Happy Life Hack: Smile Your Way to Happiness and Success
Smile, a happy life hack that will help you find happiness.
My adventures in travel photography have been underpinned, in no small part, by a very simple happy life hack that’s enabled me to craft a purpose driven and meaning rich life based around creativity.
The best happy life hack I’ve learned along my own journey through life is to embrace opportunity, even when it’s cloaked as adversity. Being authentic in what you do, staying empathetic to the needs of others and facing the day with a smile are key components to living a happy and successful life.
Throughout this post I’ll be drawing on my own experiences as a professional photographer, teacher of photography and world traveler to explore how, despite a range of difficulties along the way, I’ve been able to build a happy and successful life.
The messages within this post are simple enough, but it’s my hope that the honesty with which I present these stories from my life will connect with you and help you along your own journey to a happier, more creative and more abundant life.
Table of Contents:
Rockhopper penguin, Falkland Islands, in need of a happy life hack.
My Working Life: It Had to Start Somewhere
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away I started a wedding and portrait studio in my hometown, Hamilton, in South Eastern Australia.
It was 1984 and, despite 5 years in retail, playing in bands and having already covered over 200 weddings as a side business, I was a very shy 22 year old lad.
To help manage the situation I made sure that I put on a smile whenever I walked along the town's main street.
It made me happy, because walking the walk can lift self esteem and make a positive difference to how you feel about your life.
Not only did putting a smile on the dial actually make me happier and more confident, it also created quite a bit of interest from folks passing by.
People actually stopped me and commented on how happy I looked and how I must have a great job and be doing well for myself.
Frankly, I couldn’t have got more attention carrying a sandwich board around town. I know, I did that once to promote the local drive-in.
Those interactions provided great opportunities to promote my business to those who didn’t know who I was or what I did. And it paid real dividends, allowing me to book numerous weddings and family portraits over time.
Back then photography was a highly respected profession. While most households had a camera, few were any fancier than the ubiquitous Kodak 126 or 110 instamatic camera.
What’s more, photography was expensive and it was common for a single 24 exposure roll of film to include a whole year’s worth of photos.
Needless to say, unlike today, the opportunity to practice and learn from your mistakes just wasn’t there for the average hobbyist.
It’s true that immediate feedback was available from the Polaroid and Kodak instant picture cameras of the day. But the films for those cameras were really expensive and, in most cases, there were only 10 shots per film pack.
Back then, a degree of expertise over extremely expensive camera equipment, studio lighting and working in a darkroom probably suggested something akin to alchemy.
However, the reality of being a professional wedding photographer involved a good mix of technique, marketing and the ability to put on a happy face and successfully manage a whole range of diverse and challenging situations.
Think howling brides, the odd drunken father and the occasional screaming mother in law. Actually, it gets worse, but I’II leave it at that.
Despite this baptism of fire, and a 5-year long spat of ill health along the way, I really enjoyed my days as a wedding photographer, the wonderful people I was able to serve and the life skills I learned along the way.
There’s no precise recipe for how I managed all manner of tricky situations at such a young and tender age. Other than working in a very busy, customer focused retail job, I had little life experience to speak of.
But I had the advantage of being friendly and genuinely interested in other people. What’s more, despite a lack of athletic abilities, I demonstrated a capacity to practice and practice until I became good at something.
It must be nice to be blessed with talent. But what matters most is determination and perseverance. That’s what wins the big games and gets you through the most difficult times in your life.
Looking back I’d say my experiences as a wedding and portrait photographer in my hometown, Hamilton, helped prepare me for many other challenges I’d end up facing throughout my life.
Some of those challenges have surfaced during my time as a travel photographer embarking on amazing and, sometimes, foolhardy adventures around our world.
Adorable chick, enjoying a happy life in rural Bali, Indonesia.
Happy Life Hack: Smile And The World Smiles Back
It's amazing how your body language, mood and confidence changes when you smile.
It's worth cultivating such habits as they have an effect on your state of mind and how other folks perceive you.
Actually, I’d go as far as saying that your smile is the best way to open yourself up to the world. It’s through your smile that friendships are born and lives are changed, for the better.
