Wait, self-help gurus are involved???

Yup. But in a good way. 

Some of the major philosophies that the Joy Strategy is based on come from discoveries I learned from authors M. Scott Peck, Eckhart Tolle and Elizabeth Gilbert.

Dr. Morgan Scott Peck was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.

Among many things Peck reminds us of in Road Less Traveled is the first Noble Truth, which states that life involves suffering. Peck noticed that most of us look at struggles as “unexpected interruptions” instead of the “inevitable daily hiccups” that they are.

Peck also teaches his idea that “delayed gratification”’ is fundamental to a happy life.

Peck says, “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

He recommends doing your work first, then getting to your play afterwards for full enjoyment.

Shout out to M. Scott Peck for reminding us that life is inherently difficult and Not-Joy can be expected, which isn’t personal, and of the principle of delayed gratification.

Without these key concepts, the Joy Strategy would never have been ‘discovered.’

Eckhart Tolle, pronounced “ek” “hard” “toLLee,” has written many bestsellers.

Among them is The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

It’s a guide for day-to-day living that stresses the importance of living in the present moment and transcending thoughts of the past or future.

Tolle writes: “Pain can only feed on pain. Pain cannot feed on joy. It finds it quite indigestible.”

Also from Tolle: “You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You can find yourself by coming into the present. Life is now.”

In the book, Tolle basically calls out our mental self-talk, our chatty human brains.

He gives us permission to ignore and silence all the voices that are constantly chatting in our minds every day, ghosts that do nothing but pull us constantly away from the present moment.

He’s referring to that mental ‘soap opera’ that drones on and on in our heads.

Tolle tells us that the soap opera isn’t necessary, that it serves no useful purpose.

The Joy Strategy relies on that discovery, so shout out to Eckhart.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, a book which “touched the world and changed countless lives, inspiring and empowering millions of readers to search for their own best selves.”

Problem was, Ms. Gilbert the writer says she got in her head about following up such a big hit, thinking that nothing she could come up with could ever top that.

In her Ted Talk called Your Elusive Creative Genius, Ms. Gilbert beautifully describes the process she discovered for joyful (and stress free) creating. It involves removing the responsibility for thinking of brilliant ideas from the human brain and handing that part over to what she calls “your genius in the wall.” The genius being a higher power of creativity that exists unseen in the universe and is accessible to us all.

Part of the Joy Strategy leans heavily on Ms. Gilbert’s discovery of working with your universal genius to joyfully create, so a big shout out to her for sharing such a brilliant take.