Know Your Happiness Blueprint :)

Happiness is not a one size fits all program. For it to be real, it has to be personally aligned with you, and what’s meaningful, important, and resonant with no one else but YOU!

We all know happiness matters: you live longer, have better relationships, enjoy more life satisfaction... The research shows that happiness:

•  strengthens your immune system
• eases stress
• helps you manage aches and pains
• reduces disease and disability
• protects your heart (physically and emotionally)

But let’s define happiness because it sometimes gets a bad rap. It’s not the toxic positivity of pretending everything is FINE! It’s not the absence of challenges; it’s helps us handle the challenges that inevitably come up. Happiness contributes to a state of emotional resiliency. That means it allows us to back from challenges easier.

Today let’s look at different sides of happiness and which resonate most with you. One is not better than the other - I want you to be a detective and let us know and even jot down, these clues to your personal brand of happiness. What makes some people happy doesn’t do it for others - let’s jump in:

1.Are you happier with a lot of people around you or a few?

2. Are you comfortable with uncertainty? (OK or NOT at all)

3. Are you influenced by other people's moods, or is your energy more or less the same?  People who are empaths feel everything another person feels. Others don’t as much.  How much are you influenced? (Lots or little) And how do you handle it? 

4. Are you happier working under a deadline or having a project done well in advance? (Deadline or Done) Knowledge is power. It's good to know that about yourself so you don't waste time beating yourself up!

5. Are you happier doing fast intense movements like sports or something slower like walking or gardening? Fast or Slow? And how consistent are you able to be in your chosen action?

6. Are you happier doing what you know how to do, or trying something new? It can be calming to do something familiar, yet we get to know other parts of ourselves when we are curious and try something new.

7. Are you more entertained by your own creativity or watching someone else’s expression?  (Mine or Others) Some people love creating, some love a good distraction (NETFLIX, anyone?), some enjoy both. What's true for you?

8. Do you get happier by giving back, paying it forward volunteering? (Often or not my thing.)

9. Are you a better listener or talker or both?  (Listener or talker or both)  Is working on any side of your communication something that you want to grow?

10.Is a spiritual life or mindfulness practice important to your happiness?  (Yes or Not necessary)

11. Can you switch perspective to interpret an event in a way that makes you feel better? (Working on it or ???)

12. Do you have a gratitude practice - saying thank you to people or to life?  Often or sometimes

Another way to look at happiness is through the various aspects of life: I will list them here, and just note which ones you are pleased with, and which need a little love:

• personal growth
• health and energy
• family relationships
• financial peace of mind
• friends and community
• work, hobbies
• spiritual life
• gratitude practice

Getting personal is important. It’s always so good to get to know what you think and what you want, and that why I'm so excited to give you another way to go deeper.

We, at Project Happiness, are going to be part of Patreon and invite you to join too! It’s a way for me to get more personal with you, and if you’ve benefited from our content, you can help us share it with even more people. So excited to be starting this!!  You can learn all about it in the link below. 

So, personal is the theme of today. You are uniquely you, and so your happiness has to be personal too. I hope this series of questions has given you a way to be a detective in your life - to see where you are, and work with it, OR use it as a springboard for future growth. Awareness is the key. Once we know and might I say accept and LOVE where we are (even the parts we're not super happy about), that opens the door to making choices that help us CREATE a life we want.

It's a privilege to be alive and to have all these options. Remember, (and you CAN, in the quiet moments) that you are stronger, wiser, and more resilient than you may know, and as always, I am sending you lots of LOVE!