"What makes me happy?" It's a question we all should ask ourselves periodically, since all of our actions should, in some way, be directed toward achieving happiness. Initially, thoughts of riches beyond imagination may fill your mind. Or your thoughts may center on the car/house/job of your dreams. If you are honest, you will probably find it to be a more difficult question than you would expect.

Abraham Lincoln is purported to have once said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abe knew what he was talking about, and in the final analysis, I think you will find that the only thing that can make you happy is you.

Happiness is just a state of mind -- so are anger, sorrow, disappointment and loneliness. The mind is the most powerful tool in the universe, but you are the one who controls it. Like your car, if you see your mind heading in the wrong direction, you can steer it the other way. You need to recognize when you have negative feelings and go a different direction. You don't want to be dwelling on the situation that brought you to that emotional state.

Of course, it is easier to steer your mental car toward happiness if you have directions. That brings us back to the question, "What makes me happy?" By answering this question, you will be drawing the map. Try an easier question if you are stuck: "What has made me happy in the past?" My guess is that it was not something material.

My definition of happiness is not the fleeting, live-in-the-moment feeling that accompanies a birthday present. Rather, I think of happiness as a way of life. Truly happy people may have difficult times, but they know how to bounce back because they know better times are possible -- and probable. They are content to have more positive thoughts than negative ones. They also understand that their happiness depends largely on how much happiness they share with the people around them.

Happiness is a powerful, addictive narcotic. Step into the bliss often enough and you'll carry it with you and seek situations that perpetuate it. Build a powerful reserve of positive feelings that will carry you through the tough situations that life throws at you.

Studies have shown that too much stress can inhibit your immune system, causing many of the health problems that plague our society. Heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, migraine headaches and mental illness are just a few of the health issues that have been linked to excessive stress. So in addition to improving the quality of your life, reducing your level of stress and increasing your happiness may also help to save your life.

Researchers at the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine questioned 243 people who were 100 or older. According to a blog for pharmacy technicians at cphtcentral.com, researchers "found that centenarians tend to share certain personality traits (in addition to other factors, like genetics). In general, these long-lived people are:

-- Outgoing,

-- Positive-minded about other people,

-- Full of laughter,

-- Open with their emotions,

-- Conscientious and disciplined,

-- Unlikely to obsess about anxieties or guilt.

"The scientists point out that these characteristics don't necessarily represent a cause and effect relation�ship. They did notice, however, that in many cases the personality traits they observed weren't necessarily lifelong tendencies, but behaviors their subjects learned as they grew older. Focusing on the good and not worrying about the negatives may have a positive impact on overall life expectancy."

So now that you know what finding your bliss could do for your quality of life, why wait? Organize your life so you have time to do the things you love.

I am not advocating that you abandon all responsibility. Life's pressures are going to prevent you from playing golf seven days a week, and even sunsets start to look alike after a while. You may not be able to quit your job to become a professional singer. However, the more attuned you are to what truly makes you happy, the more your life will align itself with the things you value and treasure.

As Albert Schweitzer said, "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

Mackay's Moral: Only you can draw the map of the road to your happiness.

Because I do a lot of public speaking, I have developed a deep appreciation for top-notch speakers. So when I was brainstorming and looking for a real showstopper to address a group of businesspeople I am mentoring, I asked Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, to be one of our presenters.

Darren is in the rare position to interview the most celebrated achievers on the planet to discover how they have created their extraordinary success. Astute SUCCESS readers use the advice to achieve more and lead greater fulfilling lives.

Darren's message, three productivity secrets of superachievers, was a real eye-opener.

No. 1 might surprise you, because so many people want to know what successful individuals do to create great results, but the answer is just the opposite. It's not what they do at all -- it's what they don't do, according to Darren.

Saying "yes" is easy, he said. There's no hassle in saying yes. The master skill, however, is saying "no." No is hard because it can cause conflict in relationships.

When Darren got a chance to interview Warren Buffett, he asked the question that everyone wants answered: "What would you attribute your grand success to?" The key to Buffett's great success was this: "For every 100 great opportunities that are brought to me, I say 'no' 99 times."

Darren asked Steve Jobs, "Of all the things that you have built and created, that have changed the world, what are you and Apple most proud of? His answer was, 'I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do.'"

Distinction No. 2 of superachievers is to learn to focus on the vital few.

"A lot of us try to become master of many things," Darren said. "We try to be great at a lot of things, and as a result, we don't ever become world-class at a few things. Look at Olympic athletes, entertainers, Nobel laureates or Albert Einstein. They were all world-class at just a few things. The rest of their lives they were pretty mediocre."

Darren makes the point that long hours are very different from hard work. Hard work is doing the few things that are hard to do but produce the big results.

