Janet Jones is an author, happiness seeker, lover of life and speaker/trainer.
She is the founder of www.happinessmillionaire.com and a regular guest on BBC Radio Leeds, spreading happiness messages around Yorkshire.

‘True happiness is deep within our core for each and every one of us. Our one shared goal is to find it and make it grow.’ Janet x

"It is a cliché but I found myself while walking in Peru."

It all began on October 29th 1994, my worst day. That was when my dad took his life. Six years later I experienced a breakdown. Since then I have become mildly obsessed with the state of happiness, how to increase it and maintain it.

When my life fell apart in the year 2000, having not yet come to terms with the unexpected death of my dad, and as a mother of three young children with a husband who worked away all the time, I began to feel very lonely and insignificant. It turns out this isn’t an unusual feeling for a fulltime mum, but no one talks about that.

‘A man who lets himself decline because he could not see any future goal found himself occupied with retrospective thoughts.’
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning.

My unhappiness reached such a low level, like many people, I began to feel I was ill with depression and I believed my only choice was to take antidepressant pills. Fortunately for me, I received a piece of direct mail that introduced me to the power of my mind and the importance of learning how to manage my thoughts. I was also introduced to the need for goals. ‘No goals = No growth’ and I needed to grow out of the situation I was in. As I write in my book, raising children is like the movie Groundhog Day; you do the same thing day, after day, after day. I had no idea where my goals were going to come from.

A few days later the postman delivered another piece of direct mail. This time it was going to provide me with all the goals I needed. I knew instantly this opportunity was made for me. I have been a walker since I was a teenager. Wide open spaces releases the mind and opens it up to creativity, something that is impossible when bogged down with responsibilities, worries and fears.

The strange thing is, once you have decided to do something out of your comfort zone, the fear monkey wakes up and throws all the excuses why you ‘shouldn’t’ do it. Well, the fear started to kick in and I had to take on my fear monkey. I had no idea then that this was about controlling my mind.

“’This is crazy,’ I thought. ‘I am a full-time mum and my husband works away four days a week. It would be impossible.’

To say I was scared was an understatement, but deep in my soul, I knew this was part of my spiritual growth. I had to find out who Janet Jones was again. Was she still alive?” Taken from Happiness Millionaire: positive Images for a R.I.C.H and Powerful Life by Janet Jones

Raising over £4,000 for disadvantaged children pushed me out of my comfort zone every day. Within 12-months I went from being a woman who hid at home, regularly taking children to school then returning home to climb back into bed for safety. This new focus and the goals I HAD to achieve in order to go to Peru saved my mind and my life. As Viktor Frankl says, if you cannot see any future goals, you become occupied with retrospective thoughts. The only way to move forward to a better place is to set up goals that will bring fulfilment.

When I returned, I was committed that the insecure woman would never return. The past can’t be changed. I can never bring my dad back. I can never have the days back that I spent being unhappy and in pain, missing the days when my children were young because I was caught up in a dark mind-set. However, I can embrace better days and make everyone of them as special as possible. Happiness is something I will hold tight to and always walk to create more.

Walking Towards Your Desired Life

‘As we walk, we cross the bridge into the realm of desire and imagination.’
Julia Cameron, The Vein Of Gold

“A three-mile walk each morning has been my saviour for over 20 years. It is only through study that I discovered why this is. The action of walking changes the chemistry of the body, resulting in a more optimistic outlook, and allows the mind to roam free creatively.

It is the creative aspect of the mind that raises the sixth-sense antenna, allowing the alliance between you and universal intelligence to be made. Focussing on your desired life while walking – and taking other exercise – stimulates your imagination and makes this infinite communication possible. The spiritual contract that is then created between you and the universe helps you to build strength and resist the temptation to sell out your dreams when the going gets tough.

This lamppost is at the top of the hill where I walk in the mornings. Here I make a promise to myself to make the most of the day and to keep stepping forward into the life I love. Without this start I tend to drift my day away without focus or purpose. “