Happy New Year!

Here’s another post inspired by having read The Happiness Project on my vacation last week. In looking back on her year of trying various experiments to become happier, its author, Gretchen Rubin, concludes that “the single most effective step for me had been to keep a Resolutions Chart (available at www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com).”

As resolutions are big at this time of year, I thought I’d focus on some best practices for creating and keeping resolutions and share mine with you.

Wishing each one of you a fulfilling, successful, and happy 2013!

~ Sophie

COACHING EXERCISE:  RESOLUTIONS

Step 1 - Determine what you want to do – Be as specific as possible, e.g. “kiss my spouse good bye every morning” is more actionable than “be nicer to my spouse.” It’s also a smaller step and therefore easier to accomplish and to build upon.

Step 2 - Articulate why you want to do it (for some people, this is step 1) – Do you want to kiss your spouse good bye each morning to better your relationship, to create harmony in your home, to demonstrate the level of physical affection you desire, to role model a loving relationship for your kids, or some combination of the above? Write down these motivators. They will make it possible for you to stick to your resolution when the going gets tough – when you’re rushed or angry and don’t feel like kissing your spouse some morning.

Step 3 – Set a timeframe.  Rather than making an open-ended resolution like, “I’ll kiss my spouse each morning” or “I’ll drink eight glasses of water a day” or “I’ll use the stairs,” which imply that you hope to do these things for the rest of your life, make your resolution a short-term experiment. Something like, “I’ll drink eight glasses of water a day for the next two weeks and note how I feel while doing it. If I’m noticing positive results, maybe I’ll continue for another month…” It’s much easier to commit to something for two weeks than to commit to making a life change. Plus, this reminds you to notice how your resolution is going and what results you’re experiencing and gives you permission to drop it if you aren’t getting results that appeal to you.

Here are two real-life examples of my own...

In the service of being present and of not letting the good moments in my life be overwhelmed by the more mundane ones, I will record a one-sentence journal each night in January highlighting the fleeting moments that made life sweet on that day (another Happiness Project idea).

In the service of acting in the way I want to be with others (positive and happy, rather than grumpy and critical), I will endeavor, in the month of January to give only positive reviews. That is, when asked what I thought of something, I will only share what I liked about it, even if I have to dig to find that thing. This truly is an experiment because I hold a strong belief that honest, constructive feedback is a gift, but I’d like to know what would happen if my honest feedback were all positive. There are some warm and generous people I admire who seem to be able to do this. Will I be more like them if I stick to the positive?

Along those lines, here’s my review of The Happiness Project: This book is sprinkled with thought-provoking moments and great quotes. Who can argue with its overall premise that we can set intentions that will improve our attitudes, and our lives, and then hold ourselves accountable to them? There are certainly some solid, universal ideas in here that might inspire readers to dig deeper. And Gretchen Rubin seems like a practical, vulnerable, like-minded person whom I’d enjoy having coffee with.  

QUOTES I LIKE FROM “THE HAPPINESS PROJECT”

• “The chief happiness for a man is to be what he is.” ~ Erasmus
• “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.” ~ Proverbs 26:20
• “There are times in the lives of most of us when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, though that yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and unenjoyed.” ~ William Edward Hartpole Lecky
• “Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than kindness.” ~ Tolstoy

Secrets of Adulthood

Once or twice a year, I like to read a pop culture book that might inform my coaching. This time it’s Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.

I’m barely into it, but I found an exercise she mentions in her introductory chapter to be intriguing. She called it her “Secrets of Adulthood,” or, a list of the lessons she’d learned with some difficulty as she’d grown up. Some items on the list were profound; others simple and quirky. But, her list inspired me to share my own (or a portion of my own, as mine stretched to about two-and-a-half pages). It was fun to create, so I suggest it as the coaching exercise for this post. And I’d love to see your lists!  Here’s mine (though the first two items did come from the book)…

• People don’t notice your mistakes as much as you think
• Most decisions don’t require extensive research
• If it’s always put away in the same place, you’ll always find it there
• The only person you can change is yourself
• Saying “no” is liberating
• Perception is reality
• The tough conversations are the ones with the greatest potential for growth and to deepen relationships
• When there’s a lack of communication or transparency, people will start communicating the worst scenario
• There’s always another side to the story
• It does make the whole bedroom appear cleaner if you just make the bed
• Just because it already exists doesn’t mean you can’t do it better
• Rather than setting out to change your life, try a tiny experiment for a discrete period of time
• If you’re wide awake in the middle of the night, embrace it, don’t fight it
• The journey may be more enjoyable than the destination
• Horizontal is a pile; vertical is a file
• When you "act as if," your behavior just may change the way you think and feel
• People sense desperation
• You can't control your situation, only your reaction to it
• Feedback is a gift
• You’re more likely to act on a goal you state publically

Don’t know what to say about the fact that so many of my secrets have to do with housecleaning and organization. I guess it just reveals how anal I am! What does your list say about you?

Happy New Year!

~ Sophie

TWO QUOTES I LIKE FROM THE HAPPINESS PROJECT, “GETTING STARTED”

• “What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner!” ~ Colette, author
• “We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring us happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.” ~ Epicurus, philosopher