Remember that your smile is an outward, physical projection that, when authentic, has the capacity to disarm suspicion, encourage conversation and lead to positive outcomes.
Smiling is a key component to creating a happy and successful life. And it does this by subtly changing your worldview.
Imagine you’re out and about, on a walk or a run.
All of a sudden the sky bursts open and rain begins to fall.
What do you make of such an event?
Do you get upset and bemoan the lack of a hairdryer?
Or do you send a few words of thanks out to the cosmos? After all, the farmers must be experiencing real hardship following a prolonged dry spell.
Together with sunlit, plants and animals require water to survive. Needless to say, without healthy plants and animals, you might as well press delete on the human species.
I think it’s good to be mindful of such basic concepts the next time your hair frizzles as a consequence of being out and about when it rains.
One thing I love about the rain is that you really know you’re alive when you’re in it.
I’ve been soaked to the bone, standing under a monsoonal downpour while waiting outside the gates at the Australian Embassy in New Delhi.
All my money, onward flight tickets and passport had been stolen while on a train journey from Varanasi to Agra.
Fortunately, a fellow traveler had loaned me enough money to travel onto New Delhi.
I remember the guard on duty, comfortably enclosed in his sentry box, who wouldn’t allow me to shelter inside during the lunch break. So I waited outside the gates, in the open, for a full hour.
Bureaucrats!
I also remember crossing over the border from Tibet to Nepal in 1988 only to find the roads had been washed away by flooding rains.
After a thrilling drive, feeling my lungs filling with air, we descended from the high altitude Tibetan plateau down to the Chinese border town of Zhangmu, at a respectful altitude of 7,500 feet (2,300 metres).
It was only then that my travel companions and I were told we had to hike over the border between the towns of Zhangmu, in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, and the village of Kodari on the Nepalese side.
No problem, though the hike between the two was a strange no-man’s land, acting as a buffer zone between the two countries.
I recall an immaculately attired and beautifully spoken Chinese customs guard jumping out from behind a rock to question me. Fortunately, after quite a long conversation I was, eventually, allowed to continue my journey into Nepal.
The plan was to catch a bus from the border town of Kodari onward for 89 miles (144 km) to Kathmandu. Unfortunately, travel plans don’t always go to schedule.
It was then that we learned about the roads being washed away somewhere further ahead.
There was nothing else for it but to hike onward, keeping on the road when we could and scrambling up and down the steep mountain slopes where landslides prevented our onward progress.
Fortunately, near the end of a our first day, we walked into a village and found accomodation inside a small family run inn. Actually, I think it was just a house.
We arrived during the twilight. The location was romantic, with the house located at the base of a waterfall, and I only wish we’d got there earlier. I would love to have explored the site further, but it had been raining most of the day and we were all worn out.
There was nothing else for it but to get out of the weather and seek what comfort we could inside.
The accomodations were spartan, but we were fed, able to change into dry clothes and given a place to sleep. And for that we were all very grateful indeed.
I can tell you the sounds that waterfall made that night were absolutely thunderous. Despite being in awe of our location, and the adventure unfolding around us, I hardly slept a wink given the din outside.
The rains continued, as did my travel companions and I, for the best part of our second unexpected day hiking into Nepal. Eventually we reached a village where the road was unaffected and we were able to board a bus and continue our journey onto Kathmandu.
It was a real adventure, though I could have done without the severe case of gairdia I picked up at a local cafe while for the bus to arrive.
That nasty stomach bug plague me for 6 weeks, until I met a Swedish doctor, posted with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Srinagar, Kashmir who gave me a dose of Flagyl. Within a day or two I was fine.
Following floods and an earthquake the border crossing between Zhangmu and Kodari remains closed to foreigners. It’s a pity, both for the livelihood of the good folk on either side of the border, but also for intrepid travelers like me.
There’s another crossing, but I would like to have repeated my original journey from Lhasa to Kathmandu. It’s so long ago now, and all that remains are faint memories.
What’s more, due to camera and film processing problems, almost all of my photos from that trip, my very first overseas adventure, were lost.
Fortunately, some memories remain. Some aren’t at all pleasant, but I prefer to think about the positive ones, which all involve smiling. I certainly laughed a lot, and I was pleased to bring a smile to so many people I met along the way.
