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Feel like you’re flailing about? Try sitting down at the end of every week and making a basic list for the following week.
Explaining what readers can get from his new book, which has chapters such as Write Your Happy Ending, Treat Yourself With Respect, and Go On Holiday Every Day, the doctor said: “My whole thing has always been, what’s the root cause of why this person is sitting in front of me?
You’re tense, your shoulders are tight, and you feel as though you just might “lose it.” We all know that feeling. Whatever you do or say impacts how others respond and vice versa. This simple and unquestionable observation is what Horsley and Fourie draw on when giving this tip: Write a meal planner: a major source of stress for many of us is deciding what we’re going to cook and eat – planning your meals for the following week before doing your weekly shop helps remove this stress.
Happiness can never be found in a world of wants, because wants are never satisfied. Instead, we should understand the things that truly make us happy: living in accordance with our values, and the simple, virtually cost-free pleasures of a hot bath, a lovely cup of tea or a walk on the beach. In personal development, if you improve by just one percent every day, you’ll get 37 times better in a year. We should not equate success with happiness. Dr C personally knows many highly successful people who are miserable. Consider going to your favorite restaurant, taking in a movie, or going on that trip you’ve always dreamed of.They subject their anxieties to the authority of reason, oppose them through a spirit of compromise, and diminish them by living in peace. It allows them ease of progress in every endeavor, and they naturally do what should be done without the energy erosion accompanied by inner resistance and panic.”
Being given the ARC of The Happy Mind made me, well, happy, because this kind of book is completely my jam. I'm not normally a big reader of self help type books, but I will always take the time for anything that has to do with the search for happiness. Isn't that we are all looking for, happiness? I believe so, even if some people claim not to - I just suspect that our search for happiness might look different from each other. Self help and wellness books are not generally my bag, especially if they’re written by celebrities, but I’ve been listening to Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast for the last year and have been impressed, so when this book appeared on my weekly Kindle reads list I decided to give it a go as most of the chapters are based on the original podcasts. The underlying belief many of us have is that happiness either happens to us or doesn’t and that there’s not much we can do about it. If we want to be happy, we need to change this assumption. Louis and Kevin introduce their tutoring about nurturing the happy mind by stating, ‘The principles covered in this book are for the young and the old, and for people of all cultures, religions, and genders. Happiness is an ‘any-time-in-your-life’ prospect, a ‘whoever-you-are’ opportunity, a ‘doesn’t-matter-where-you-come-from’ chance. If you are willing to open your mind to the idea of happiness and to do what it takes, you may pleasantly surprise yourself. The layout of the book is simple. The first three chapters consist of a clear look at how happiness is perceived, what it really is, and what unhappiness looks like. In Chapter 4, we offer you a collection of carefully selected practical prompts to help you apply the theory of happiness to your life. This is the most important part of the book – trust the content. And in Chapter 5, we summarize it all in a final few words of encouragement. Make the most of it. Don’t look for perfection, look for value. Enjoy!’ For example, swap a big, sweet breakfast pastry for some Greek yogurt with fruit. You’ll still satisfy your sweet tooth, and the protein will help you avoid a midmorning energy crash. Consider adding in a new food swap each week. 5. Practice gratitudeMental health professionals are trained to help people improve coping skills. Plus, there’s no obligation to continue once you start. Having worked on self-compassion for several years, the voice I now hear in my head is exceptionally kind. I realize my competitiveness came from a place of not feeling enough in who I was, which in turn came from ideas I had formed in childhood. That belief served me when I was small. It helped me get the validation I was seeking from the world around me. But as an adult and a father, it was harming me by pushing me to do more than I could bear. These days, I love the person I see in the mirror, and I always feel good about myself, whether I win or lose. And this has had a huge impact on my life. Yes, I feel happier and more content, but I also find it much easier to stay engaged and be consistent with any lifestyle changes I am trying to make. While the start of a new year is a good time to stop and take inventory of your life, you can set up yearly habits at any point in the year. Try setting aside some time to catch up with yourself the way you would with an old friend: With an ever-hectic schedule, sometimes it’s easy to forget to schedule something else that’s crucial to your well-being: time off. You can reap even more benefits by planning a trip, whether it’s close to home or somewhere further away. It’s well written in non psycho-babble/medical speak and is non-judgemental or prescriptive. Given I dislike being told what to do, this was a good start.
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