“Happiness is a choice,” says the ‘Chief Happy Man’ in Town

In conversation with the Sendhelper, Yuantai Liu, the founder of Happy Man Club, talks about his journey to happiness and how he inspires others to stay happy. He also talks about his soon to be released book “H.A.P.P.Y. : The 5 Secrets To Being Truly Happy".

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself. Your title ‘Chief Happy Man’ on LinkedIn is intriguing. Can you tell us a little about it as well.
   
   Chief Happy Man has a story to it. (Check out my new book "H.A.P.P.Y. : The 5 Secrets To Being Truly Happy", out on 30th June 2021!) To keep it short, it is about my journey from being a retail pharmacist to being a life coach and financial planner. It was a tough journey transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship, and there were a lot of angels who helped me in one way or another along the way. Then I realised that if I could help people who are on a similar journey, wouldn't that be great? So I did, and I found true joy. That is how I became the chief happy man, and people recognised me as the guy who is really happy and helpful.
   
2. What is the Happy Man Club all about?
   
   It is actually a Facebook Group. It is a community of business owners and professionals who believe in paying it forwards. We help people who are physically disabled through fundraising and speaking opportunities.
   
3. Mark Manson in his best-selling book ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ says the desire for positive experiences itself is a negative experience and acceptance of negative experiences is also a positive experience. As a motivational speaker and coach, what is your take on this thought?
   
   Agree! Happiness is a choice. It is not about the absence of unpleasant experiences, but the acceptance and the reframing of negative experiences. Turning negatives into positives. Making lemonade from lemons!
   
4. Which is your favourite quote? And why? (It could be someone else’s or your own).
   
   “Happiness is a choice!” People need to know that they have the ability to choose to be happy. Happiness is not dependent just on circumstances. And to me, happiness is not just a state. It is about finding meaning, purpose and fulfilment in your life.
   
5. What is happiness? How can someone stay happy?
   
   Someone can stay happy if he or she has a strong mindset, and focuses on the positives in every situation. Practising mindfulness and thankfulness every day helps tremendously too. You can read more about the secrets to happiness in my latest book.
   
6. Recent studies show that Singaporeans are one of most stressed out populations in the world owing to career and personal factors. Can you share some tips to live stress-free?
   
   Sleep well, eat well and exercise well. The foundations of good physical health extends to good mental health.
   
7. What is the role of family & friends in determining the happiness quotient of a person?
   
   Family and friends are really important! They are a good support system for anyone. And in the dark moments of my life, my family and friends helped me to pull through too.
   
8. Surveys find that although work from home arrangements during the pandemic offer everyone flexibility it has indeed increased the workload. Most of them are struggling to manage work and household responsibilities. What is your opinion on outsourcing household chores to save time especially for family gatherings and activities?
   
   Yes, it is ideal to outsource household chores in return for some personal quality time. We need to reverse the one way exchange of our time for money by changing our money for someone else's time. This is one big blindspot in many people, myself included.
   
9. By the way, are you happy in life? :)
   
   What do you think? :)

This article is published by Sendhelper. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and not necessarily reflect the official position of Sendhelper.

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