The Happiness Project

I just started reading a great book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The main premise is that by making small changes in your life and attitude you can increase your happiness. We all have a baseline level but she teaches you how to push yourself to the higher part of your range. I am going to test her theory out and try my own. You can try too and she also has a website with tools that are free that anyone can use. http://happiness-project.com/ The first part is to ask yourself the following questions so here are my answers: ▪ What makes you feel good? What gives you joy, energy, fun? - Reading - Being organized - Spending time with friends and family - Helping others - Music - Learning something new ▪ What makes you feel bad? What brings you anger, guilt, boredom, dread? - Being late - Having nothing to look forward to- lack of fun - Finances - When I can't fix something that someone else has to do for themselves but it impacts my life - Gossip ▪ What makes you feel right? What values do you want your life to reflect? - Family- I want to have my family do fun things together. I want to build memories to look back on and enjoy - My career. I love helping other people understand how to help themselves be healthy. I want to be the best RN I can be. - Beauty- I love an organized and serene and colorful home that feels WARM - Nature- I enjoy being outside as long as the weather is cool enough ▪ How can you build an atmosphere of growth—where you learn, explore, build, teach, help? - Get organized - Plan ahead - meal planning, schedule time for professional development -Join professional organization -Take a class for fun I'll be expanding on these questions but this is the first step.