

When someone achieves success but does not gain the sense of fulfillment that was expected, the person actually feels worse. Their sense of empowerment declines because they have attained what they really wanted. The person feels more vulnerable, which translates into protecting the sense of empowerment they have left. A threat to their remaining sense of empowerment becomes a bigger deal that it would have been before they were successful.

None, or very little, of this reasoning may be conscious.

Someone who is confident in himself who is spit upon and hit by a woman who claims she loves him would make the person see her as needing help. From the fulfilled position, her behavior does not make him question his own value or worth. His sense of self is stable.

Someone who is already feeling vulnerable who is spit upon and hit by a woman who claims she loves him makes him feel as if he is losing what little sense of empowerment he has left. It is a bigger threat and the response Ray Rice gave on February 15th demonstrates that he felt threatened (emotionally) by her behavior.

Many people are calling for Rice to go to anger management training. While anger management programs help some people, I believe their greatest contribution is the nod they give to the fact that our behavior is not fixed, that it can change. But the techniques typically used (relaxation, cognitive restructuring, problem solving and improving communication strategies) don’t get to the heart of the problem. The techniques used in typical anger management programs are directed at the symptoms.Better Relationships

Behavior change at the level of automatic response is not easily done at the symptom level because the underlying level of happiness and empowerment, or lack thereof, is not changed. Anger management training may help the person control the automatic urge, but the urge is still there. Add some extra stress, illness, or lack of sleep and the ability to control the urge declines rapidly. Anger management is probably better than prison for many people, but it far from the optimal solution.

Skill based techniques that increase happiness and that inner sense of well-being are far more effective. The reason is they address the root cause of the problem, not just symptoms. The urges one feels at higher levels of fulfillment/happiness/empowerment are different than the ones the same person feels at lower levels. Once an individual learns he or she can improve those inner feelings, using the skills to feel better is a far better choice than socially undesired behaviors. What Ray Rice wanted when he hit Janay was to feel better. If he knew how to use skills that would enable him to feel better, he would have used those. In fact, he probably would not have been intoxicated in the first place–something that added to the likelihood of his acting in the way he did.

Both the intoxication and the hitting are symptoms of inner unhappiness.

Society, Ray Rice, and thousands of others would be best served by learning these skills.

I don’t know how the Ray Rice story will end, but I do know what would be better for everyone involved than the typical responses.

Our society has criminalized the symptoms of inner unhappiness. If we begin helping society understand how to achieve those desires that are within us all–happiness and a sense of fulfillment–criminals will begin to disappear. Truly happy people do not commit crimes.

Isn’t what we really want a world where people behave in socially acceptable ways? Don’t we want a society where people are nice to one another? If we want this, we have to begin addressing the root cause and not just the symptoms.

Treating symptoms has increased our prison population substantially and created an environment that is not comfortable for many who live in fear.

It’s time to get out of the box and apply techniques that lead to greater human thriving, techniques based on scientific principles.

It is time to create a better world for everyone.

Do you want to help? I am willing to help you help. I will donate one class where the skills that lead to increased happiness and inner fulfillment and reduced stress are taught to individuals who would benefit from anger management training for everyone who registers for my March 2015 class. The class will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina the week of April 19th.

If the number of registrations exceed 1,000, I will double the offer and give two free programs for every program purchased.

Thrive…Even if You Have Student Debt

A recent Gallup survey showed that students who had high student debt are not doing as well as their peers with lower debt based on findings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index. The Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index is designed to measure well-being in five areas(1), including:

  • Purpose: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
  • Social: having supportive relationships and love in your life
  • Financial: managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
  • Community: liking where you live, feeling safe, and having pride in your community
  • Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

At Happiness 1st Institute, we have studied what makes humans thrive for over two decades. What we know is that the debt is not what lowers the ability of individuals who have high student (or other) debt to thrive.

It is the way the individual thinks about their situation and prospects

that determines how well they do and how happy they can be.

 

While they may not be able to change their debt substantially in the next three months, they can change how they think about it. The reason we exist is that we love to help and this survey by Gallup, released today, has our wheels spinning. We want to put hope out there right now because news like this can lower thriving even more–because when a trusted organization like Gallup tells people that high debt makes them less likely to thrive they tend to believe it. Believing you won’t thrive makes it far more likely that you won’t thrive. As Henry Ford said so long ago, “Whether you believe  you can or you believe you can’t, either way you’re right.” He understood the power of belief.

Change your dynamic – help is here

 

Our first thoughts are to help with our programs but our usual programs are not inexpensive and we don’t want to add to the debt burden. Off the cuff, we’re thinking we could provide a 40-hour course over 12 weeks for $39.99 per customer. That should cover our costs while remaining affordable. By providing the course online we will avoid travel costs for the participants and the cost of renting a large hotel room and be able to provide flexibility in when the student watches by recording the live classes.

