Happiness Challenge

Let’s Make A Plan To Keep This Happiness Going

Wow. I can’t believe it has been 30 days already since we started the Happiness Habit Challenge. I know we’ve covered a lot and if you followed along with the tips I shared and made an effort to improve your mood, your gratitude, and your joy, I’m sure you’re seeing a lot of progress and growth.

Let’s take a minute and look back at everything we’ve covered so far this month: [Note- Link to each of your blog posts to make it easy for readers to go back and review.]

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along and enjoyed this challenge. It’s amazing what will happen when you start to pay attention to how you feel and do what you can to increase your happiness and that of those around you. I hope you have found some tools, techniques, tips, and ideas that have helped you increase the joy in your life.

Alright, so where do you go from here? Well first off, you keep implementing and continue to practice being happy regularly. Remember the Happiness Journal I talked about back on day 17? It’s an excellent tool you can use to keep yourself on track.

You can also keep coming back to these posts as needed. It may not be a bad idea to bookmark this post as a quick reference tool. I really encourage you to check out Experience.Happy, a 5 Senses Immersive Coloring Adventure where each month, we’ll present to you a different topic on something that will make you happy!

Are You Noticing A Difference?

Over the course of these last 28 days, we’ve been talking a lot about happiness and how we can increase it and how we feel. We’ve talked about a variety of different things from how sleep, exercise and nutrition can affect our mood, to simple strategies like decluttering and practicing gratefulness. Tomorrow I’ll give you a quick little review and we’ll make some plans to go from here.

But today, as this 30 Day Happiness Habit Challenge is coming to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to take stock and see if intentionally focusing on being happier is making a difference. I know it has for me, but how about you? I hope you’ve been following along and giving the various ideas a try.

One of the things I mentioned earlier on in the challenge was to keep a journal. At the time, the idea was to practice gratitude and pay attention to the good things going on around us and the people we’re thankful for and to write them down. That same journal is also a great tool to judge how you’ve been doing throughout this challenge. Compare the earlier entries to the last few, or even how you’re feeling now. Hopefully you’re seeing some great improvements.

It’s important to remember that we go through seasons in our lives. There are times that we are overall happier, and times that are more challenging and sad. It’s ok to go through those sadder phases. Remember, I mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again – we need the sad phases of life to make the happy stand out more. Without the tough times it’s hard to appreciate the good ones. If you’re going through a tough time, that’s ok (and normal). Do what you can to make yourself and your loved ones get through it and then work on bringing the joy and happiness back into your lives.

What I really hope this challenge has given you too is the ability to be more aware of the beauty and joy around you. It’s so easy to get sucked into our everyday lives and troubles to a point where we miss the people and things that will make us happy. This challenge was designed to make you more aware of them and create new, positive habits that you will continue to carry forward from here on out 🙂

We’ll talk a little more about where to go from here in tomorrow’s wrap up post. For now, I hope this has made a difference to you and I’d love to hear how you’ve enjoyed it and what you’ve found particularly helpful. Leave me a comment, or post in the Facebook group. I look forward to hearing from you!

Would you be interested in an exciting, unique, and fun way to experience happiness? If so be sure to check out Experience.Happy – our newest coloring adventure, a 5 senses immersive coloring adventure! Each month, we’ll present to you a different topic on something that will make you happy.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN EXPERIENCE.HAPPY TODAY

Happiness Is Contagious

Today I have a fun fact for you:

Happiness is contagious!

Even if you didn’t know that, I bet you’ve experienced it. Think back on a time when you were with a person that was experiencing pure joy. Kids are wonderful not only at being completely happy, but also sharing and expressing that exuberant joy. If you’re around a small child that’s laughing, giggling, and having a grand time, you can’t help but smile. Their happiness is making us happier because it is contagious – sort of like a yawn.