A lot of my photography is related to the human condition.
I’m fascinated by how the positive and negative experiences that occur throughout our lives are shaped, for better and for worse, by how we perceive those experiences and the reality we create for ourselves based upon what we perceive.
Of course, it’s not just what happens to us but, more importantly, how we perceive what happens to us that determines the reality of the moment and the degree of happiness and success we experience in our lives.
Have no doubt, facing each and every day with a smile can impact your life in a variety of ways, including the following:
A positive impact on how you feel about yourself.
A positive influence on how others feel about you.
A positive influence on your worldview.
A positive impact on what happens to you.
A positive influence on how you perceive what happens to you and how that will affect your life going forward.
So you see, having experienced my fair share of rain, I’m not all that put out by it.
Usually the trade off for an adventure, that comes at the expense of a little discomfort, is more than enough to tip the scales towards the positive and put a smile on even the weariest of faces.
That’s the thing about hardship and discomfort. They make you more appreciative of how lucky you are and how good your life actually is.
Though I’m not at all in favor of extended periods of hardship and discomfort, I remind myself that my happy life hack, to remember to smile, has got me through my share of difficult times in the past.
And, if need be, it will again in the future.
But, why wait. It’s better to prepare by staying positive and enjoying life along the way by putting a smile on the dial and facing each and every day with a good measure of happiness.
Wouldn’t you agree?
About to Travel?
Happy Life: Emerging From The Darkness Into The Light
I'm not saying that smiling, on its own, will make you or I a significantly better person. Though, on some level, I’m sure it will make a positive difference. However, it's only the beginning to creating a happier and more successful life.
Living an authentic, meaning rich and purpose driven life is really what we should all be striving for. It’s an ongoing challenge, to be sure, and one that starts anew, each and every day.
Conversely, a contrived, insincere, surface level facade will, soon enough, be seen for what it is.
What I’m talking about is taking the kind of simple actions, which I refer to as happy life hacks, that will allow the person you really are to emerge out from the shadows and into the light.
And that person, childlike and unafraid, will be loved by all who retain the capacity to do so.
This is what I believe.
Beware Of Money And the acquisition of Stuff
It's also amazing how success comes to those who are happy and content.
How many times have I read or heard successful people saying that their motivation comes no longer from chasing the dollar, and that money and opportunity comes as a consequence of not desiring it?
It’s a tricky concept, and hard to accept when you’re on struggle street.
But it is important to understand that money isn’t everything.
We all know this, at a conceptual level, but how often have we made decisions, at important junctions in our life’s journey, based upon money.
Rather than chasing money, we’d likely be better off working consistently towards financial security.
That's because money is so often associated with greed, while financial security speaks to us of safety and freedom.
“Names have power and the name we give something affects how we perceive it.”
King penguin chick, eagerly awaiting food and love, South Georgia Island.
As an Employee, Are You Broken and Unhappy?
I grew up with the concept that money needed to be earned and saved for a rainy day. I was also led to believe that the harder you worked, the more you would be rewarded.
From my own experience I'd say that, for the most part, that proposition has not been true.
Things may change for the clever, strategic thinking and politically motivated operator. But that’s a different head space and, therefore, an entirely different reality from my own.
I just keep on keeping on, doing what I think is right and helping as many people as I can along the way.
However, my decision, all those years ago, to make a conscious effort to smile has been good for me, both spiritually and emotionally. As a consequence it’s also been good for business. I kid you not.
After all, who wouldn’t want to work and associate themselves with happy people.
Likewise, we’d all prefer to do business with someone who appears to be living a happy life. You never know, some of it might rub off.
If you’re unhappy at work why not try my happy life hack out for a week or two.
I guarantee it won’t do you or anyone around you any harm.
More than likely it will result in smiles and a higher degree of happiness all around. And what’s not to like about that?
Happy Life Hack: Is It Time You Changed Who You Are?
However, despite the belief I have in the happy life hack of smiling to achieve happiness and success in life, I've fallen off the rails on more than one occasion over the years.
In that regard, I’m certainly no shinning example of how to live a well balanced and happy life.
But I keep trying, and that’s surely a good thing. Wouldn’t you say?
