Happiness Equation Chat

A book I have been reading lately is the Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha.

I was inspired to read it after he appeared in one of my favorite podcasts, Ologies, on the awesomeology episode. I had been in a huge abyss of sadness for a month then, but listening to him talk about what inspired him and his thoughts on the whole thing of 'happiness' just really stuck with me. In fact, it was partially why I started this blog. Part of it was his blog, 1000 awesome things, that got widespread. But it was also because when I would try to journal, either I wouldn't have it accessible where I was or my had couldn't take all the writing. So I took to the interwebs and made a blog, and here we are.

In The Happiness Equation, he lists seven different things that if you do them, it’ll help increase your happiness.

He writes: 1. 3 Walks

2. 20-Minute Replay

3. Random Acts of Kindness

4. A Complete Unplug

5. Hit Flow

6. 2-Minute Meditations

and 7. Five Gratitudes

I mentioned these to a coworker friend of mine, T. T has been pretty unhappy for the past handful of months as well. In fact, most of my coworkers have been incredibly unhappy, but T has also been having some relationship problems, and he was skeptical of the seven things. I almost feel like I am trying to hold us all up, and therefore becoming happier will make it easier and the burden lighter, at least I hope.

So I figured I'd track my progress in trying to add these seven things in my life, especially because maybe writing about it will help me think of doing them more.

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My Happiness Equation

1. First of all, 3 walks a day. This one I had been already trying to add into my life, as I am trying to get healthier and lose weight. I have had multiple walks this week and weekend, including walking outdoors at my work, going to see Christmas at Stone Mountain and walking around there, and taking a little girl I was babysitting on a decent walk. I think I have been feeling a bit better, if anything more confident, from doing more physical activity.

2. 20-Minute Replay is next. According to his book, Neil Pasricha says that by writing about a positive experience for 20 minutes, it really helps your happiness. This one I need to work on, and will probably be some of my blog posts. I need to work on noticing these good things that happen to me in order to be able to write about them.

3. Random Acts of Kindness is one that is already important to me! Whether it is giving one of my protein drinks to a homeless person on the side of the road, getting something from the vending machine for a coworker without expecting anything back, I try to do these things as much as I can! Now, Neil recommends 5 per week, which I am going to work on increasing, but he also suggests things like paying for someone's coffee, mowing their lawn, etc. So I am going to increase the things I do to be more often, and a little more meaningful to someone!

4. A Complete Unplug is going to be hard for me. In fact, I'm sure it's hard for most people. Lately, I have been scouring the Facebook Marketplace for free/cheap furniture that I upcycle for my apartment! I've gotten FOMO a bit about not looking at it often enough and fear missing out on something really awesome for free! But I really am going to try to be mindful of it, and cut down on my time spent. My goal is to turn off Netflix when I get home from work and read for a while until I get dinner. Specifically, continuing to read The Happiness Equation! ;) (I haven't finished it yet, this was just something I thought of blogging about because it was important and meaningful to me!)

5. The hardest one to understand initially is Hit Flow. Neil Pasricha says it is basically getting into a flow of doing something you enjoy, and that you are being challenged and demonstrating a skill. He also says that your using your 'whole being' and 'using your skills to the utmost'. What I realized that I do is that when I am being challenged at work, like if I have a ton of samples to process, prep and analyze in biochemistry, or multiple runs to isolate in DNA, and it takes my mental capabilities to focus on what I'm doing and organizing my day, I am much more productive and happier in that productivity. It makes me remember how skilled I am in my work, and it makes the day go by faster! I also enjoy cross stitching, as you can see in my photos gallery! It takes a lot of focus, counting all those little squares, and a lot of dexterity with a needle and thread, and makes such neat products! With all the nonsense that goes on at work, I realize that I need to prioritize my home life, between working on myself and my relationship with D. So I want to find more things to Hit Flow with that I enjoy outside of work! Maybe working out?

6. 2-Minute Meditations is not something I've really ever done. It's more because I am very ADHD and get caught up in my day and don't think of doing it. I know D does it on and off, and I do tend to notice a better increase in his moods when he does it consistently for a while. I am going to work on mindfulness, and trying to set aside a few minutes a day, maybe in the morning, to meditate.

7. And finally is Five Gratitudes. Neil Pasricha recommends having a little journal to be writing three to five gratitudes from the past week down. It helps to rewire your brain into looking for the good things in life. I have done several posts on things I am thankful for because of Thanksgiving, but that is definitely something I should and will continue to do. I don't know how often I will blog them, whether every other day or weekly, but I will definitely be striding towards more gratitude posts.

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And there we have it! 7 things that I am working on in order to increase my own happiness! Either you can try it on your own, even evaluate on what you're doing in your own life, and you can comment it below or send it to me in a private message! And if I forget a gratitude post feel free to ask for an update!

Thank you for your time, I am grateful for it! And I am grateful to Neil Pasricha and his book The Happiness Equation. I haven't even finished it yet and I already feel better and more empowered to make changes in my own life!

We CAN be happier, you guys!