That means that because happiness can be spread from person to person, it can be used to share joy and excitement with those around you. You can also use it to make a difference in how happy you feel on any given day and don’t be afraid to spread it around.

Soak Up The Happy

If you’re having a day where you feel down, not so happy and need to be cheered up, find a happy person. Surround yourself with positive people who are good at sharing the joy. Find your own personal cheerleaders that you can call on when you need a little boost. While watching a comedy may help, experiencing happiness in person seems to have a much bigger impact on how you feel. Go out there and soak up the happy.

Spread Happiness Around

Not only can you feed of the happiness of others, you can also start to spread it around. We talked in a previous post about how giving makes us happier than receiving. Thinking along those same lines, when it comes to happiness sharing it with others will benefit both you and others around you because it’ll create a positive energy that is contagious. You’ll start to notice your family and friends smile more, laugh with you, and have a good time.

Then you’ll notice something interesting that starts to happen. You start to feed off their positive vibes and happiness, increasing your own joy. Keep it going and you’ll create a spiral of happiness that keeps spreading far and wide. A simple smile or a shared laugh can change the mood of an entire group of people. That’s pretty powerful stuff, don’t you think?

As you interact with people, start to pay attention to the mood and be aware that feelings of both happiness and sadness can be contagious. Use what we’ve talked about in this post to your advantage and where appropriate, change the mood in the room by sharing happiness. You don’t have to be exploding with joy to make a difference. Smile, have an encouraging conversation, become a cheerleader and work towards making the world a happier place.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN EXPERIENCE.HAPPY TODAY

Sometimes You Need To Treat Yourself And Spend Some “Me” Time.

In this day and age, we all lead very busy lives. Running kids here and there, work, toddlers to take care of, kids sports, volunteer commitments, businesses…there are all sorts of responsibilities and obligations to tend to. So it’s not surprising that so many people lose themselves to all the busyness and time that others require. While it’s great to give and spend lots of time with loved ones, there is a time and place when you should slow down and get a little selfish.

Sometimes you need to treat yourself and spend a little “me” time. Don’t feel guilty about it. In the end, it will make you a better parent, a better colleague, and a better friend. We all need to recharge and we need to do something just for ourselves on a regular basis and it doesn’t have to be complicated. For me…well I love to spend some me time coloring 😉 but of course there are other things I enjoy carving time out for too – massages, manicures, etc.

If taking time for yourself to do something that you enjoy and that relaxes you isn’t something you’re doing right now, figure out what you may want to do. I mean figure it out right now. Stop and think about what it is you want to do that you haven’t had time to do. Do you want to read a bood? Watch your favorite TV show? Get a pedicure? Take a bubble bath? Take a nap? Go to a movie?

It doesn’t have to be something that takes a lot of time and it doesn’t have to involve anything complicated. Sure, a trip to the beach by yourself for a week would be great, but if that’s not an option, curling up on the couch with a nice cup of tea and a good book will do.

Treating yourself to a new haircut, a pretty dress, a new gadget, or something that will help you enjoy your hobby more is another great option. Or keep it super simple, and pick up a favorite treat that you don’t have to share while you’re out doing the grocery shopping.

The point I’m trying to make is that it’s ok to treat yourself and do something for the sole purpose of making you happy. While a piece of fancy chocolate may not seem like that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, treating yourself well, and caring for yourself can have a huge impact on the rest of your day and how you treat those around you.

So I invite you and encourage you to give it a try! Do something nice for yourself and watch your happiness levels go up.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN EXPERIENCE.HAPPY TODAY

How Good Nutrition Can Help Your Mood

Have you ever done any research, by reading information articles or by testing it in real life, about how much the food you eat affects your mood? I have (personally testing things out in my own life and being aware of how certain foods made me feel) and I think it’s no accident that since the advent of lots of processed food with added sugar in the Western diet, depression and other mood disorders have dramatically risen!