Many years ago, I moved from the country down to the big city to undertake formal studies in photography. Those studies continued for 9 years, during which time I moved from retail into a career at Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd.
I starting with a rotating 12 hour 20 minute shift work position, involving the manufacture of Kodak film and photographic paper at Kodak’s manufacturing plant in Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne.
It wasn’t a whole lot of fun, but it had been a dream of mine to work at Old Yellow and I knew, once I got my foot in the door, I’d be able to work my way up the ladder into a position where my passion for photography would be able to help people.
After working in several customer service and technical positions, I was promoted to the role of Product Manager, Sensitized Products in Kodak’s Professional Photography Division. I stayed in that role for 2 years and did well.
By this stage I’d already been teaching photography, part time, for a number of years. After my time at Kodak came to an end, I began teaching photography on a full time basis.
I worked really, really hard in that role and was a popular tutor working, simultaneously, at several institutions across Melbourne.
But the life of a contract teacher is not an easy one. I certainly worked far longer hours compared to staff at one of the government universities, and for far less money.
As a result I found myself working 3 or 4 nights a week and running many weekend workshops throughout the year, in addition to my daytime shifts. And I did that for twelve long years.
Having to hustle to get from one college to another, in a large and busy city, wasn’t much fun, but I loved teaching photography and helping thousands of people lead more creative lives.
While gregarious in the working environment, my energy levels began to diminish outside of work. Given all the preparation I had to do for the many, many classes I taught, I became a bit of a hermit outside of work.
It’s not always easy to get to know your neighbors in the big city. After seeing so many of them come and go over the years, I began to keep to myself and, as a result, I became somewhat shut off from the world.
Mind you, not getting home until after 10pm most nights will do that to you.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that my shyness began to reassert itself.
However, I did find myself happy to disappear back into the crowd, from where folks always seemed to find a way to bump into me or block my path when I was in a hurry getting to a photography class I was scheduled to run in the city.
Folks certainly wouldn't have considered me shy in the environments in which I worked. In fact I was very much in control in the classroom or when running a photography workshop or tour.
That's because I'm there to help people and I’d exert a great deal of energy and positivity to keep them interested and engaged in the learning experience.
They were, after all, paying customers.
What’s more, being interested in the lives of others, I was always happy to engage with participants whenever I could.
I believe in what I do and consider why I do it to be very important.
It's my mission in life.
However, when you place so much attention on others, you can forget about looking after yourself along the way.
Meanwhile the clock ticks and the sands run through the hourglass.
If you're a parent I suspect you'd understand exactly what I mean.
Having said that, you get to keep your kids, while my charges only stay in my life for as long as I’m teaching them.
After that the leave the nest, never to return.
King Penguin chicks, looking towards a happy life, on South Georgia Island.
New Happy life Hack: Test Your Theories With Practical Action
Recently I conducted an experiment, repeating it over a 3-day period.
I’m not at all happy with the way I look. Here’s why:
I’ve become seriously overweight.
I’m short. Actually, that doesn’t bother me, it’s just a statement of fact.
I don’t dress to impress.
I can change two of these things, but not overnight. And, frankly, I’d much rather dress comfortably than in a stylish manner.
Nonetheless, I decided this experiment needed to start with the concept of paying more respect to myself.
While I moved back to my hometown, Hamilton, I still travel down to Melbourne regularly for private, one-to-one photography classes. On a recent visit to Melbourne I stayed an extra day and undertook the following experiment.
The weather was cool so I wore my best shirt and jacket to three, single session short courses I was running in the city over a 3-day period.
I also made sure I was particularly early for these sessions and walked through the city slowly, in a deliberately calm and more confident manner.
I made sure I straightened my back, which lifted my rib cage and lungs, and held my head up while I walked.
Before you know it I began smiling. Not because I thought I should, but because I felt happy.
Improve Your Life By First Respecting Yourself
It was like I’d slipped into another dimension and, suddenly, I was like Moses parting the Red Sea.
Folks moved out of my way so as not to impede my progress.
They also looked right at me which, in the city, isn’t all that common for a middle aged, tubby chap like myself.
I checked to see if I’d left the front door agape. No, it was something else.
This is an example of how we make our own reality and how, with a simple hack, we can build a happy life for ourselves and those with whom we interact.
