Welcome to Brunner & Associates, Inc.

In recent days, I’ve seen more authors dispelling the myth that you have to work hard and become successful, then you will be happy.  It’s exactly the opposite:  become happy and then you’ll be more likely to be successful.  How do I do that?  Well, one way is to count your blessings.  Thank God that you can walk (some of us are in wheelchairs), talk (some are mute), see (some are blind), think, work, pray, love, have friends and family who care for us.  Please don’t take these things for granted.  They aren’t necessarily forever.

Here is a one minute exercise:  write down at least five things you are grateful for.  Just doing that will make you feel happier.

I’ve talked with some folks recently who keep bringing up troubling things that happened years ago.  Sometimes, we all spend time reliving frustrating past interactions and wishing somehow they had been different.  This is unhelpful!  Can we change what has already occurred?  Of course not!  But we can learn from the past and apply what we’ve learned to actively shaping a better future.  I love what my friend Don Dusenbury says to help folks become more future oriented:  “Let’s give up all hope of a more perfect past.”  Amen.  It is more productive to use our energies to strengthen relationships and habits going forward rather than living in the past.