Creating Happiness Intentionally by Sandy MacGregor

Written and narrated by Leigh Martinuzzi 

Sandy MacGregor, a former military officer turned author, trainer and mindfulness practitioner wrote this book with the desire to tell others how they can be happy. Sandy has had a variety of life purposes and certainly has experienced some great tragedy. I believe it was through adversity that Sandy discovered his own inner strength and an ability to understand the power of the subconscious mind. He now shares how we can all tap into this inner being to enable us to harness our life’s purpose now.

The book comprises 31 chapters that are all short in length and purposefully designed to provide information and thought combined with practical takeaways. Personally, I enjoyed the shorter chapters because they were to the point. It was also not heavily bogged down with complicated theory or scientific research. I’d describe Sandy as a thought leader who comes from a place of life experience, love and understanding.

Sandy takes the reader on a journey into self-examination. Each chapter follows a natural progression into helping us delve within to discover more about who we are and what is happening on the subconscious level. Most chapters are also accompanied by a meditative practice which you can read yourself, have a friend read or better still grab Sandy’s tap that guides you through each meditation.

The highlights for me where certainly the practices that Sandy shares. Some new and some familiar, and all very refreshing. For example, in the chapter on assessing our values, Sandy suggests that we print out a list of all values and then in a systematic manner, after writing them on cards and spreading them out on the ground, we first categorise them and then select our top values. Sandy shares many values in his book however you can often find extensive lists online, too. My advice is not to over think it when in the selection process and to remember you can change values if you find after a period of time that they don’t actually align with what you believe is important in your life and good towards discovering your life’s purpose.

Aligning our life with our values is something that has served me very well. My thoughts are that when we align with our values there is less friction. Values are all about the associated behaviours. If we haven’t identified our values how do we know what behaviours are best suited to our life’s purpose? When there is unease or dissatisfaction in life it is most likely due to a discrepancy between what we value and how we are actually living our lives.

Once identified the alignment to our values can take time and hard work. I have experienced this first handed myself. Conditioned behaviours that have served us no purpose can become quite habitual and hard to iron out or dispel. A good reason to continually check in with your values on a regular basis, to ensure your behaviours are aligned. Goals are also a very important connection between our values and behaviours. Sandy delivers practical insights in regards to this, too.

Another area of particular interest was Sandy’s take on our life’s purpose. This is an important chapter and I suppose it’s because the goal of this book is to help us all find our life’s purpose now. The key word here is ‘now’. As Sandy’s explains brilliantly, our life’s purpose will change and so will our values. He himself was a military officer, after which he was driven by success, money and family and now he is motivated by the desire to have a positive impact in the lives of others. My life’s purpose continues to alter. I have asked most guests on my podcast whether we all have a purpose in life or not. With their answers, my findings suggest that it is not something that is innate yet rather something we can choose to find and develop over time.

Happiness is something we can choose. We all have our challenges and circumstances that are outside our control. Happiness is not found externally or based on our environment. These things certainly influence us but true happiness is found within. The perception of our reality is a construct of the mind.

Happiness is found on our journey towards the goals in life we value. The more we grow into our life’s purpose now the greater our happiness evolves. This book is a unique and useful guide on doing just that, discovering purpose and in the process choosing happiness.

If this book sounds of interest you can purchase Creating Happiness Intentionally here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

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Further Reading and Resources 

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The Minimalists: How to pursue a minimalist lifestyle and be happier.

Mind Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Using Your Brain

Rich Roll: Plantpowered Wellness Advocate

The Art of Charm: Build confidence, feel comfortable and networking differently.

American Psychological Association: The largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United State

The Art of Manliness: Encouraging men to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, citizens.

Tiny Buddha: Simple wisdom for complex lives.

Brain Pickings: An inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more.

Mind Body Green: Lifestyle media brand dedicated to inspiring you to live your best life.

Zen Habits: Find simplicity and mindfulness in life.

Creative NonFiction: “true stories well told.” 

Addicted 2 Success: Motivation & Inspiration Website full of quotes and inspiring articles for entrepreneurs.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life.

The Positivity Blog: Practical articles on happiness, self-esteem, productivity and social skills.