Phoenix Education

Keep A Journal To Practice Gratitude And Happiness

We have talked in the past about the fact that feeling grateful and acknowledging all the good things in our lives is a fantastic way to increase our overall happiness. Getting in the habit of showing and experiencing more gratitude is a one of the most powerful ways to increase your feeling of happiness.

It is all good and well to resolve to feel more gratitude and become happier. Putting it into action is a little harder said than done. Thankfully, there is a simple little tool that will help you stay on track – a journal. A gratitude journal is a wonderful thing and something that can have a surprisingly big positive impact on your life. Best of all, you do not need anything fancy. Grab a notebook and a pen, or if you prefer, boot up your computer and open a word document.

The idea is simple. Each day you want to write for a few minutes about the various things you feel grateful for. Think back on anything that made you happy throughout the day. By listing all the positive things in your life, you are putting them into the forefront of your mind. That alone is bound to increase your mood and make you feel happier and more accomplished.

Not only will your writing help you right away, as you compose each daily entry, but you are also creating a great memento of your gratitude and happiness journey. Pull out your journal, curl up on the couch and read it whenever you need a little boost of happiness. Seeing, in black and white, how far you have come throughout the past weeks, months, and even years is amazing.

As you start to read about the events and people that you felt grateful for in the past, you are start to relive those memories, and with it those feelings. Think of your gratitude journal as a happiness battery. You are storing your good feelings in an easy format that allows you to access and relive them on demand. What a powerful idea.

In addition, writing and reading your gratitude journal regularly will help you form new positive habits. You will start to have a more positive outlook in life, and since the journal forces you to think of and find the things and people you are grateful for in any given day, your brain will automatically start to look for the positive instead of the negative. It is easy to see how that can have a beneficial impact on your life over time.

If you are ready to practice gratitude and work on increasing your happiness, start writing a journal. You will not regret it.

Keep A Journal To Practice Gratitude And Happiness

If you are ready to practice gratitude and work on increasing your happiness, start writing a journal. You will not regret it.

When All Else Fails, Fake It

Here is an interesting expression: “Fake It ‘Till You Make It.”

You usually hear it in the business and show business world. The idea is that if you look like a success, others around you will treat you like a successful person and will send more projects and opportunities your way. At some point, the idea is that you can stop faking it because you have become what you have pretended to be. It sounds a little harsher than it is. Faking in this context is not as phony as it sounds. What you are really doing is modelling behaviours until you have internalized them. Once that happens, you will start to see results, because you have been working hard at exactly the types of things a successful person does. It only makes sense then that you start to see results.

The interesting thing is that this works in all sorts of different contexts. If you want to be a thin and fit person, start acting like one, eating the things they eat, working out, moving around more etc. After a few months of doing that, it is no wonder that you are starting to slim down significantly.

Since happiness is on my mind a lot during this project, I did a little research to see if the same concept could also work for feelings – including increasing a feeling of self-worth, wellbeing, and of course being happier. The good news is that it does. You really can fake happiness until your mood improves.

How To Start Faking Happiness

Faking happiness is a lot easier than you may think. You can start with nothing more complicated than smiling. A fake smile will do in a pinch, but if you can get your entire face, including your eyes involved. Give smiling your best effort, even if you are not feeling it.

After a bit of smiling, you should feel your mood start to increase. Remind yourself throughout the day to smile more for best results. When you are ready to kick it up a notch, try laughing. Again, if there is nothing funny going on, just start giggling and laughing. It has a profound impact on the body. Not only will it instantly lift your bad mood and make you feel happier, laughing has also been shown to increase your body’s ability to heal and it will improve your immune system.

Try it and start practicing faking happiness. You can smile and laugh at yourself in front of the bathroom mirror in the mornings. Then try to smile more and laugh often as you go about your day. Not only will you notice your own happiness levels increase, but you will also have influence on those around you.

