Happiness the inside job - a new self development book

This month I'm taking part in my first ever blog tour, and the reason why I'm so excited to be part of this tour is because it is on a book genre that is very close to my heart, self-development.

You can read a guest post by Matt here, where he talks about tending your emotional garden.  I've found throughout the book there is a lot of analogies to help you understand how we can focus on our inner happiness, from an emotional garden, to a happiness barometer to getting on and staying on the groovy train of positive thought.

I've enjoyed reading this book and have picked up some very useful tips for keeping my thoughts positive and happy.

The book itself is a great handbag size paperback with several chapters which are easy to pick up and read at any point.  What I would say is to read a section and stop, think about what you've read, write down examples, goals, thoughts on what you've just read and how you can implement it in your day to day before reading the next chapter.

As the book is in manageable chapters it's very tempting to continue reading.  There's no race to the end, take your time with your chapters and digest the tips and advice that Matt is giving you.

Happiness: The Inside Job

One thing which every person on the planet desires is to live a fulfilled and happy life. So why does happiness seem to elude so many of us? Are you fed up with thinking ‘I’ll be happy when…’ but who knows when that will be? Are you done with continually changing your circumstances believing this will lead to a happy life, only to find that you don’t feel any different? How can we simply ‘get happy’ when the pressures of jobs, mortgages and relationships are upon us all?

Extract from Happiness: The Inside Job

 I will be happy when...

A common theme from both my own life and those of my clients was to be in the state of continually waiting for the future to magically bring us happiness, with the belief that, “I will be happy when…”

I will be happy when…

… my relationship improves or I start a new one

… I get a promotion or a better job

… someone starts loving me in the way that I want

… I reach my target (weight, fitness, etc)

… I get a bigger house

… I buy myself a Ferrari

… I win the lottery or simply have more money

… I get those new shoes

… the weekend arrives

In this way, happiness is always waiting just around the corner. If life would just do me a favour and line up as I want it to, then I would be happy.

Being in a constant state of longing, wishing, waiting or even resenting never seems to work very well. The future is not a very reliable thing to hang one’s happiness on!

Another problem was becoming apparent. Even when the object of our desire arrived in our lives i.e. we got the thing that we promised ourselves would make us happy, we often realised that this wasn’t the case. For so many of my clients, even when they got the new car, new partner or new job they had been longing for, they were still not happy.

For many, the feeling of happiness didn’t seem to last.

I began to realise that happiness was not a fixed entity that depended on stuff, relationships, status, money, achievements, the past, or the future. Of course, parts of all of the above could enhance people’s lives, but where was true happiness hanging out? I was determined to find out… 

Enter Matt Pepper, who has spent twenty years researching, learning and practising the tools and techniques he has discovered which have enabled him to help his clients live a happy and fulfilled life. In Happiness: The Inside Job, he has collected all of this knowledge together into one place with each and every chapter filled with insights,  case studies and quirky illustrations, which will give a new understanding of how to enjoy life. Matt’s concepts are so simple to grasp and apply, you’ll wonder how you never thought of them yourself! So the question is, are you ready to be happy?

A light-hearted and accessible approach to self-development, Happiness: The Inside Job is the perfect read for those of us looking to find their inner happiness and keep hold of it, no matter what is happening in our lives and transforms into ‘A Happiness Generating Machine.’

Published on 18th January 2018  

Matt Pepper: About the author 

Matt Pepper has been working within the health and personal development industry for over twenty-years with clients ranging from artists and film directors to chief executives and their workforce, civil servants and students. A passionate speaker, Matt also lectures on happiness and wellbeing for medical teams including those at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He loves giving his ‘PeppTalks’ where he shares the essence of this book, motivating groups and organisations from all walks of life. Based in Oxford and London, he lives with his wife Tash, their three children and two cats.

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