Week 1: Be Happy, Week One

“Unless you cultivate a relationship to joy,” Robert emphasizes, “no amount of pleasure or satisfaction will ever be enough.” In week one of Be Happy Online Course, you’ll learn the fundamentals for cultivating a relationship to joy. You’ll create a personal definition of happiness that works for you, discover the five important signs that tell you when you’re following your joy, learn why happiness is a facet of your very being, and find out the biggest block to experiencing happiness. Holistic health intuitive and “nutritionista” Ahlea Khadro also joins Robert in a special interview on how to look after the health, happiness, and harmony of your body by following the rhythm of the seasons.

Week one includes these lessons:

• Hello Happiness: Begin to cultivate a relationship to happiness by tuning in to when you are at your happiest.
• My Definition of Happiness: Create a personal definition of happiness that works for you, and learn the three types of happiness—and why knowing the difference helps you find real joy.
• Ending the Search: Discover why searching for happiness is actually the biggest block to experiencing happiness.
• Following Your Joy: Learn what it means to follow your joy, and the five important signs that tell you you’re on the right track.
• Guest Interview: Ahlea Khadro: Daily Well-Being: Find out how to follow the rhythm of the seasons to look after the health, happiness, and harmony of your body.

Week 2: Be Happy, Week Two

How happy did you decide to be today? Each day, you make numerous decisions about things that you need to accomplish or do—but whether you realize it or not, you also make the choice each morning about how happy you will be. In week two, Robert dives into explaining that happiness is a choice, one with far-reaching effects on your life and health. You’ll learn the purpose of happiness and why it is good for you, what happiness has to do with living authentically, why circumstances have a negligible effect on your happiness, and why nothing “makes” you happy. Dr. David Hamilton also joins Robert for a discussion about the power of kindness: how being kind not only boosts your feel-good emotions but also benefits your body physiologically.

Week two includes these lessons:

• The Purpose of Happiness: Learn the purpose of happiness, its numerous positive by-products, and how it helps you live a more authentic life.
• The Already Principle: Discover Robert’s secret to happiness, and the “two selves” that exist within you.
• Why Nothing Makes You Happy!: Learn why nothing “makes” you happy—but that everything in your life can encourage you to be.
• Choosing Happiness: Examine what it means to choose happiness, and how you can even influence your genes with your state of mind, choices, and decisions.
• Guest Interview: Dr. David Hamilton: The Science of Happiness: Find out how the simple act of being kind not only boosts your feel-good emotions but also benefits your body physiologically.

Week 3: Be Happy, Week Three

We all have within us, beneath a pile of thoughts, a “happiness contract”; its central clause is that happiness must be deserved. This contract, though, is merely a belief with rules and conditions that we’ve self-imposed—and it gets in the way of us realizing that happiness is free, unconditional, and our true nature. In week three, you’ll get down to the bottom of your personal happiness contract so you can rewrite it. Robert also exposes the three biggest myths about happiness, uncovers the sneaky factors that might be causing you unhappiness, and teaches you about your “joy tolerance level.” Mike Dooley, creator of Notes from the Universe, also joins Robert in a conversation about what it really takes to enjoy the journey of your life.

Week three includes these lessons:

• The Happiness Learning Curve: Uncover the three biggest and most pervasive myths about happiness.
• Causes of Unhappiness: Discover what factors in your life may be making you unhappy, from lack of sleep and chronic busyness to perfectionism and forgetting gratitude.
• The Happiness Contract: Unearth the internal contract you’ve made with yourself about how happy you “deserve” to be—and rewrite it.
• Good-bye to Guilt: Get acquainted with your personal “joy tolerance level” for happiness.
• Guest Interview: Mike Dooley: Enjoy the Journey: Discover what it really takes to enjoy your life in this fascinating conversation about using unhappiness as a signal from the divine.

Week 4: Be Happy, Week Four

“Happiness is not just the absence of sadness,” Robert notes. “It is also the capacity to love and heal sadness.” In week four, you’ll learn more about the purpose of unhappiness and why you should never be afraid of sadness—for within it is a message, lesson, and gift to help you heal. Robert guides you in a short course in emotional healing and talks about how martyrdom and unhealthy sacrifice are often mistaken as routes to happiness. He also reveals how an attitude of forgiveness is crucial to your happiness. Tom Carpenter, a teacher of A Course in Miracles and creator of The Forgiveness Network, also joins Robert in a moving conversation about the relationship between happiness and forgiveness.

Week four includes these lessons:

• Stop Being a Martyr!: Learn about another major block to happiness—the fear that “happiness is selfish”—and uncover areas in your life where you have been unhealthily sacrificing.
• Letting Go of the Struggle: Drop the belief that you have to suffer in order to be happy by busting the five myths of “the suffering ethic.”
• Healing Unhappiness: Find out how to heal sadness by discovering the message, lesson, and gift within any crisis or emotional wound.
• Forgiveness Sets You Free: Learn why forgiveness is guaranteed to increase your happiness, and five forgiveness principles that will help you do so more easily.
• Guest Interview: Tom Carpenter: Dialogue on Forgiveness: Prepare to be deeply moved by this excerpt from A Dialogue on Forgiveness, which sheds light on the relationship between forgiveness and happiness.

