In particular:

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Read all 5 regrets: The top 5 regrets people make on their deathbeds – The Next Web

The customer service industry is obsessed with “customer satisfaction”. We believe that’s too low a bar. Satisfaction is not a measure of success — it’s just enough to get by. We want our customers to be happy. Happiness is success. Happiness is our goal.

37signals Customer Support Happiness Report

By Bud Caddell

I’ve been working at start-ups and small businesses since I was 14 years old. My father and his father before him owned and operated their own small businesses. There’s something about the fight for survival for a small team that’s coded in my DNA. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working at Undercurrent so much. We’re small and thus we’re nimble. We’re lean and thus we’re malleable. And our age and our medium demand both.

I doodled this little venn diagram in my notepad the other day when we were talking about our own kung-fu and I realized it’s basically the conversation I’ve had for the last 12 years.

Over the years, I’ve found myself facing the following scenarios. (and I’ve added my two cents on how to move forward)

We can’t determine how to make enough money from the things we want to do, and do really well. I’m constantly surprised at what can be monetized. And on the web, there’s a market for almost anything. But this problem requires you to rapidly iterate your positioning and the type of clients you serve. Often, we’ll get transfixed on a single direction early on (because we’re desperate to solidify our business) and we’ll miss our chance to radically experiment with the market.

We’ve found things we want to do, and can be paid for, but we’re not the best game in town. Mediocrity is not a sustainable strategy. Being able to recognize your own weakness is a profound strength, and acting to improve what you do is key to any kind of long term growth and stability. Find the best talent and steal them. Learn how your competitors run their businesses, and copy what works.

We’ve come across things people want us to do, that we do well (or at least better than the competition) that we really don’t want to do. This is perhaps the most fatal trap for any business I’ve worked in. These are the sirens calling you to shipwreck. You’ll hemorrhage your best people, you’ll stop loving what you do, and you’ll lose the passion that built your business in the first place. Start saying ‘No.’

http://whatconsumesme.com/2009/posts-ive-written/how-to-be-happy-in-business-venn-diagram/

“It’s impossible to be truly happy if all of your happiness relies on someone else.”

~ Reid Walley

Real happiness is not an external force. Just like jumping into a swimming pool, and merely being surrounded by water, does not quench your thirst.

Real happiness is an internal force. Happiness, like water, must be poured in and reside within you.

Personally, I didn’t want to keep searching for a swimming pool to feel happy (ie: finding a girlfriend). I wanted to find a way to make my own happiness – for my happiness to be self-generated.

Drinking a glass of water is more powerful than jumping into 1000 swimming pools.

Happiness is not something you can force on somebody else. They must choose for themselves. And you must accept their freedom to choose happiness or misery, whether you agree with it or not.

“Happiness is found in the absence of expectation and a continuous focus on appreciation.”
~ Tony Robbins

I have to repeat that first part because it is SO ZEN:

“Happiness is found in the absence of expectation”

Fake happiness is saying “I love you” and having to hear it in return.

TRUE happiness is saying “I love you” and NOT having to hear it in return.

The 3 things we crave most in life:

1. Happiness
2. Freedom
3. Peace of mind

These 3 are always attained by giving them to someone else!