Make It A Point To Make Someone’s Day

Here’s an interesting exercise for you. Head out to do your errands, drive to work, or get to school and make it a point to make someone else’s day today. It could be something as simple as giving someone a big smile, have a meaningful conversation with a person who’s feeling a little lost or lonely, or it could be buying lunch for the homeless person on the corner. It doesn’t matter what you do, but do something today to make someone else’s day.

How does that make sure feel? It’s a pretty good feeling isn’t it? It seems that a big key to our own happiness lies in making people around us happy, and helping. When you start to think about it, it makes sense, doesn’t it? We are social creatures who must work together to truly thrive. It is only logical then that helping those around us has an internal rewards system built in. In other words, our happiness goes up as we improve the lives of those around us.

A great strategy then to increase our own happiness is to cheer up those around us. Not only will it help make you feel better and happier, but you also must increase your own happiness and put that big smile on your face to be able to make someone else’s day. It’s hard to do this kind of stuff when you’re feeling sad and depressed. But those are the times you need to force yourself to do it the most. By simply doing that, you make your own mind increase the happiness you feel and that gets mingled with a feeling of pride for helping someone else.

As with many of the other strategies we’ve been discussing about increasing your happiness, the key to making this work is to make it a habit. If it becomes well ingrained in your daily routine to make someone’s day as you go about living your life, you’ll automatically start to do it, even when (and especially when) you don’t feel like it. As you well know those are the times when you particularly need to do something to increase your own happiness and give yourself that little extra boost.

Start by thinking about a few different little things you can do to make someone’s day. It doesn’t have to be anything big or complicated. Instead focus on small acts of kindness that you can do every single day. Bless your loved ones with this kindness, or complete strangers who look like they could use a little cheering up. Help someone unload groceries, fix a meal for a neighbour who just had a new baby, or bring your spouse coffee in bed when he or she is having a hard time. All these small acts of kindness will start to make a huge difference not just in you, but also the world around you.

Let’s stay happy

Hi guys.

An intensive few weeks as I just started a new job as a Maths lecturer. This is on top of my Tutoring Business of Maths and Physics! And I have fingers in other pies too!

I think I will continue with some of the posts on happiness. On my other blog at Fairyhanny.com I am writing about writing, as I am getting close to putting my third book on to Amazon.

First book

Second book

So it’s all go just now.

Stay safe and happy.

On the same theme

From Daily Motivation

When you keep chasing happiness, you let yourself believe you don’t have it.

You start to think it’s something outside of yourself. But the truth is that happiness exists within ourselves.

It’s all about how you perceive your life.

When you appreciate what you have in your life, accept the present, and stay grounded, happiness automatically comes.

You can be happy about the smallest, most random things. Embrace your inherent state of joy.

Don’t let your happiness be dependent on things you can’t control.

Appreciate what you have in your life.

Boost Your Confidence And Become Happier

Think back to some of the happiest times in your life. Chances are that these are also the days when you felt your most confident. Maybe you excelled at sports during that time, or you aced a project at work. Confidence can be a huge happiness booster. But why wait for something good to happen in your life? Why not boost your self-confidence, which in turn will increase your feeling of happiness.

Photo by Oliver Sju00f6stru00f6m on Pexels.com

There are all sorts of things you can do to boost your confidence. We will run through a few of them here. I also encourage you to read up on the topic, pay attention to times when you are feeling more confident, and then work out a plan to intentionally boost your self-confidence based on your own research and experience.

The problem with boosting confidence is that we tend to respond to different strategies, techniques, and events. Some of us thrive on words of encouragement, while others want to see results, or thrive on kind actions from others. Are you the type of person who puts more meaning into a kind word from your boss, a raise, or a promotion? Or how about some public recognition at the latest company meeting. We all have different confidence triggers and the trick is to figure out what yours is and how you can get more of those types of boosts.

General confidence boosters include words of encouragement, seeing how far we have come, listening to some upbeat music, going out for a run, and dealing with failure in a positive way. Give each of those and any other interesting confidence boosting tip you come across a try. Then sit back and notice how much confidence impacts overall happiness.