Week 5: Be Happy, Week Five

In week five you’ll be treated to an eclectic mix of happiness lessons that are sure to up your joy quotient. Robert kicks off the week by introducing you to the poetry of the Sufi writer Hafiz, whose ancient wisdom about joy translates timelessly into modern life. From there, you’ll experience the oneness meditation, which will bring you back to connectedness and joy; learn the immense power of slowing down in order to catch up with yourself; and discover the therapeutic nature of fun. Best-selling author and self-care expert Cheryl Richardson also joins Robert to teach you how to nurture your inner artist through beauty and creativity—a direct path to happiness.

Week five includes these lessons:

• Kissing the Friend: Discover fresh insights on happiness through ancient wisdom, as Robert shares and expands on the very relevant poetry of Hafiz.
• The Oneness Meditation: Come back to the experience of oneness in a powerful meditation that will help you remember that your soul is joy.
• The Joy of Slow: Learn the immense power of slowing down in order to catch up with yourself, be less manic, and become more present.
• More Fun Per Day!: Discover the therapeutic nature of fun, and learn how to purposely schedule more pleasure and enjoyment into your life.
• Guest Interview: Cheryl Richardson: The Artist Within: Find out how beauty, creative expression, and nature are all linked with happiness—and learn how to nurture your inner artist by tapping into these gifts.

Week 6: Be Happy, Week Six

“Love is the heart of happiness,” Robert says. In week six, you’ll explore the profound connection of love to happiness, and how choosing love each day will bring you greater joy. Robert dives into the wisdom of A Course in Miracles, the spiritual thought system that teaches the way to love and peace, and shares its essential teaching that happiness is choosing love over fear. He also teaches you about two joy-based philosophies: basic trust with Louise Hay, and sympathetic joy, a Buddhist principle that wishes for the happiness of others and, in the process, heals one’s own self of feelings of envy and competition. World-renowned A Course in Miracles teacher Marianne Williamson also joins Robert to explain why forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Week six includes these lessons:

• The Happiness Genie: Discover the power of making a daily dedication to love, a fast-track to cultivating greater happiness in your life.
• Happiness and A Course in Miracles: Dive into the essential teaching of A Course in Miracles: choosing love over fear.
• Life Loves You: Recognize that life loves you as you learn about Louise Hay’s fundamental teaching and the philosophy of basic trust.
• Sympathetic Joy: Discover the antidote to feelings of envy and competition through the Buddhist philosophy of sympathetic joy.
• Guest Interview: Marianne Williamson: The Key to Happiness: Learn what A Course in Miracles imparts about happiness—and why forgiveness is the key to joy—from a world-renowned teacher.

Week 7: Be Happy, Week Seven

We have more than ever before: more freedom, more choices, more money, more opportunities for education, more shopping malls, more gadgets, more chances to travel—the list goes on and on. And yet we don’t seem to be any happier. In fact, you might say that the culture of “more” has failed us. In week seven, Robert talks about what he calls the “real more”…and discovering that what you really want is likely already here. He also dives into the relationship between happiness and money, how to undo the blocks in your life that limit your capacity to receive, and the importance of expressing gratitude—a foundational practice that will boost your happiness. Angel whisperer Kyle Gray also joins Robert to talk about what the angels have taught him about happiness and the unseen ways that life supports us.

Week seven includes these lessons:

• The Real More: Discover why the culture of “more” has failed us as a path to happiness, and experience the feeling of what it’s like to not want for anything.
• Happiness and Money: Learn about the relationship between money and happiness as Robert shares his childhood story that confirms what research has proven.
• The Receiving Meditation: Undo the blocks that limit your capacity to receive, and become a better receiver of the gifts that are yet unopened in your life.
• Vocal Gratitude: Find out how gratitude can boost your happiness and why it’s so important to put it into practice.

Guest Interview: Kyle Gray: Happiness and the Angels: Learn how life wants you to be happy and will support you in ways both seen and unseen, in this beautiful discussion about the angels.

“We have a basic choice between becoming and being,” Robert says. “The ego is always ‘becoming happy’ or ‘about to be happy one day’…but the soul is much more into being. The soul is already happy.” In this final week you’ll begin with the powerful experience of simply being to connect with your inner wisdom and rest in true joy. From there, Robert guides you in how to cultivate a deeper relationship with the Now, what he calls our greatest teacher; discusses what being present means and how you can be more so in your life; and concludes by sharing how your happiness is in fact your gift to the entire world. You’ll also hear from Louise Hay in a special interview about tuning in to your “inner ding,” no matter what the outside world is telling you.

Week eight includes these lessons:

• The Joy of Being: Experience the simple joy of being—as opposed to wanting, doing, striving, chasing, and racing—to tap into your inner wisdom and connect with true joy.
• Milking the Sacred Now: Cultivate a deeper relationship with the Now, what Robert calls our greatest teacher.
• Guest Interview: Louise Hay: Your Inner Ding: Learn the power of tuning in to and honoring your “inner ding,” no matter what the outside world is telling you.
• Finding the Present: Discover what being present really means, and learn how to be more so in your life.
• The Gift of Happiness: Understand why your happiness is in fact a gift to the entire world; it goes far beyond you alone.