“Positivity is infectious, in all the right ways, and it’s our choice to present ourselves to the world in a way that attracts or repels.”
I was, in no way, more financially independent than I had been prior to making that trip down to Melbourne. But by changing my appearance, that is my clothes and my body language, I’d changed the way I was perceived by those around me.
In doing so I’d rediscovered that simple, plain truth that I call my happy life hack.
That you really can smile your way to happiness and success.
Now, I’m not the kind of person who seeks to fake it until they make it.
It’s not enough to talk the talk. To get on in life and make a real and positive difference to the lives of others you really do need to walk the walk.
Of that fact I have no doubt.
But there are plenty of times when I enjoy going about my business without being noticed. I think that’s a natural consequence of working in jobs that require such a highly focused, customer orientated approach.
And I do love talking to people, particularly when I’m out and about at the shops or walking around town.
However, the older I get, the more I appreciate time spent alone. It enables me to put in the long hours required to write so many of these long-form blog posts, to undertake walks and to indulge myself in my sci-fi and Middle Earth addictions.
Likewise, having done so much people photography over the years, it feels great getting out into the country and undertaking some serious wildlife and landscape photography projects.
No doubt that has a lot to do with my travel expeditions to remote parts of our world, including the following:
Antarctica
Iceland (twice)
Greenland
Tibet (twice)
Of course it’s easier to be negative, which explains why most folks are. As a consequence they remain hidden from the world around them.
What a loss!
I know that, from time to time, I’ve found myself isolated from the world. That was, primarily, the result of insane work commitments.
But the years continued to go by and the sands in the hour glass continued to flow.
Sadly, you just can’t put that darn sand back again.
What’s your view?
Do you think any of this makes sense and may even reflect your own circumstances?
Do you see yourself employing my simple happy life hack to break away from negativity and lethargy to improve your own photography, your interactions with people and, as a result, your life?
Over the years there's one simple technique I find that calms my mind, lifts my spirit and energizes my body.
I get myself into the habit of taking a walk, in the sunlight, ideally on a daily basis. I now know I'II get myself into trouble, both physically and emotionally, when I break that habit.
When I’m in the habit of walking regularly I eat and sleep better. As a result, the weight drops off, as it has lately, and I feel an abundance of happiness in my daily life.
It’s such a simple recipe, and whether in Melbourne or back home in Hamilton, it’s become the foundation of helping me to build a good and happy life for myself.
And that’s the point. It’s up to each of us to take control of our lives.
As far as my happy life hack is concerned, is there any wonder I love walking and dedicating myself to creating life affirming photos when I’m traveling the world?
My happy life hack successfully implemented in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Your Future Happiness Is Determined By What You Do Today
One of the great things about travel is that I find myself spending most of the day out and about, in the light, meeting people and making photos.
I’m sure you can appreciate why concentrating on the mission of the Travel Photography Guru website and blog, to bring the beauty of our world and its people to an ever wider audience, is made so much easier for me by staying engaged with those around me and regularly applying my happy life hack.
In the case of the above photo, I was wandering along the banks of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia when I was accosted by this pair of lovely young ladies.
They were sisters who, when not at university, made a few extra rubles posing for photos with, I assume, middle aged, male tourists like me.
They spoke good English, so I asked one of them what they were studying at University.
They both replied, in unison, public relations.
Well, not only did that put a smile on my face, it caused me to erupt in laughter.
Strangely, I’m not sure they understood why.
As I conclude this post the time is now, well and truly, approaching the hour of the wolf. I have a busy day ahead of me, but I’m already thinking about getting out and about, into the light and the fresh air, for my (almost) daily constitutional walk around Lake Hamilton.
Please do what you can to start your own day off with a good dose of happiness and self empowerment. Doing so can only help shape what you make of what happens to you, each and every day going forward.
I know that, by starting the day in a positive, life affirming way, I'II be better equipped to guide other people towards a more creative, purpose driven life through my interactions and, through my efforts on this website and blog.
I hope you find your own way towards a happy life and that, along the way, you’re able to invest in your own creative journey.
One final piece of advice for the journey ahead of you. See the darkness for what it is, a doorway into the light.
