Tom Stevens

My Personal Experience

When I was an infant I couldn’t choose to be happy, I didn’t have the cognitive structures required to make a conscious choice. I didn’t even know the word happy.
I depended on my environment to make me happy; my parents provided my food, care, and much of my stimulation. Once I learned what the word happy meant, I had more choices.
I tried to make myself happy, but I had little knowledge of how to do it. I was often happy, but it was because I was lucky— I had a pretty good environment.
It was not because I knew much about how to make myself happy.
One day I decided to make happiness my top goal.
Over the years, I learned a lot more about how to make myself happy, and I developed my skills. Creating those mental structures (my Higher Self) increased my Happiness Quotient (HQ) and my happiness power.
Now, I can choose to be happy, and I have a good chance of being successful.
I have had a happy life for which I am very grateful.
Without knowledge, we have little choice and little power.
With knowledge, we can transcend our environment and even our own biology to soar to new levels of living.
I hope this book has contributed to your journey to self-actualization.
I hope it has strengthened your Higher Self, so that you can choose to be happy. I wish you a happy life!

Visit Dr. Tom Stevens website at http://www.csulb.edu/~tstevens to get current contact information.

Start Your Choose to be Happy Self-Development Program

1. Use the Choose To Be Happy Book and Checklist (Appendix A). Put it in a central place and review it regularly. Use this book as a reference manual.
2. Use the OPATSM time/self-management system weekly. Examine your top values and goals, and organize your time and your life focused upon them.
3. Complete the SHAQ (Success and Happiness Questionnaire) to find your HQ and detailed factors related to your happiness and life success. Then examine the results and your values, beliefs, and skills. Pick a few self-development goals to focus on. Then start testing new beliefs, goals, and actions/activities to improve your life. Save your complete results and HQ score.
4. Practice what you learn, be persistent, learn from results, and don’t give up. Practice rising above difficult circumstances. Read, find role models, regularly analyze your own beliefs, thoughts, and actions related to their happiness effects and other outcomes. These are the first steps after reading this book to take for maximizing your happiness, health, and success.

VISIT Dr. Tom G. Stevens' WEBSITE http://www.csulb.edu/~tstevens for:

FREE, 100's of pages of ON-LINE self-help personal growth information including COMPLETE COPIES of:

	A FREE on-line copy of Dr. Stevens' NEW, REVISED 2010 book, You Can Choose To Be Happy (324 pages) A self-development program to help you get positive control of your emotions, your relationships, and your life. Learn to overcome anxiety, anger, and depression and find more love, hope, confidence, and integrity to be the person you really want. Discover your Higher Self and learn how to overcome your worst fears of loneliness, rejection, poverty, illness, failure, etc. Readers rated it 8.3 out of a possible 9.0 on helpfulness. You can read chapters out-of-order to gain knowledge of specific topics. New detailed research support for ideas and recommendations in book not found in other self-help books.
	Dr. Stevens' self-help materials on Relationships, Shyness, Time Management, Career-Planning, Memory, etc. Free articles for self-development on intimate, loving, relationships and marriage; meeting people, dating, conversational skills, and overcoming loneliness and fear of rejection with confidence; overcoming unhappiness, pessimism, confusion, loneliness, grief, fear, jealousy, pleasing others too much, and low self-esteem; decision-making and career planning.
	Take the free Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire (SHAQ). SHAQ reports your Happiness Quotient (HQ). The HQ can predict overall happiness with an average of about 75% accuracy, and is also very good at predicting depression, anxiety, anger, and other outcomes. SHAQ also tests for self-esteem and self-confidence; intimacy and assertive conflict-resolution skills; causes of anxiety, depression, and anger; emotional coping and time management skills; internal control; optimism vs. pessimism; factors influencing memory, learning, and academic success; and other factors. Want help with emotions, intimate relationships, meeting people or shyness, non-assertiveness, negative thinking, learning, personal growth, or many of the personal problems on this page? Also, see links to many other self-help topics and checked web sites specifically related to your SHAQ results.
	Research Paper on Results Related to the Happiness Quotient (HQ) Formula Factors, Book Ideas, and SHAQ Questionnaire. This is a professional research paper describing the research methods and results of the study on 3446 people who took SHAQ and various outcome scales on the Internet. The results strongly supported the utility of SHAQ, the ideas in the book, and the power of the HQ formula.
	Layman's Version of Research Results Related to the Happiness Quotient (HQ) Formula Factors, Book Ideas, and SHAQ Questionnaire. Much briefer summaries copied from book which summarize the research results. If you are not a professional researcher, read this version.