The focus of Act Happy Week is to educate the public about purposeful actions you can take to create chemical shifts in your body that drive Positive Emotions. Here is today’s exercise:
To build strength in your Positive Emotion “muscles” you must exercise them regularly. Just as you must run to become a better runner, you must build a base of Gratitude to support a larger experience of Happiness. Here’s’ how:
Say Thank You. For today, say it on purpose, for anything and everything. For a favor, for a gift, for feedback (even tough stuff). Make eye contact and say “Thank you!” with feeling. When a political robo-caller interrupts your dinner, say “Thank you for the information!” (before you hang up, with respect…)
Create a Gratitude List. Manually writing down a list of the things for which you are grateful stimulates different chemistry in the body versus just thinking it.
Offer appreciation to someone who helped you in the past week. Call them, send a note, or have a face to face conversation before the end of the day. YOU will benefit from the experience as much or more than than they will!
Look for the Good Stuff. When you make it a priority to look for the positive in your life, you are more likely to see it as it happens and enjoy it more.
(P.S. Don’t forget to let The Universe know how grateful you are for chocolate!)
Take five minutes daily to generate three appreciative conversations with team members. Offer thanks for something very specific that you saw them do this week.