The earliest we can begin class, based on our current schedule, is October 15th.

Stress, specifically unmanaged stress, is at the root of almost all physical, emotional, mental, and social problems. All of our programs address the root cause of stress, which is mindset. We understand and explain in easy to understand language things about the way our brains work that everyone should know but that are not taught in school. Those things are critical because they have a direct impact on whether or not an individual thrives in every area of life: their health, relationships, success, and more.

Essentially, we teach individuals how to reprogram their neural pathways so that their thought processes help them thrive instead of hindering their ability to thrive. We teach mental strength and resilience, enabling anyone to develop the type of mind all the great minds of the past used to create their achievements. Because this involves learning new habits–habits of thought–it takes time to make them automatic. Although we can and do help individuals make positive changes in their lives with 1-hour presentations, we believe that the best approach, whenever possible, is a 40-hour program over a minimum of a 12-week period. That is what we’re going to do with this course.

We’ll come up with an exact schedule and post it soon but for now know we’ll avoid scheduling class on major holidays so with a start date of October 15th, the program will run until about the end of January 2015. Forty hours of class time for $39.99 is less than $1.00 an hour.

We change lives for the better. We do it because we love it. We do it because it matters. We do it because we’ve developed leading edge techniques that work. Most stress reduction programs are dose dependent and do not address the root cause. The next best solution to what we have developed is individual one-on-one therapy where one hour can cost five times what we are offering our 40-hour program for.

You deserve to have the best possible life.

We want to help  you do that. Now. You used student loans so you could have a better life. Our program helps you achieve that goal better and faster.

Send us a note if you want to register. We will let you know as soon as we have the registration process set-up.

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We do not share your information. See our Privacy Policy.

Citations:

(1) http://www.gallup.com/poll/174317/student-debt-linked-worse-health-less-wealth.aspx?version=print

World Class Speaker with Life Changing Messages

Jeanine Joy is a world class speaker with over 30 years of public speaking experience. With early Toastmasters training and years of experience topped off with Peak Potentials training for those who speak on the world stage, her presentation skills capture and hold the audience’s attention.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Add over twenty years of research into the question, “What makes humans thrive?” and answers constructed to be practical and speak to widely different audiences, she is a real winner.

Her goal is always to inspire and to help her audience improve any area of life they wish to change.

Not satisfied with being able to explain the answers she found on her journey in one way, she continues her research and is now able to provide answers consistent with a variety of worldviews including scientific, religious, and spiritual.

She has truly discovered the root cause of human thriving giving her the ability to address any topic an organizer wishes to touch upon because the root cause effects every area of life–from business oriented material to the most deeply personal subjects imaginable–Ms. Joy is able to craft presentations that are beneficial and on target for the audience.

She is available for keynote speeches, seminar presentations, one-on-one coaching, retreats, and does reduced cost work in schools, as available.

She travels around the world. Contact her as early as possible as she is sometimes booked more than a year in advance for certain dates.

Empty Inside?

Often, someone has been very successful in life based upon all the common measurements yet

Still feels empty inside

The ‘hole’ they thought all the right ‘trappings’ would fill still exists.

We know the source of the hole and how to help you fill it once and for all.

Filling the ‘hole’ will not take away your motivation.

It will ignite the passion from within for the goals that light your fire.

We wish for you a happy life. Our programs help  you understand the cause and the cure for that empty feeling.

Healthy Relationships

This course is designed to increase the knowledge and skills that will help you enjoy a life long loving relationship.

The course name represents the Golden wedding anniversary because we believe this class can contribute greatly to the ability of couples to enjoy 50 or more years together. All are welcome in the course. It is not necessary to come as a couple or to be married. This class will help individuals prepare for great relationships or enjoy the one they already have.

The same skills and knowledge can help you improve all your relationships.

The class is a great wedding or anniversary gift.

If you are ‘in love’ you will know how to keep that loving feeling and if you do find yourself veering off course, you will have skills that can be used to get back on track before you’re in a ditch.

If your relationship has evolved to where you feel more friendship than passionate loving feelings you can use the knowledge and skills to bring back the ‘in love’ feelings.

If the stress of life has made it feel more like your mate is your business partner, figuring out  schedules and budgets, it can help you feel more ‘in love’ even in the midst of chaos.

If your relationship is struggling to survive the knowledge and skills may be able to bring it back to that loving feeling.

If your relationship has ended the knowledge and skills can help you make the next one the one you’ve been dreaming about.

Its goal is to increase happiness, optimism, emotional intelligence, resilience, self mastery, and well-being and improve relationships.

You will feel more empowered and feel more confident in your ability to sustain a loving relationship with your mate. Many of the same skills can be utilized to improve other relationships.

