Are you happy? I mean are you really happy? Happy on the inside? If you are one of the few who are, what do you do to sustain that happiness?

I’m happy. I am happy on the inside. I’ve been studying happiness and positive attitude for 30 years, one day at a time. I keep a couple of death-and-destruction-oriented items around the office to remind me of the “other side.” Unhappy things like “Death of a Salesman,” which reminds me to change my ways as often as possible, or I will die penniless in the gutter like Willy Lohman.

But 99 percent of my stuff is from the positive side of the fence, including comedians, cartoon characters or other stuff that reminds me all day long that smiling, laughing and being happy are the most important things in life.   I have 16 employees. If I’m not happy, nobody here is happy. Happiness in any organization starts with the leader.

Did you ever have a boss who was a jerk? You know, not ever happy. Ever. How long did it take you to get out of there? Didn’t all the relief in the world come over you when you left that dump?

If you’re in a dump like that where the boss is a jerk, get out now. Go someplace where you can be happy. More important, create an atmosphere for yourself where happiness is pervasive. Being happy is transferable from other things and people to you. All of that translates to your wallet.

You are what you watch. Why are you watching violent things on TV when you can be watching happy and funny things? If you’re gonna watch something on TV, watch a rerun of “Seinfeld.” It’s a little cynical, but it’s funny. At least watch something that makes you smile, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

I used to watch plenty of them. I’d wake up in the morning and watch Bugs Bunny. Everyone else is watching the news. I’m watching Bugs Bunny. I’ve seen 850 out of the 1000 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies episodes. Maybe I’m nuts. But you know what? I’m happy nuts. Happy nuts is way better than unhappy nuts.

Many people will tell you to get a positive attitude, or that a positive attitude is essential for success, but very few tell you how to achieve one.

Surround yourself with happiness. Create a happy living and home-working space. Expose yourself to happy media, including sitcoms and cartoons. Associate with happy people. Work in a happy place.

If someone gives you a bit of unhappiness, you have to respond with a positive expression. Most people begin by telling you their problems, gripes, complaints, tragedies and other tales of woe. You have to find the silver lining in the cloud, the pony in the barn full of manure, the pearl, the diamond, the glass slipper, etc.

Happiness happens every day. You have to take some measure of action in each of these areas daily.

As I travel and observe, I find that most people aren’t happy in either their jobs or their life. What I wonder is why they won’t change their circumstances or their demeanor.

I am challenging you to be happy by simply surrounding yourself with happiness. You’re not taking advantage of that.

All you have to do is put happiness in front of your face on an every-minute basis, and surround yourself with basically happy people. That will increase your happiness factor by 10, and you’ll automatically be at a more positive state of being. Do that for a few years and you might actually stay happy. You see, when you’re happy on the inside, it never goes away.

Free GitBit. Want more ideas on humor? Want more ways you can use humor and become more humorous? It’s yours by going to www.Gitomer.com. Register if you’re a first-time user and enter the word HUMOR in the GitBit box.

President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, Jeffrey Gitomer gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.