Increasing your happiness

Dear Bob,

Good to hear that you are using some of the strategies from my last correspondence. I do appreciate the hazards with dog poo if you are walking, looking up and counting chimneys.

I have been been connecting with a fantastic website at the moment. It is called The Freedom Experiment and is the inspiration of Marthe from Norway. Marthe has a wonderful way of looking at quite serious challenges in life. I find her writing a balance of hope and trust with a real understanding that sometimes life can present itself in a challenging way. I am working through a workbook that Marthe produced and is free to download on her website. It is called ‘ Feeling good when life is hard…… The workbook.’ This book will help you with your feelings of anxiety. There is an activity in it that I know you will find uplifting.  This activity is called ‘the love list’ and it is based on the Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle is a principle of economics. It states that 20% of input usually results in 80% of your output. So for example in business you might focus on 20% of your customers who bring you in 80% of your business. So the question is-

‘ What 20% change can you make in your life that will lead to 80% increased life quality?’ That is- what can you do to out balance the negative thoughts?

What a fantastic thought eh? That by making smal changes that have great impact we can bring more happiness into our lives??

So the way Marthe suggests to do this is by creating your love list. This is a list of things you love and are attracted to. A list of things that make you happy. You must include everything including what you find visually pleasing, which tastes you adore, what scents you mmmmm at, which textures you love to touch and which sounds fill you with joy, calm and uplift you?

I now trust you are getting on with your list Bob? Take a few days to produce it and think of it as organic as you make more discoveries on what brings joy into your life.

When you think that you have enough on your list- say after 2 days- then look at the list and highlight the activities or elements that are simple to do and give you the maximum amount of happiness. Then look at the next day and plan how you will bring these activities and elements in- when you have completed the day increasing your happiness notice what you notice. Then plan for the next day and then the next day and so on until bringing simple changes are making a big difference on the happiness you feel everyday.

I look forward to hearing about how much impact these changes bring Bob,

Keep your light burning,

Fi x

 

 

 

 

My curiosity and love of learning has led me to deepen my knowledge in human behaviour with a particular focus on positive psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness. My creative mind and intuitive coaching style supports my clients to deepen their insights about themselves and take action to transform their lives.