The Happiness Challenge.

The other day I referred to the Ted Bloomington video with Shawn Achor on The Wisdom of Play. It's incredible inspirational and I highly recommend taking 12 and a half minutes out of your day to watch it. Make sure you stop laughing long enough to actually listen to what he has to say!

'The lens through which we view the world shapes your reality'. Shawn posits that if we can change the lens, we can change how we think. He says that the current 'formula for happiness' is that we put happiness on the opposite side of the brain to success, and therefore we'll never get there. For example we will be happy 'when' we get promoted, but immediately after that promotion the brain will refocus on being happy 'when' we get the next one, making happiness an elusive concept to our brain. We think, if we work harder, we'll be more successful, and if we're more successful, then we'll be happy. But when we're more successful, then we just move the goalpost to think we need to be more successful again...and so on.

But by reversing the formula of happiness, we can rewire our brains to be happy now - Shawn calls it the happiness advantage.

We all know that happy, positive people generally enjoy more success, deal with stressful situations better and have higher coping mechanisms. It's all got to do with that awesome thing called dopamine. Scientifically they say our brain is 31% more effective when it is happy! Now who doesn't want that?

So how do I get this happiness advantage?

You can train your brain to think differently by taking 2 minutes a day for 21 days to do the things on the slide below. Apparently this helps your brain to automatically look for the positive instead of the negative, which helps you view the world in a glass-half-full manner.

So I'm taking on the 21 day Happiness Challenge. It's day 1 and here I go:

3 gratitudes:

• I am grateful that I received some fantastic news today that is going to change everything!
• I am grateful to some very special people that helped me to receive this awesome news, they know who they are
• I am especially grateful to my gorgeous Elijah who makes my life so much brighter each and every day. Greeting me at the door wearing nothing but soccer socks, shin pads and undies asking me to kick him cracked me up and made my day

Journaling:

This week has been one of the most hectic and turbulent that I've had in a while. So many wonderful things have happened and it brings a smile to my face to reflect on them. Visiting a friend that I haven't seen in a very long time, including watching her ADORABLE little red-haired man dancing to Bob the Builder was a beautiful experience that still gives me the giggles days later. Getting a phone call out of the blue from an old colleague who I haven't spoken to in years - Laurie, you're still one of the funniest and most genuine people I've ever met and if I ever get the chance to work with a character like you again in my life I will be so lucky. Cathy, your Friday 50s housewife status updates on Facebook completely brightened my day.

I am amazed and grateful every day for the people I have chosen to surround myself with; without exception they are supportive, uplifting, hilarious, honest...you name it. Clearly I have excellent taste. I must really be putting out the good vibes in life to have attracted people like you into mine.

I'll let you know how I go with the exercise, meditation and random acts of kindness!

Why not take the challenge with me? Let's start the happiness revolution and get that dopamine flowing! I'd love to hear from you throughout your own challenge and what you do to stay positive in life.

xx