It sounds like a simple challenge, but it’s important to create a list of things that make you happy. This truly is a hack to happiness. Sometimes it can be hard to know or remember what truly makes us happy, which is why this challenge is so essential. If you want to truly know what makes you happy, you need to be able to recognize and remember those moments where you feel joy, and writing them down is the best way to do that.
5 Reasons To Create A List Of Things That Make You Happy
1. You Don’t Know What Makes You Happy
If you feel like you don’t know what makes you happy anymore, then this challenge will be life-changing for you. It will help you stop, pay attention, reflect, and find those little things that do make you feel happy. The more focus you give to your happiness, the more little things you will find.
Often when we can’t find what makes us happy, we are too focused on what makes us unhappy. In this state, we can easily search out what makes us miserable and stay focused on it, causing us to miss out on moments that would otherwise make us happy.
The bottom line is that when you start to create a list of things that make you happy, you will bring more happiness into your life.
2. Happiness Comes And Goes Quickly If We Don’t Intentionally Focus On It
Sometimes we feel extremely happy one day and then extremely unhappy for the next week because we tend to focus on the unhappiness rather than relive or revive the happiness. Because negative things happen often in our lives, it’s a rut that many people can get into. The negative tends to outpower the positive if we aren’t in the habit of refocusing our thoughts and attention on the positive.
By looking at your list, and then actively picking something to do or focus on, you can help yourself relive and revisit the happiness state more often than not.
3. Looking At A List Of Things That Make You Happy Can Promote Motivation To Be Happier
It can be hard to recall what makes you happy when you are in a deep negative state, but looking at a list can trigger memories and motivation and get you to take action and do something that actually feels good to you – even if you don’t feel like doing it in the moment.
4. If You Have Ever Felt Depressed, You Will Recognize The Value Of A Happiness List
When you are depressed, it can feel like there is nothing good in your life – nothing worth feeling good about. But, when you create a list of things that make you happy, you have proof that there are things that make you feel good and you can find your way back to them.
5. A Happiness List Can Help Other People Understand What Makes You Happy
If you have a spouse or close friend or family member, showing them your list can help them understand what makes you happy. It gives them a little power to choose activities that will please you. It helps them plan surprises, outings, and dates better. It helps them make you happier.
Of course, you have to be willing to show them your list, but if you are close to them (and want to be closer) I highly suggest you do. It’s a great way to give them insight into you quickly.
Do This Challenge For At Least 30 Days
The longer you can do this challenge, the more experiences you will have to write down. While we may not do too many different things in one or two weeks, there can be weeks where we are constantly experiencing different situations, which will give you a lot more to work with when figuring out what truly makes you happy.
In fact, I would suggest you try to do as many new things as you can while you actively take this challenge. The more you experience, the more you will have to draw from.
Moreover, I suggest you do this challenge forever. Keep adding to your list. Turn your happiness list into a happiness journal – or even a personal happiness book.
But, by doing it for at least 30 days, you are going to make it easier on yourself when it comes to finding things that make you happy, writing them down, and reflecting on them later on. You give yourself some more experiences to work with.
Do this enough and it will become a habit to recognize true happiness even in the smallest of things and save that moment in writing forever.
Be Detailed When Writing Down What Made You Happy
The more detail you include, the more you will recall the memory and be motivated to do it again.
For instance, writing something like “Going to the mountains for a day” lacks a little detail. If you can, include why you went, who you went with, what you did, how you felt, and what you sensed (saw, heard, smelled, felt), that detail is going to mean much more to you when you look back on it later.
Include Pictures If You Can
You may even want to include a picture. You will find the picture helps multiply the memory, feelings that you had, and motivation to do it again.
Something like the HP Sprocket can help you do that easily.
You just take pictures on your phone when you are feeling happy and then print them off on the HP Sprocket to go along with your notes about what makes you happy and why.
Use A Template Or Get Yourself A Journal
Get yourself a blank journal and make it your own or use a template that you resonate with.
I’ve created the following template that you can download and print off here. I know that flowers are not going to be everyone’s thing, so I have a non-frilly one with just the title that you can download and print off here too.
Give This Challenge A Try
Even if you think that there is nothing that makes you happy, this challenge is going to help prove you wrong. If you actively look for things that make you happy by taking on this challenge, you will find moments where you feel happy that you may have missed before. Small moments will start to shine through and become bigger and bigger as you move forward with this challenge.
