I read a great book a while ago, and have since gifted it to 2 people. I wanted to share some of my favourite thoughts and ideas out of the book for you.
The Happiness Project is written by Gretchen Reuben, a New York Times best-selling author and New York City resident. In it she describes her year-long project on how to become happier. As she describes – it’s not that she is UNHAPPY, she just wonders if she can increase her happiness level. Experts describe people’s happiness to be in a genetic set-point range, however her goal is to be at the top of her own genetically pre-determined range.
“The days are long, but the years are short”
This was her realization that spurred her own happiness project, as she didn’t want to get lost in the day to day grind of work. She wanted to focus on the things that brought value to her life, things she enjoyed, and the things that really mattered in the long run.
Here are a couple of other gems from the book.
– Clean up your house to clean up your brain. All clutter wears us down mentally and physically, draining our energy. I love this idea, and having since implemented it in my own house have really noticed and felt a huge difference in my energy levels. If you would like help in this area I would also recommend the book “The life changing magic of tidying up” by Marie Kondo – it is the book responsible for us donating 15 bags of ‘stuff’ to Goodwill.
– Don’t say ‘No’ to anything that takes less than a minute. With kids, there is always a million things to do, and to tidy – and it is easy to procrastinate the small things. With this rule in place, I find it easier to stay on top of things – thus still cleaning out the mental clutter.
– To be happy you need to be healthy. It is hard to be optimally healthy from a hospital bed, so take care of your health first. This involves getting enough sleep, exercising and eating good food. All of things will boost your energy, giving you more resources and will power to do the things you want in life.
– Money is like health. “it doesn’t guarantee you will be happy, but not having to worry about it makes your life a lot easier”
The book is a short, easy and entertaining read with small actionable steps for everybody. She even provides templates to start your own happiness project.
I know I feel better since checking off more of those 1-minute tasks off my To Do list.
-Dr. Rob