“Learn to value yourself, which means to fight for your happiness.” Ayn Rand

I think there’s an aspect to happiness that doesn’t get enough of our focus. It’s being in the state of happy anticipation of an activity, event, moment or day that’s around the corner. Looking forward to something is a huge contributor to our overall happiness and outlook. Even if today has some type of drudgery slated for a particular hour, if you have something that excites you planned for tomorrow, you can sail through today’s drudgery with a smile on your face.

We live in a culture that bemoans Mondays and cheers Fridays, and accepts that you are supposed to hate the days in between. Welcome to adulthood some people say. That’s just part of making a living and being able to pay your bills other people say. I think it’s a bunch of crap.

No matter what your situation, you have a choice.

If you dislike your job, if you are tired of work politics, the unnecessary drama, the yucky feeling in your gut, or how you feel like it’s just a job and not something you are passionate about—you can make a choice to remove yourself from that situation. As the saying goes, the best time to look for a job is when you already have one. (Or be an entrepreneur and create one!) Regardless of your take on the economy, change is possible. It’s simply a choice.

I think too many people put up with 40 plus hours a week of drudgery because they think that’s how life is supposed to be, or they are afraid to change. Change is an invisible unknown. Change means you don’t know what’s in store for you and some people would rather choose the uncomfortable familiar, than what they don’t know. Since a job can be a huge chunk of every week of your existence, and this is your one and only life, you ought to love it. Really.

You will never hear me say I can’t wait for Friday or I hate Monday because I don’t want to live that way. I love to look forward to things, so I try to create a life where I look forward to most of it. I try to live daily in a state of gratitude. My philosophy of creating a life I love applies across the board—from the big things, like my husband and my self-employment, to the little things, like how my day unfolds.

I passionately believe you can create a life filled with happiness if you …

1. Plan it.
2. Luxuriate in it. (Revel in all of your happy moments, today’s highlights and those on your calendar.)

It’s a philosophy I live with daily practice. Right now I am looking forward to …

a day at the spa this weekend with friends

a long visit from my mom

hosting a celebrate fall party in a week

the day-to-day changes in my pregnancy

a baby shower with my family in my home state of New York

seeing Madonna in concert finally

working on lots of writing projects for clients and for me

I don’t waste days sitting around looking forward to an upcoming event, instead I look forward to upcoming moments while I craft today with something else to get excited about. Little things count. Happiness may be a walk with my husband, an hour with a great book, a conversation with a friend, journaling, or watching a favorite program.

If you want to be happier, plan it. Put something on your calendar you will look forward to three months from now, next month, this week and today.

Try to consistently remove things from your calendar you dread. Even if it’s a person or a job, remove yourself from the negative association no matter how much work or time it takes.

Always be reading a book you don’t want to put down.

Don’t let a day pass by without spending some time doing what you love most.

Notice what makes you happy and plan more of it.

Stay in tune with gratitude. Take time to think about all the people, experiences and gifts in your life you are grateful for each day. Be grateful for the tiniest sparks of happiness in your days and those bigger happy moments on your calendar.

If you were sold a myth that life has to be difficult and endured, reject it. Plan happy moments. Notice spontaneous happy moments. Absorb the anticipation of all the happiness coming up and schedule more happiness on your calendar. Then watch happiness flow into your life.