"A great confusion for a lot of us is that we think there are all of these functions we need to be involved in and we need to be great at," he added. "Really, like anything in life, there's about a half dozen vital functions that you need to become excellent or brilliant at in order to create gargantuan success."

What are your vital functions? What are the three vital functions that only you can do? What are the three functions that contribute the most to the success of your business or job? If you take the time to write them down, it will force you to focus your attention on what it is you should be doing every day.

Darren's personal goal is to spend 90 percent of his time on his three functions. Best-selling author Jim Collins says if you have more than three priorities, you don't have any.

Steve Jobs learned when he was running Pixar that there's great power in working on just one big thing at a time. When you can get your whole staff to focus on one thing, their creativity is off the charts. That's why Jobs and Apple did one thing at a time. They did the iPod, then the iPhone, then the iPad and then retail.

The final distinction of superachievers, according to Darren, is that they've developed unconscious habits of success. As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do."

Darren explained: "When you repeat an activity over and over, the reason it becomes an unconscious habit is it develops what's called a neurosignature. It actually burns a brain groove. Every time you do something, it continues to reinforce this brain groove, and we become what we practice the most."

You can read more of Darren's advice in his book, "The Compound Effect," which I highly recommend. Especially helpful are the five ways to change bad habits and seven ways to install success habits. Bottom line: You have to develop a daily routine that will lead you to success.

Mackay's Moral: Lots of people start, but few people finish.

When comedian Larry the Cable Guy says, "Git 'er done," he's simply defining one of the buzzwords heard in boardrooms and offices everywhere -- execution intelligence, also known as XQ.

I personally prefer Larry's term to the fancier jargon, but the end result is the same: have an end result!

Execution intelligence is the ability to convert smarts and plans into action. A true business expert knows that the idea is not king -- the solution is. In a digital culture that can find almost any kind of idea or information on the Internet, the challenge is in converting this universal knowledge into a successful result.

Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Inc., said, "Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not."

The business world recently lost one of the giants of execution intelligence, Stephen Covey. Stephen and I shared a podium a number of times, and I am proud to have called him my friend. His life's work is an example of how to get things done: from his planning calendars that many of us use to his inspirational writing. In his blockbuster book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," the second habit is "Begin with the end in mind."

Talking in a broader sense, Stephen said, "Organizations that execute with excellence focus on very few clear objectives and align the focus of every worker and work group to those few goals. Can an organization execute its goals when its people are unclear on the goals, uncommitted to them, unempowered to achieve them and unaccountable for them? Got smart people? Got a vision? Good for you. Now, what about your XQ?"

As a lifelong salesman, I know success comes when you are able to close the deal. In the sales field, all the flashy brochures and well-practiced presentations are just the beginning. No one works until a sale is made. If salespeople can't execute sales, the business fails.

There's a whole movement defining different kinds of intelligence. For example, emotional intelligence is centered on being smart about feelings. Interpersonal intelligence deals with being smart socially. IQ tests measure smarts as defined by words or math. So someone who is classified as very smart but lacking execution intelligence might not be able to succeed.

Developing your XQ involves several steps, according to teleseminar guru Alex Mandossian:

-- Don't focus on complex solutions or even elegant ones. Sometimes we get too mired in details to see the logical end. Complicating your progress is counterproductive.

-- Execution intelligence forces you to zero in on answers that are pure action. Don't stall in the thinking stage -- that's when you get bogged down in meetings, memos and reinventing the wheel but never reach a conclusion.

-- Don't spend all your time chasing the wrong rainbow. If you determine that a project will not work like you thought it would, let it go. Knowing when to throw in the towel is also a form of execution intelligence.

Many brilliant ideas have been thought up already, but the real genius is being able to put them to work practically. Many people know -- or claim to know -- what to do. They just never get it done.

A doctor, a carpenter and an electrician were traveling in a foreign country when they unwittingly broke a law. They were all sentenced to die in the electric chair.

The doctor was placed in the chair first. The executioner asked if he had any last words. The doctor said, "I am so sorry. If I am spared I will spend the rest of my life caring for the people of this country." The switch was flipped, but nothing happened. The doctor was spared.

Next came the carpenter. He was asked for any last words. "I am so sorry. If I am also spared, I will spend the rest of my life building homes for the people of this country." With that, the switch was flipped. Again, nothing happened, and the carpenter was spared.

Finally, the electrician was seated in the chair. The executioner asked him if he had anything to say. "Well, yes," said the electrician. "As a matter of fact, I think I know what your problem is. If you would take that loose wire over there and connect it to that switch, I think you could get this chair working again."

Execution, yes. Intelligence? Maybe not.

Mackay's Moral: It's not enough to know what. You must also know how.