Once upon a time there was a happy man. Or so he thought. Having spent the last 20 years of his life as a newspaper editor, one day his boss came in and told him he was being laid off.

He was a lucky man though. His wife worked in a similar profession. She ran a profitable niche business. The editor’s newspaper had given him a sizeable severance package, leaving him financially free to pursue his lifelong ambition of helping others.

For a year, he tried to make this business of helping others work, While he enjoyed limited success, he bewailed his layoff and his dwindling financial condition daily.

He continually worried about how he was going to financially survive even though his wife’s income was more than enough for them both to live comfortably.

He became absorbed in his struggle to become financially secure. All the while he ignored his wife’s pleas to help her with her thriving business. The long hours of daily editing work, plus her niche business were too much for her.

Every Day Was the Same

During this year, he would get up at 8, work out for a couple of hours, eat a hearty breakfast and then work on his business for an hour or two, expecting the results of his labors to consume his time with business activity. When the business remained quiet, which was almost all of the time, he would eat a lunch, take a nap, cook dinner, watch TV and go to bed.

As the year passed by, his routine became so ingrained that when business picked up slightly, he scheduled appointments in a way that allowed him to continue for his daily routine.

One day, just like that, his apparent contentment evaporated and turned into a deep depression. He had lost most of his few clients. Friends were nowhere to be found. He had no income. And his wife was working so hard she never saw him. He was on his own for long periods.

The deeper his depression, the less he would go out, the more he would reject invitations. He began to think of suicide daily as he felt less and less useful for anything.

Still Plummeting

Equating his loss of income to his ability to be a useful member of society, all he could see were dwindling finances, a homeless future of unemployment. He felt he was a burden to his wife.

His unhappiness began to sour his relationship with his wife and of course the arguments that go along with that kind of depressed thinking. His attitude also affected the few people he met while trying to grow his new business. He wasn’t the positive person that he was trying to project. The lack of “positivity” was very to his remaining clients.

One day he was (as usual) staring vacantly at the television when a thought struck him.

What if he were to help his wife with her business?

He resolved to become involved.

The work was not hard — typing invoices and shipping labels, packing sold items and shipping them, talking with clients, keeping a tally of what was spent and what was earned and making the occasional pickup and delivery.

These new activities helped increase his mental alertness, made more productive and more focused.

He had found that sitting around waiting for things to happen was not going to make them happen.

Most importantly, by becoming involved in his wife’s business, he had less time to think about himself. Now he wanted to spend more time organizing his new job.

Although the tasks were routine, they forced him to have to think about them. He had to pay complete attention.

Soon he gained renewed energy and interest in life. He was meeting new and exciting people. He began accepting social and business invitations. He was worthwhile again.

His self-esteem, self-confidence and social demeanor improved dramatically. Fretting over his own woes disappeared.

The couple’s business is thriving, and his desire to return to the corporate world is gone. He is more content being in charge of what he does and not having to answer to anyone other than his wife and his clients.

Spencer Johnson, author of “The One Minute Sales Person,” said:

“I have more fun and enjoy more financial success when I stop trying to get what I want and start helping other people to get what they want.”

This true story is a perfect example.

A clinical hypnotherapist, handwriting analyst and expert master hypnotist, Nicholas Pollak may be contacted at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net