How are you doing these days?
If by any chance you feel like your life is ok, yet there are definitely small things that make you grumpy – and perhaps you are not even sure what they are – this exercise will be a great way to bring you straight back to balance.
It gives you clarity on your real everyday habits and actions and their impact on your happiness, as well as accountability to honestly look into reality of your everyday life.
+/-/? exercise
If you do this short and simple exercise for a week or two, it will gives you quite a clarity on the most impactful next steps and the changes that you need to make for happier days.
Take a small piece of paper every evening for couple of weeks (preferably small cute notebook that you keep at your nightstand or on the pillow :)). Write three small “titles”:
+ – ? (leave a bit of space under each, for 3-4 bullet points) and take couple of minutes to note down the following things:
Under +, you write anything between 2 and 5 things that were great about today. Anything that you liked, that made you feel good, brought you moment of joy, and that is something that you would like to have as a part of your days in the future as well.
Under -, you write between 2 and 4 things that were not that good about today – what it is that you didn’t like, and that you would like it to be different in the future.
Under ?, you write couple of ideas what could be things that would have been nice to have had as a part of this day but they just didn’t happen because maybe you didn’t even think of them. Not necessarily something that you wish to have done – but just an original new idea that could have enriched your day.
An example could look like this: under + perhaps I will write that I did yoga and that I did great job work wise, under – perhaps that I stayed the whole day inside and that I didn’t have enough breaks during work so my brain is fried now, and under ? that it would have been nice to have called my best friend and catch up.
Already after 3-4 days (or max after couple of weeks), you will see very clear patterns.
Patterns that sometimes are quite a breakthrough.
Even if you don’t discover a big breakthrough or news, because somehow you knew them all along, still, these measurable list of what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy looks at you in the face so clearly now that denial is not possible 😉
It will give you a very clear view on what bugs you in everyday life – and what are the first small things that you might wish to start changing.
Whichever changes you decide to make, please just remember one thing: whenever you can, make them with joy and being gentle and loving with yourself.
How about you?
Willing to give it a go?
Do share how it went 🙂
Feel free to share in comments – but also to start a conversation in our Positive Psychology Tribe virtual community for meaningful conversations.
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