We design the time and location of this class to make it easy to have a date night after class so that couples attending together can enjoy one another and have time to talk about any insights they experienced as a result of the class.

The benefits of increased happiness are tremendous. You will learn why relationships are easier when you are happy.

Happiness also provides health benefits including 50% risk reduction for heart disease, reduced risk for some cancers, reduced risk of diabetes and Alzheimer’s, improved immune function, fewer colds and flu and so much more. See our website for more information on the scientifically proven benefits.

Taking this class is a wise decision. . Your life will be better because of it.

The terms we use to refer to areas the class will benefit are defined differently by different people. This is especially true of happiness. Our meanings are reflected below.

Happiness is a deep sense of inner stability, well-being, peace and vitality that is consistent and reliable.

Resilience is an individual’s ability to cope with stress and adversity. Increased resilience helps individuals recover from setbacks (illness, depression, adversity, etc. ) faster than they would without the coping strategies that our course strengthens.

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to effectively understand oneself and others which impacts the ability to relate well to people and higher EQ levels help individuals be more successful in meeting the demands and pressures of life.

Optimism is an inclination to project a positive point of view upon actions and events and to anticipate favorable outcomes. Optimists tend to be much more successful than pessimists and to experience better health throughout life.

Self Mastery is the ability to be aware of your emotions and rule them rather than have them rule you. Self mastery is the ability to make the most out of your physical, mental, and spiritual health, to be the best you can be.

Well-Being ~ high levels of well-being mean that we are more able to respond to difficult circumstances, to innovate and constructively engage with other people and the world around us. As well as representing a highly effective way of bringing about good outcomes in many different areas our lives, there is also a strong case for regarding well-being as an ultimate goal of human endeavor. It contributes to the individual ability to realize his or her own potential, to cope with the normal stresses of life, to work productively and fruitfully, and the ability to make a contribution to her or his community.

 

 

Go Confidently in the Direction of your Dreams

Go Confidently in the direction of your future

Live the life of your dreams

Learn how in this course, designed to increase resilience, self mastery, optimism, happiness, emotional intelligence, and well-being.

The same skills and knowledge can help you improve all your relationships.

You will feel more empowered and feel more confident in your ability to succeed in anything you set your mind to.

Young adults face many challenges. You are making decisions about your future both when you choose a college and when you decide whether or not to participate in particular activities.

For some, peer pressure exerts undue influence and leads them away from their real goals. This class will help you feel more confident about where you really want to go and what you want to do. The tools provided are effective, even in the moment, to help you stay on track.

Science has demonstrated that increasing happiness literally makes you smarter. You will do better on examinations, including the SAT, when you are happy than when you are not happy.

Your decisions about exercise, nutrition, getting adequate sleep and even crime and substance abuse will be healthier when you experience generally positive emotions.

Depression is at epidemic levels around the world and the rates are especially high for teens and young adults. The good news is that you live at the perfect time. Many branches of science have been exploring happiness and resilience. We have taken the best of that leading edge science and used that knowledge to develop our courses. We believe this class will equip you with skills and tools to greatly reduce your risk of depression and which would shorten the duration of depression should it still occur.

It has been shown that depression during pregnancy has many adverse impacts on the baby including sleep and behavior problems, depression and asthma. These scientific findings point to the importance of learning these skills. In fact, depression has been shown to be a risk factor for teen pregnancy.

The benefits provided by this class have been shown to increase many life skills that make the difference between a mediocre life where dreams are put aside and one where thriving is the order of the day.

We want you to thrive. We know you can. All you need is some knowledge and skills.

Almost every other course you have ever taken has been focused on providing you with knowledge that it has been determined will help you please others. This course is focused on empowering you, giving you the tools and knowledge you need to be successful. Some would say this is selfishly oriented. We (and science) disagree. When you are capable of managing your own life you require fewer resources from others and science has shown that when individuals are happy they are far more likely to help others. The bottom line is that science has shown that an individuals happiness does not just benefit that individual but also his or her family, friends, co-workers and community.

Your very capacity for kindness and ability to love will increase.

The benefits of increased happiness are tremendous. You will learn why relationships are easier when you are happy.

Happiness also provides health benefits including 50% risk reduction for heart disease, reduced risk for some cancers, reduced risk of diabetes and Alzheimer’s, improved immune function, fewer colds and flu and so much more. See our website for more information on the scientifically proven benefits.

Many will tell you to be more positive. We do not just tell you, we show you how.

 

We have over 50 skills and techniques that can be used to increase your happiness in the moment and to become happier naturally for the long-term. Some of the techniques can also be applied to improve your results in sports.

Taking this class is a wise decision. Your life will be better because of it.

Please click on our program tab for additional course information and  to register for this life changing program.

