Happiness Tip of the Day

Author Gretchen Rubin has a blog about Happiness and every Wednesday she posts a tip. Our tip today is to check out her blog, at least on Wednesdays. Her blog is a reflection of a book project she is doing which will be a memoir about the year she is spending test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study she can find, "whether from Aristotle or St. Therese or Martin Seligman or Oprah". She'll gather these rules for living and report on what works and what doesn’t.

For example, here are her tips for today:

1. Feeling good

Think of something fun to do this weekend.

Make a plan with a friend.

Make a small purchase that will boost your happiness.
My self-inking home-address stamp had gotten so faint that it was barely legible; I was made ridiculously happy by my purchase of a bottle of ink to replenish it.

2. Feeling bad

Do you start your day on a bad note—nagging your kids, cursing on the subway? Make a change.

Does some task nag at you? Take care of it.
I finally made an appointment to get my teeth cleaned; I’m six months overdue.

Do you feel guilty about something you did or didn’t do? Make amends in some way.

3. Feeling right

Is there a skill that you feel that you should have, but you don’t? Figure out a way to learn it.
A friend of mine learned to type as an adult.

Is there a subject that you feel that you ought to know more about?
I feel that I need to understand more about the Iraq War than I do.

Ask yourself: “Is there some major element in my life that just feels wrong to me?”
Try not to panic if the answer is “yes,” and don’t worry now about doing anything about it this minute. Just consider whether you’re not feeling right because of your job, your city, your relationship, your body, etc. Understanding that something isn’t right is the first step to being able to make it right.

As a contributor to LifeTwo and being the person who posted Gretchen's tips, I feel obligated to put these in practice. Here is how I am doing that:

a. This week-end. I am going to make it a point to watch the Super Bowl with a fun group of people that I might otherwise not because I was too busy figuring out what others are doing.

b. Starting off the day right. I only see my kids for 30 minutes before they head-off to school. I already make it a practice to make that "their" time. My goal is to have them as happy as possible as they head off. When they leave happy I start my day happy.

c. New skill. I am already a huge advocate of lifelong education and this year is no different. I am taking a sales training class at UCLA. Even though I am not a salesperson, I always admired those with such skills. When I learned that even seasoned sales people will go back for training I decided that I should too. The class just started a few weeks ago but I am enjoying it immensely and feeling good about the skills I am learning.