In yesterday’s article we talked about having you begin to  think about what makes you happy. It was part of your commitment to happiness. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper. There are a lot of things that make us happy on a regular basis. Think about the simple little things that put a smile on your face. It could be an experience, an activity, a thing, events, a person, an action, a song … the list will go on and on.

An easy way to increase your overall happiness and contentment is to simply do something that makes you  happy every single day. During these next 30 Days that’s something you should work on. To make this easier,  come up with a list of what makes you happy. This will obviously be different for each and every one of us. Let me give you a few ideas and some things to think about. Then I want you to grab a pen and a notebook,  a piece of paper, or simply open your laptop and start typing. I want you to start making a list of things that make you happy.

Don’t overthink this. Don’t try to come up with an organized and categorized list. Instead, just start brainstorming and write things down as they pop into your head. Don’t feel pressured to come up with everything all at once. Add to the list as time goes by and get in the habit of noticing things that make you happy. Add these things  to the list over the next month, and then continue expanding afterwards. Plan on making this a permanent habit, so you can expand on this list for years to come. 

 

Let’s start with the big ones that make you happy. What activities and hobbies that you do bring you lots of happiness? What people in your life make you happy? What things that you own bring you joy? Think big here and pick what has the biggest impact on your life and your mood. This could also include things like what gestures or actions put a big smile on your face. Places are another great addition ~ maybe you’re happiest when you are out in nature. It can be something like meeting a friend for lunch, or calling a favorite cousin and making a plan to get together. Something big like having a wonderful trip to look forward to may also be something that makes you happy. 

Then think about the little things that make you happy. Maybe it’s sipping that first cup of coffee in the morning (for me this always is a pleasure), a pretty flower in your garden, talking to a friend on the phone, or having some time to yourself. From there just become more aware of what makes you happy, or what puts a smile on your face. Stop and take notice anytime that happens, and keep adding to your list of things that make you happy. It will be a great resource to have not only throughout this challenge but throughout your life. As an added bonus it will make you grateful and content, just looking at this long list of events, people and things that bring you happiness.

To help you increase your Happiness each and every day, you’ll want to grab our Happiness Toolkit that we created just for this reason!

Have you joined us yet in our 30 Days to Happiness and our private facebook group? Click here to get happier and join the movement!