We look for ways to increase happiness in a variety of different ways when the simplest solution may be to change what we eat. I’ve often heard people say that’s too simple of a solution but I truly believe our diet plays a huge role in our happiness and how we feel from day to day.

Let’s look at a couple of key ingredients and nutrients that have been shown to directly affect our mood.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

I’m sure you’ve heard about this fatty acid that’s found in fatty fish and certain seeds and nuts. There’s another fatty acid called Omega 6 and from what I’ve read there’s an important balance between omega 3 and omega 6 that needs to happen. If you end up with way more omega 6 than omega 3 (which is often the case in a diet that consists of lots of processed foods), one of the side effects is depression.

Vitamin D

For those that live in areas that don’t get a lot of sunshine, it’s not uncommon for them to suffer from the blues. The main reason for this is because of the lack of vitamin D. With the advent of strong sunscreen and a global health policy that warns us of sun exposure and cautions us to cover up or wear sunscreen, it’s no wonder that vitamin d deficiency has become a major problem that also happens to negatively affect our mood.

B Vitamins

Being happy takes energy and a key ingredient in making sure we get the energy we need from our foods are B vitamins. This whole group of micronutrients is crucial in how energized we feel. Make sure you get plenty to feel your best.

Magnesium

Last but not least let’s talk about magnesium. This is starting to become more and more of an issue as our soils are magnesium depleted and less of this mineral makes it into our food. Lack of magnesium can cause insomnia and I don’t have to tell you how important a good night sleep is to your overall well-being.

While I’m not against supplements and vitamins to help replace nutrients your body is lacking, I think it’s important and a better long-term strategy to work on cleaning up your diet. The more processed foods you can cut out and replace with fresh fruits and vegetables, quality meats, and healthy fats the better. In other words, eat a healthy diet made up of real foods and you’ll start feeling better. I love following the Whole 30 way of eating.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN EXPERIENCE.HAPPY TODAY

Stop Complaining. Take Action.

I don’t know about you, but for me, since starting this 30 Day Happiness Habit Challenge, I’ve been way more aware of the happiness in the people around me. Have you experienced the same thing? What I mean is that this challenge is causing me to look at people more closely and pay attention to their actions and feelings, and how those two correlate. It’s been interesting and has given me some fresh perspectives on happiness in general.

While I’ve noticed this before, one thing has stood out over and over these last few weeks is that people that seem the most unsatisfied with their life and the least happy are the ones that spend a lot of their time and energy complaining. They are too busy talking about how horrible their life is that they don’t have any time left to do something about it. Or maybe they’d rather complain than change things. Either way, the solution seems to be simple. Stop complaining and start taking action.

At some point, we all will have those times that we complain about something. Sometimes we do it in our heads, sometimes we vent with a close friend or family member. We grumble, get it off our chest, and that alone makes us feel a little better. That’s fine, provided complaining isn’t all we do. Sure, there are times when we complain, feel a little better, and the situation resolves itself. But then there are also going to be those times when things won’t get better and we won’t feel happier in the long run unless we do something.

Let’s look at some examples of situations that won’t change unless you do something about it:

You’re not happy in your job – this isn’t going to change unless you do something about it. Maybe that means you need a different position or an entirely different job with a different company. Whatever it is, you have to take the action to move to a job where you will be happier.

You’re not happy with what you get paid – you can’t change this unless you work your way up the ladder into higher paid positions, ask for a raise, or find a company that pays more.

You’re not happy with your weight – it’s time to clean out your cupboards, pantry and refrigerator. You have to replace the ‘bad’ foods with the ‘good’ foods and set yourself up for success when it comes to making healthier eating choices. You have to make the decision to get up and go for a walk instead of choosing to sit and binge 10 episodes of Games of Thrones even though it’s a good show 😉

It’s truly amazing how much you can shape your life for the better once you stop complaining and start taking action.

So today I want to leave you with a question to think about:

What are you going to do today to make your life better and increase your long-term happiness?