If you respond well to compliments and words of encouragement, call a friend or anyone else in your life who makes a great cheerleader. Get those positive verbal affirmations whenever you need a little boost. Keep a journal so you can look back and see how much progress you have made. This is particularly sound advice if you are trying to change your life, your habits, or make progress on a long-term project. Being able to flip back and see how far you have come can be very encouraging.

Cranking up some tunes, or heading outside for a little fresh air and exercise can be another fantastic way to boost your confidence and your mood. Combine the two for even better results. Finally, let us look at how to deal with failure. When things go wrong – and let us face it, they will eventually – you can either allow it to bring you down and undermine your confidence, or you can look at it as a learning experience. Guess which view is better for your self-esteem?

I hope you take these suggestions to heart and try to work on your confidence. Not only will it make you a happier person, but you also get more done, and become more successful overall.

Why Getting Enough Sleep May Be The Key To Happiness

I am one of those people who do not seem to need more than six hours sleep a night. This is not always a good thing!

Sleep is important for your health, well-being, and how alert you are. Not getting a good night sleep can impact your performance during the day. Chronic lack of sleep can cause all sorts of health issues and even weight-gain. It can also lead to depression. In other words, not getting the sleep you need makes you feel bad.

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Making sure you get sufficient rest can help you feel more energized. You get more done which boosts your self-confidence and in turn your overall happiness. Making sure you get your beauty rest makes a lot of sense.

I am sure you have seen this in action. When we do not sleep well, or do not get a chance to get enough rest, we end up grumpy and agitated. Our stress levels go up which in turn makes us feel worse. We do not get our work done, we start to feel depressed and that in turn leads to more sleepless nights. It is a vicious cycle.

If we can break that cycle and make sleep a priority, everything changes for the better. We wake up in a great mood and ready to tackle the day. It is easier to get work and chores done and still have time to relax and unwind. That in turn leads to a better night sleep and an even better morning.

The big question then is how do we get to this state of sleep-full bliss and a solid 8 hours of rest at night? We do it by making sleep a priority. Yes, there are times in our lives (like the arrival of a new-born, for example), when getting a good night’s sleep is not a possibility for quite some time, but for most of us, working on a reasonable bedtime routine is not that hard to achieve.

And routine is the keyword here.

Good sleep is a habit and a learned behaviour.

It takes a little work on your part to change your habits and establish a good sleep and bedtime routine, but it will be well worth it. I promise.

Start by setting a regular bedtime and do your best to stick to it – even on the weekend and holidays. Our bodies get in a rhythm of waking and resting hours. Help your body get there by staying on schedule. Spend some time in the hours before bed to relax and calm down. Stop working, do not exercise too late in the day, avoid caffeine a few hours before bed, and turn off screens at least an hour before you are ready to fall asleep. Turning down the lights, playing soft music, and reading an old-fashioned paper book are all great ways to relax and prepare both body and mind for sleep. Taking a warm bath or shower can help as well.

If you are still having a tough time going to sleep after implementing a routine, consider supplementing with magnesium and /or melatonin. A lack of either one of those substances in your body can make it much harder to fall and stay asleep. Stick with your routine and you will get into a habit of getting plenty of sleep. That in turn will lead to happier, more energetic, and more productive days

Be Positive

Your subconscious mind constantly works behind the scenes and filters in the information that affirms your underlying beliefs.

Bedtime is an optimal time to work on changing your internal beliefs.

Before you go to sleep, take a few moments to think about the things you want to attract into your life.

Feed your mind helpful thoughts and allow feelings of joy and gratitude to sink in.

Surround yourself with items and quotes that inspire positive feelings.

If you repeatedly use positive statements and act accordingly, your subconscious mind will record it as the truth, and eventually, it will become a core belief.

