Ingrid Fetell Lee's TED talk. 'Where joy hides and how to find it' had intrigued and tantalized me. Her book, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness won me over. After all, Ingrid made a solid case for the virtuous effect of JOY and I wanted to experience it firsthand.
So I started a 7-day JOY journey. From that day forward, I opened up my senses extra and started actively focusing on JOY for 7 days. Nothing like shared fun, so I posted daily what had brought me JOY that day.
And what a delicious fix! The journey was picked up en masse and liked and shared in all sorts of ways. Apparently there is a big club of JOY lovers out there.
And so, promised is promised, I was also going to reflect afterwards and review what JOY had done to me.
Here we go. My insights in the form of: 7 easy ways to find (AND keep) JOY in your daily life.
1. Happiness is in a small corner: don't look too far and appreciate the little things
Happiness is in a small corner. And that's especially true for JOY. So don't look too far because JOY is right next to you. And what you'll find is that once you've left, soon you won't know where to look first, because JOY really is everywhere.
Sometimes you encounter her in the form of a lavish color palette, in a crass statement, in the smile of the lady with that crass
statement, in a lovely sweet fragrance that transports you to your youth, in fashion with a wink... JOY is beckoning you everywhere. JOY takes no effort, no time, no energy. JOY takes no space, requires no maintenance. JOY asks nothing, JOY gives: tranquility, peace, warm feeling....
So find your JOY.
A helpful tool in identifying the various sources of JOY in your life, and to understand a little more about why
they bring you JOY, can be found here.
2. Fun makes for better physical health 'A joy a day, keeps the doctor away'
Yes, we contribute monthly to our retirement savings plan. We moderate sugar consumption and increase our daily fiber intake. We count our steps (10,000 a day!) and choose to bike more. In doing so, we guard our finances, our heart and blood vessels, and our bones, forgetting (sometimes) along the way the one thing that can make a difference in the quality of our lives: our happiness.
Decades of positive psychology research have shown that high levels of subjective wellbeing - which is exactly what JOY is - can be translated into better physical health and a longer life.
I therefore predict that, like that proverbial apple a day, a daily serving of JOY will have a beneficial effect on your body and
members.
3. Treat yourself regularly to a JOY cure
The word "cures" comes from the Latin "cura," meaning to heal. Even though in our country we do not (yet) have a complete tradition of curing, in
many other European countries people take cures not only to "cure" and reduce health complaints, but also from a preventive point of view and as part of a healthy lifestyle. Prevention is better than cure, in other words.
Especially with winter just around the corner, such a beneficial balneotherapy does wonders. Or would you rather go for thalassotherapy, a detox treatment or the Health Booster? Whatever the case may be, these complete "me" moments where you are pampered will instantly revive you.
Just so with a JOY cure. Available without a doctor's prescription: 7 x 3/day - 1 JOY tablet. I.e.: for 7 days focus 1 x at the beginning, 1 x in the middle, 1 x at the end of the day on only 1 thing and that is JOY. Search and find the things that make you instantly happy, hold them for a few moments, and enjoy them!
More so, set the trend and integrate such a JOY cure into your lifestyle.
4. Share your JOY with others
"If you want to multiply joy, you must share it," Pythagoras said. That Greek philosopher and mathematician was not wrong this time either.
I have experienced firsthand how wonderfully positively contagious sharing JOY is. Soon you find that when you smile you get a smile back. Hold the door open for another person, compliment them, put on your crazy socks and paint your lips fuchsia pink. Tell your loved one what brought you JOY today, thank the mailman etc... and then: sit back, relax, and reap what you sow.
5. Keep a JOY journal
Did you know that writing by hand - that is, with pen and paper - is extremely beneficial to your brain function and therefore to your overall
functioning? This is because when writing, various processes in the brain begin to work together, creating or stimulating neural connections. The more and the stronger the neural connections, the more competent you become and remain.
When you keep a JOY journal, you will find that it allows you to organize your thoughts and, more importantly, to start filtering and shifting in favor of that wonderful experience of JOY.
Also, a journal will help you remember those JOY moments. This will make them easier to recognize and pick up next time and it will allow you to fall back on them once in a while. This will come in handy on days when JOY is 'hiding' from you.
Tip #1: Go for a JOYful booklet. Every lifestyle store has plenty of choices these days. For the DIY-ers, craft your own notebook.
Tip #2: For the difficult sleepers, It's good to look into one's own deer, just a little bit before going to bed... this trick works for me time and time again. When I end up under the wool, going over the day in my mind and actively looking for the moments when I felt JOY, I notice afterwards ?, that I left for dreamland in no time.
6. Surround yourself with positive people
Of course, giving JOY an active place in your life is and remains an individual choice. At the same time, it is also true that every choice is influenced by the people around you. When you surround yourself in your life with positive people, people who lift you up, so to speak, you will find that this benefits your overall sense of wellbeing, as well as increasing your chances of overall happiness and success.
7. Don't wait until tomorrow, start now
From now on, add JOY to your life. How? That's very simple: open your senses and focus. What you will see is that when you shift your focus and the way you think, your perspective changes. No matter what is going on around you, you can feel happier, be productive, attract success and enjoy yourself in the process.
So go for it, and get out of bed with the right leg. ENJOY!
Do you want to increase your daily enjoyment and your work happiness?
Then it's important to know what you need for that, because it's different for everyone! Together we make your career passport. This will give you insight into the ingredients that contribute to your job satisfaction so that you will get sustainable energy from your work!