The terms we use to refer to areas the class will benefit are defined differently by different people. This is especially true of happiness. Our meanings are reflected below.

Happiness is a deep sense of inner stability, well-being, peace and vitality that is consistent and reliable.

Resilience is an individual’s ability to cope with stress and adversity. Increased resilience helps individuals recover from setbacks (illness, depression, adversity, etc. ) faster than they would without the coping strategies that our course strengthens.

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to effectively understand oneself and others which impacts the ability to relate well to people and higher EQ levels help individuals be more successful in meeting the demands and pressures of life.

Optimism is an inclination to project a positive point of view upon actions and events and to anticipate favorable outcomes. Optimists tend to be much more successful than pessimists and to experience better health throughout life.

Self Mastery is the ability to be aware of your emotions and rule them rather than have them rule you. Self mastery is the ability to make the most out of your physical, mental, and spiritual health, to be the best you can be.

Well-Being ~ high levels of well-being mean that we are more able to respond to difficult circumstances, to innovate and constructively engage with other people and the world around us. As well as representing a highly effective way of bringing about good outcomes in many different areas our lives, there is also a strong case for regarding well-being as an ultimate goal of human endeavor. It contributes to the individual ability to realize his or her own potential, to cope with the normal stresses of life, to work productively and fruitfully, and the ability to make a contribution to her or his community.

All of our course offerings provide health and well-being benefits

All of our course offerings provide health and well-being benefits

The benefits of increased positive emotions, optimism and happiness extend to all areas of life.

Scientists in many fields have been working, primarily in the past 20 years, on discovering the benefits of happiness. The results have been conclusive and surprising.

Positive emotions, optimism and happiness have positive impacts on health, well-being, relationships, emotional intelligence, creativity, cognitive ability, decision-making, resilience, substance abuse, crime, teen pregnancy, immune system function, and of course, depression.

 

Business Programs

Business Courses

Businesses have several options to structure courses that best suit their needs.

Increasing positive emotions, optimism, and happiness of employees can help a business accomplish everything they ever dreamed a corporate wellness program could do and much more.

Business benefits include increased productivity, creativity, inspired and insightful ideas, emotional intelligence, cognitive ability, resilience and decreased health care costs, absenteeism, and turnover to name just a few.

If you have considered managing change with AI (Appreciative Inquiry)  a program to increase employee happiness is like putting the wonderful benefits of AI on steroids (without the pills/drugs).

While the science is not yet in on this subject we firmly believe that employee suits will decrease as employee happiness increases. Ask us why.

Depending on the needs of the organization we can arrange classes at your location(s), online, our location or some appropriate mixture of the three. We can also train trainors and provide one on one coaching.

We have articles in other locations on our site documenting proven business benefits including substantial increases in sales and the fact that a less qualified optimistic sales person greatly outperforms a more pessimistic but more qualified sales person and is less likely to experience turnover.

Please contact us to discuss your needs and to see how we can give you the greatest competitive advantage you have ever enjoyed.

Veterans Courses

Veterans Courses

We have great appreciation for the willingness of veterans to serve their country.

We are also aware that such service sometimes involves exposure to experiences that have had adverse repercussions for many including PTSD.

We KNOW that post adversarial growth (greater growth than would have been anticipated in the individual following a traumatic experience) is also a possibility after such traumatic experiences.

We believe that our courses can help veterans (and others) be more likely to enjoy the benefits of post traumatic growth instead the symptoms of PTSD.

From time to time we may provide special offers to veterans as a show of appreciation. In the Spring of 2012 we offered free classs to 1,000 veterans. Future offers may be different, may involve discounts, etc. We will announce any future offers on our website.

We would be more than happy to partner with veteran organizations to help veterans.

Empowered Employees Blue Heron Wisdom’s Radio Show

Listen From Around The WorldRadio

Our founder, Jeanine Joy (formerly Broderick), has accepted an invitation to be a guest on Blue Heron Wisdom’s Radio Show.

The show can be heard on WBLQ 1230 in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island at 4 pm Eastern on November 6, 2012.

You can listen to the recorded show here.

Look for Laura Longley’s program, Blue Heron Wisdom Radio, at 1 pm Pacific/4 pm Eastern (7 am Byron Bay, Australia on Wednesday), 9 pm in London, (2 am Wednesday in India).

Recordings will also be available in the archive.

For a direct live stream or as a backup, you can connect to this link Windows Media Player http://deadby28. net/wblq/main_files/player2. asx 

Winamp/iTunes: http://deadby28. net/wblq/main_files/player2. pls 

Please mark your calendars.

The topic is how happy employees benefit an employer and how employers can increase employee happiness – the best wellness program possible.

Hope you can tune in or listen to the recording.

For more information, check out Jeanine’s upcoming book, Empowered Employees are Engaged Employees.

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