Build A Support System of Happy People Around You

Moods are contagious. If you are around a bunch of sad and depressed people, you will start to feel down. If on the other hand you are in a group of happy people, you cannot help but start to smile. It makes sense then to surround yourself with happy people if you want your own level of happiness to increase.

Does this mean that you should shut all people who aren’t super happy out of your life? Of course not. We all have important people in our lives whom we love and cherish even if they do not have the sunniest outlook on life. Plus we all have happier, and sadder seasons in our lives. It would be horrible if we avoided loved ones during tough times.

Instead, what I suggest is that you take note of who the happy people in your life are. Who are your cheerleaders that will cheer you on no matter what and who will put a smile on your face anytime you spend time with them? Take note of those positive people, be their friends, family, or even just acquaintances. Build a support system of happy people that you can turn to when you are feeling down.

Along the same lines, you want to be careful about the negative and sad people around you and how they affect your own mood. When you are having a tough time and are struggling with your own happiness levels, it may be better to avoid people that you know will bring you further down. Those are the times when you want to spend time with your team of cheerleaders, or your happiness support system. Again, this does not mean that you need to completely shut people out of your life, just take note of their energy and how they affect you and spend time with them accordingly.

When you are happy, do not be afraid to share that happiness and spread it around. Smiling, laughing, and feeling good about life is contagious. Spread the joy and soak it up from happy people around you when you are not feeling your personal best. Call up that friend that can instantly make you feel better, and talk to people around you who love and care for you about this idea of contagious happiness. Let them know when you could use some cheering up and then return the favour. Because, let us face it, we all have times when we are happier and in a much better mood than other days. Make it a habit to build each other up and create that happiness support system. It will make a dramatic difference in your life and those around you.

Fighting Against Our Brain’s Bias To Negativity

Have you noticed that negative comments and events stick with us much longer, and influence us more than positive ones?

I am sure you have experienced this quite a few times. A positive comment by your teacher for example is appreciated, but the effects wear off quickly. A negative comment on the other hand sticks with you much longer. Why is that? It is because our brains have a bias to negativity. It is measurable and there have been brain scan studies done that show that our brain reacts more strongly to negative stimuli. The big question then is how do we fight against our brain’s bias to negativity?

What can we do to make sure negative remarks and criticism do not get us down?

The first step is that we realize that there is such a thing. This allows us to take each piece of negativity with a grain of salt. It can be incredibly helpful to acknowledge that our mind and heart may be overreacting about something negative. On the other side, this knowledge also allows us to make it a point to savour the positivity. Do not dismiss a compliment out of hand. Instead, savour it, think about it, and make it a point to remember it, and allow it to lift you up when negativity brings you down.

Be positive.

Of course all of this is easier said than done. Since this bias to negativity is hard wired in our brains, it takes a lot of time and effort to build new, more positive habits. Remind yourself each morning that your mind is trying to force you to focus on the negative stuff and that it takes a conscious effort to balance it out by being mindful of all the good and happy things in our lives.

Over time this will allow us to grow a thicker skin when it comes to unwarranted criticism. Should you ignore every single comment or suggestion that you do not like? Of course not. There is such a thing as constructive criticism that helps us to grow and get better at what we do. What we need to guard against are the negative words, events, and feelings that make us go hide in a cave. We do not want to encourage inaction in ourselves. Instead, we want to use the positivity around us to lift us up and help us make it through the tough times, get stronger, and get better at what we do.

Reflecting on both the good and the bad on a daily basis can be a great exercise to help us gain a little distance and see everything that is happening to us in a better light. Keep a journal or set aside some time for quiet contemplation. Talking things out with a friend, particularly when you are struggling with something negative that you’ve having a challenging time getting past, is another great idea. Above all, do what you can to outweigh the negativity with the good stuff. Keep a box or file with some of the best positive emails and comments you have. Peruse through them whenever you need to counteract something negative. As time goes by you will grow that that thicker skin that will protect you from your harshest critics.