Creative Heart

Part 3: Me, myself and I

With my list complete, I’m ready to start my Happiness Project. I’m not sure if I will  cross off everything on my list, or how long it’s going to take me. But that’s OK. To me, the important thing is that I’m committed to giving it a try. And if I succeed in trying my absolute best, I’ll be happy with that.

Part 2: Me, myself and I

“It is by studying the little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.” Samuel Johnson

In Part 1, I covered all my professional goals; things I could do to achieve more happiness in my career. But when it comes to quality of life, there’s so much more to it than work (or money, or recognition, etc.) A lot of times the littlest thing can put you in the best mood or vice versa - and that one moment can affect your entire day.

So I’ve added a series of small goals to my Happiness List to help lead me to some great happiness.

• Get more sleep: This is a big one for me. Even though I know that an adequate amount of zzz’s would benefit me, I’m a total night owl. I write blogs at midnight, jot ideas down at 3am and stay up till all hours watching shows on my laptop. Every time I wake up late I’m automatically in a bad mood. (Example here)
• Do more yoga: I am an beginner in yoga. Mostly because I get into spurts of going on a regular basis and then completely stop. I don’t go for such a long period of time that I have to start the learning process all over again. It’s a vicious cycle with minimal shavasna. 
• Go to church: I generally used to always feel good when I attended a service. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with having faith (whatever you choose to believe in). 
• Read for pleasure: I have a stack of half-read books in my possession. The Book Thief, Atlas Shrugged, The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy, The Help, Imagine: How Creativity Works, The Hunger Games - I want to read and enjoy all of these, one by one.
• Make someone else’s day brighter: Have you ever heard the phrase “Happiness is contagious”? I know that for me, doing something that makes someone else happy puts a smile on my face too.
• Put “Pinning” into practice: Pinning on Pinterest is fun and interesting, but I want to actually try doing something on my “Love to Try This” board. 
• Go on a vacation: This is another big one for me. My need to be a hardworking individual has often trumped vacationing. But without time away, I’m losing out more than I’m gaining.

Have you thought about making a Happiness List? Part 3 might give you a more visual way of sticking to your goals.