A Little Bit More About Happiness
Only 3 days after publishing “Requiem for happiness“, where I speak about my favourite views in relation to happiness and the different theories that study how to achieve that bliss in your life, the book I was reading took me by surprise by bringing up this topic.
“The Slight Edge” takes the subject to a different level in order to prove a single theory concerning a fulfilled lifestyle and personal development. The author provides the theory about development and growth and applies its practice to every area of life.
I take very seriously my duty of keeping you updated with the latest news and discoveries regarding a happy lifestyle, so this will be an “Update”.
The book studies the compound effect. In summary, we, our bodies and minds are the results of years of doing or not doing certain simple things.
As an example, if you execute 15 push-ups per day, you will have done 5,475 push-ups in the span of one year. It studies how easy is to take some actions like those push-ups, or drinking water instead of soda, but also how easy is to not to make them.
At the end of the day, your body isn’t going to change in 2 days or a week, maybe not even in a whole month of doing your daily dose of push-ups. The author applies this theory to absolutely EVERYTHING. From your career to your health, to your personal development and, to my surprise, to our happiness.
This belief supports the idea of happiness as something we need to practice every day as an exercise. And one of the best ways of doing it is with…are you guessing? Journaling!
In order to work out your “happiness muscle“, you need to write down 3 things you feel grateful for every day (no cheating, they have to be a different thing each time!). After that, you need to write a positive experience you had during the last 24 hours. And when you have finished, you need to do a random act of kindness.
And don’t forget to meditate and exercise for at least 15 minutes!
Think about spending some time contemplating the parts of your life you are grateful for. It’s no surprise that, after doing it every day, your mental health and level of happiness can improve dramatically. We are usually so self-absorbed that it’s sometimes hard to find things to be happy about.
When you dig into every part of your life, environment and career and find something you like that makes you feel grateful, you make yourself consciously aware of it.
And I was also associating this approach toward the science of self-identification. When you do something every day, you start thinking about yourself as the “type of person that has the attitude”. For example, if you start going to the gym every single day, you will think about yourself as someone who:
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Goes to gym
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Takes care of his/her body
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Has Self-Discipline
Every good action you take builds and results in some positive traits you can apply to yourself. I am guessing…by practising gratefulness every day, you may start enjoying the little things that seemed meaningless but are a lucky hit in this chaotic world.
Of course, this science goes a bit further, but I want to know your thoughts on the matter. Do you practice gratitude? If not, would you be willing to give it a chance? Also, let me know which topics you would like to keep reading about. I am looking forward to exploring new topics!
18 Comments
Jamie
Really important to work daily on your happiness muscle, as you say.
Loved the update, I went to read it right away as soon as I was notified!
Kiira Smith
Thank you Jamie 🙂
John Malone
First comment!
Loved the post, I would like you to keep writing about lifestyle and happiness. Maybe keep making some financial ones once in a while?
Kiira Smith
Lifestyle, happiness and finance? You said it then! 😉
Hicham
I loved The Slight Edge, I read it a year ago and I think it has really helped me to understand how many things work in life, an eye opener book certainly. Great to see you talk about it!
Kiira Smith
I am loving it so far, and I am pretty sure I will read it again in a future. Great eye opener as you say 😮
Manon
Loved every bit of advice you wrote in the post.
I would love if you kept writing about happiness and self-improvement
Kiira Smith
Perfect 😉
Janine
Totally believe in the incredible power of the compound effect. Super super important.
I do like to see minimalism and happiness as topics of your blog, but it is ultimately up to you as to whatever you want to write 🙂
I’ll keep reading is what I’m saying!
Kiira Smith
That’s really cool Janine. I really appreciate your support 😉
Karl
Every day counts in order to make yourself happy, totally agree with your point.
I like when you talk about TV shows, because sometimes you mention some that are very cool and haven’t heard before!
Kiira Smith
I will make sure to share my new discoveries! Thanks Karl!
Jenna
Nice update.
With regards to next posts, I do like to see more lifestyle posts because I find your perspective to be refreshing and of course very reasonable!
Kiira Smith
I will definitely keep writing about lifestyle topics 😉
Marcus
Looks like I have to read that book. Sounds great!
I love when you talk about looking after yourself and happiness
Kiira Smith
You should totally read the book! It will help you see everything you do with a new perspective😉
Karen
I read that book a while ago, loved it! Also recommend The Compound Effect but they talk pretty much about the same thing! Hahaha
Kiira Smith
I was thinking about rereading the book in a few months, but maybe I should just read The Compound Effect instead!