Strategies for Happiness from the Chairman and CEO of ME & Co.

Hi, my name is Dan, and I'm the head of one of the largest conglomerates in the world. My main business is helping me feel good. My side business is helping others feel good. I get a great kickback for this ;-). As most companies need to generate profits, I generate moments of peace and happiness. In fact, « profits » are simply states of feeling good.

ME & Co. was created many years ago with little capital, a mind, and a body – and it has grown into a huge conglomerate!

Why am I sharing my strategies with you? To churn out more profits, of course ;-). You can share these strategies with others and generate even greater profits, er... I mean good feelings, for yourself!

It's simple. But let me first explain that feeling good does not necessarily mean feeling happy, although when one is happy, one is obviously feeling good. Hence, feeling good can simply mean being in a peaceful or Zen state, with no wandering, mugger-thoughts attacking us.

Years ago, I noticed that to feel good you need a vehicle. The vehicle could be an ice-cream cone on a hot summer day, a job promotion, an exotic vacation, a quiet candlelight dinner, or simply a walk in the country... There are thousands of vehicles. So I decided to invest in the companies that manufacture them by creating a holding with just a mind and a body as my main tangible assets. Of course, I also had some intangible assets, the ability to learn and appreciate, my childlike curiosity being the greatest of these intangible assets.

This was the beginning of ME & Co. On the organization chart are shown the profits that were generated from these categories: Family, Friends, Hobbies, Projects, Work and Leisure, etc. My subsidiaries are countless. Each time I walk into a restaurant in Paris, London, or Luxembourg, I'm visiting one of my subsidiaries, which is providing me a wonderful moment to feel good with the meal I'm about to appreciate.

This goes for the movies I watch in my cinemas, the pleasure I derive from work, the fun I have with my cat, and the laughter I enjoy with friends. They all furnish me with opportunities to feel good. You don't need many assets to churn out excellent profits. Here's an illustration: A couple living in a magnificent hilltop villa but on the verge of divorce is not producing the same profits generated by a woman in love – and living in a tiny studio! A millionnaire can suffer heavy psychological and emotional losses, feeling really bad instead of good. A penniless student can reap immense profits, experiencing great pleasure upon receiving his or her first diploma.

So create your organization chart with you as the head of YOU & Co. Draw up a list of your subsidiaries: Family / Friends / Hobbies / Projects / Work and Leisure.

Make a list of your tangible assets: car, home (it provides warmth, shelter, and feelings of security), computer, pets, Google, past experiences, hands and nails to relieve an itch, eyes to peep, legs to roam... List your intangible assets: confidence, patience, openness, flexibility, humor... You can always work on your intangibles by reinforcing them. If you lack patience, for example, you may want to work on this.

If one of your subsidiaries is performing poorly, don't worry about it too much, as you are reaping good feelings from the others. However, if it continues to flounder, you may decide to eliminate this subsidiary. If your job is not satisfactory, you may decide to put it in liquidation. Those who run poor companies are those who are generating losses in terms of bad feelings.

To be a top CEO of YOU & Co., establish a short list of criteria. How would you like to run this company? What kinds of activities would bring a good ROI (return on investments)? Review your tangible and intangible assets and consolidate them.

Once you've been running a successful YOU & Co., it's time to share it with others, thus generating more profits, that is... good feelings! May this year be YOUR year!