Tag Archives: The Happiness Project

Aim Higher

Posted on April 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

The chapter of March in The Happiness Project focuses on work and how to bring some creativity, energy, and efficiency back into this area of your life. Individuals who are happier tend to work more hours each week, are more cooperative, less self-centered, and more willing to help others. Gretchen Rubin’s 5 tasks this month to aim higher include:

  • Launch a blog (like we did!) – It is a way to challenge yourself based on your interests and what you love. Plus its gives you the opportunity to connect with others who share your interests and passions.  For some it can become a way to gain new skills and a new identity.
  • Enjoy the fun of failure – Push yourself and find ways to put yourself out of your comfort zone. Risking failure can provide you with the opportunity to succeed. In order to succeed you must be willing to accept failure.
  • Ask for help – Constantly remind yourself to ask for help – it will allow you to be successful in where you are
  • Work smart – Make your time productive. One small way can be to rearrange your office space. Also give yourself small breaks throughout the day to give you the opportunity to clear your mind.
  • Enjoy now – Don’t focus on the anticipated future happiness of arriving at a certain goal. Remind yourself to enjoy now, enjoy the present

“Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing, and love what you are doing”

Carolyn

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The Happiness Project – Remember Love

Posted on April 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

The second chapter in The Happiness Project is based on remembering love. Author Gretchen Rubin focuses this month on her marriage and ways to bring love back in her life as well as in her marriage. One of her personal commandments is “there is only love”, and with this she sets 5 goals:

  1. Quit nagging – For those who are in relationships, all too often, we nag. Your spouse nags and you nag. Try to be more observant and appreciative of each other and what each other does.
  2. Don’t expect praise or appreciation – Do something as if it is for yourself. If you do it for other people, you end up wanting them to acknowledge it and to be grateful and to give you credit. If you do it for yourself, you don’t expect other people to react in a particular way.
  3. Fight right – Some disagreements in relationship is inevitable and sometimes even valuable. Research shows that how couples fight is more important than how much they fight. Fight right be addressing one issue at a time instead of arguing about everything little thing.
  4. No dumping – It can be easy for women to dump insecurities on their husbands expecting them to be able to understand and fix them –happy wife, happy life. However, it creates a tremendous amount of responsibility to assume that this is the answer.
  5. Give proofs of love – The more readily you respond to a spouse’s bids for attention, the stronger your marriage. But, it is easy to fall into bad habits and take each other for granted. Make the point to pay attention to your spouse

Gretchen Rubin ends this chapter by stating, “when you give up expecting a spouse to change (within reason), you lessen anger and resentment, and that creates a more loving atmosphere in a marriage”.  Remember, a 30% increase in one spouse’s happiness boosts the other spouse’s happiness!

Carolyn

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The Happiness Project

Posted on April 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

I have recently started reading a book called The Happiness Project, written by Gretchen Rubin. This book is based on the author’s approach to changing her life; a memoir of the year she spent learning and studying from research and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Her happiness project takes 12 months­­­ where each month she has a subject she works on in order to become happier.

In January she tackles the subject of “energy & vitality”. Who wouldn’t love to have more energy throughout your day? Research studies show that being happy energizes you. At the same, when you are more happy you participate in more activities that also boost your happiness. And while your energy rises, so does your self-esteem.

Author Gretchen Rubin approaches this month with 5 different tasks she wants to master in order to gain more energy and vitality and ultimately be happier!

  1. Go to sleep earlier – On average, adults only get 6.9 hours of sleep per night! We all know 8 hours is the recommended, so why not try to make time for that extra hour?
  2. Exercise better – We all know exercise is good for us! Exercising 20 minutes a day for 3 days a week is enough for someone to notice a boost in their energy.
  3. Toss, restore, & organize – Do you have clutter in your life? Whether it be physical or emotional, take the time to organize and you will be surprised how this extra space can boost your mood!
  4. Tackle a nagging task – Unfinished tasks can make anyone feel like their energy has been drained. Make a list of what needs to be down and you will be surprised that the long-delayed chore is an easy energy booster.
  5. Act more energetic – Food for thought: Although we presume that we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act.

What are some things that you do to create more energy for yourself?

Carolyn

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