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Marci Shimoff is a world-renowned inspirational speaker and #1 NY Times bestselling author who specializes in helping people become happier. In the past year, she’s given talks in Russia, Ukraine, Japan, China, and Budapest, and has spoken to audiences of 10,000+. Her fame began with her co-authorship of Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul in 1996. More recently, Marci wrote Love for No Reason and Happy for No Reason, bringing her total to nine books and her worldwide sales to over 15 million.

Marci became inspired to research and write Happy for No Reason when she realized that success hadn’t actually brought her sustained happiness. She decided to study happiness the way Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, studied success. She scoured the neuroscientific literature, and found that experts refer to a happiness “set point,” the sum of genetics, circumstances, and habits. Then she interviewed 100 truly happy people to find out how they were able to live in sustained happiness “from the inside out.”

Marci says she wasn’t a happy child, and by the time she was a teen, she decided her life goal was to become happy and help others do the same. In her research, Marci discovered that happy people had not necessarily always been happy. Marci was able to define 21 skills and habits that these truly happy people chose to live by.

Writing the happiness book hugely changed Marci’s life and that of her co-author, Carol Zurer Kline (who was her best friend at MIU back in the 70s.) Marci started practicing the 21 happiness habits, which involved making choices about such areas as thoughts, emotions, exercise, attitude, diet, and others. If the practice worked for her, she adopted it. Marci says she now is happier than she ever thought possible.

Marci’s current project is equally groundbreaking and life-enhancing. She is co-teaching an online course called “Your Year of Miracles” with Debra Poneman, who was in the first MIU graduating class in 1977. They’re completely stoked about the “miraculous” experiences reported by their 3000+ participants from 41 countries.

When she first came to MIU from another university, Marci was just 17. All she knew was that she had to find her Self—something eternal within her that would be her foundation in life. She found it at MIU and is forever grateful. She says, “MIU plugged me in.” After talking to Marci, I felt plugged in to the contagious happiness she generates.

Ruthie Hutchings is a contributor the the MUM blogs. She did graduate work in English Literature at Emory University, holds an MA in Professional Writing from Maharishi University, and also does writing and editing for websites, magazines, books, and instructional materials.