Over the years I have spent a lot of time defining what happiness or fulfillment means to me. There are many things that make me happy: a great family, honesty, life long friends, a loving relationship, ambition, success, loving the work I do every day, strong beliefs.

I have been able to define true happiness for me as being true to who I am, to my ideals and my core values, and consistently being “me” at every moment of every day. Being true to me does not imply a need for external approval of “me.”  Being true to me means requires resisting pressures to conform while being flexible enough to accept that the “me” of today will evolve over time and be shaped by the experiences that I encounter. Being happy with who I am allows me to experience all the things I love in an authentic way and remain positive about all the great things this earth has to offer.

I was recently introduced to Chris Guillebeau via Seth Godin’s Blog which I follow religiously. In discovering Chris’ blog I came across an article “The Decision to be Remarkable” and I was truly impressed. His article allowed me to realize that in addition to being happy by being true to “me” I should take it one step further and focus my energy on becoming a truly remarkable person through action.

Chris starts with a definition of remarkable: re•mark•able [adjective]: worthy of being noticed, especially as being uncommon or extraordinary. Remarkable is subjective and very different people can all be very remarkable at the same time.

He states that to become remarkable you must consciously decide to do so:

1-Stop Making Excuses; 2-Take Responsibility; 3-Start questioning rules and expectations; 4-Find work that you Love and do it Well; 5-Begin living your own life; 6-Take it up a level.

These are rules that I think everyone should live by whether or not they are seeking to be remarkable. They are not complex rules, not mysterious and not impossible but for those in pursuit of happiness.. they may be a good start.

I recommend reading the full article here.

So what did you watch at 9pm EST last night? I believe most people had their eyes glued on political debates. As a Canadian my duty should have been to watch the Canadian Party leaders battle it out: Harper, Dion, Layton, May and Duceppe argue what direction they would take the country if elected. Well not so much Duceppe, as he admits that he will never be Prime Minister.

Instead, I opted to watch the US Vice Presidential debate live. After watching media interviews with Palin how could I miss watching her live in a debate. I have to give it to Palin, she did an excellent job of staying on script; but is that what America will elect someone who can memorize a script but can’t actually formulate arguments of her own?

If I look back on the debate what I remember from Palin is:  1- Maverick (if I hear the word maverick one more time I’ll scream), 2-She always comes back to her comfort zone Energy & Alaska, 3-She did not answer a single question. Biden, well he did a better job at attempting to answer the questions and he actually substantiated his arguments with facts.  I think he completely lost the average American when he got into specifics of his experience in the judiciary committee, while attempting to answer the last question.

My question to Americans: Of the the two candidates who would you trust as the President of your country? The answer for me is obvious (and again I’m a Canadian). If you can’t trust them to be President then how can you trust the person who selected them to run as Vice President?

Read the entire debate on the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-DebateCloud081002-DD.html

I look forward to watching the Canadian Federal debates tonight- heard the round table approach worked.