I have been listening to some podcasts for quite some time, more specifically Mel Robbins’ and Jay Shetty’s podcasts. Very often I fall asleep with my earphones, and I think it is because of the episodes I have chosen – usually it is something about self-improvement or positive psychology. Podcasts are a great way for me to keep up and learn new things because reading a book or an article seems more and more challenging to me. 🙂 I do read, but not as before, so podcasts seem like a perfect way to have a new perspective on certain fields in life and to just enjoy some time listening to topics that I like.
Yesterday, I started reading a book called “Happiness is a Habit”, I finished it within an hour (with all the notes I had written down). Partly because this book is quite simply written and there will be no big ideas or aha moments. Just a couple of gentle reminders of what happiness might mean to us. And it blew my mind as I was reading it, so here are some of the quotes and notes I would love to share and I think are worth sharing.
Ideas on how to serve others: thank you notes, sharing compliments, bringing food to neighbors, paying for strangers’ gas. When we serve others, it is very hard to remain in a bad mood
Our sad feelings are coming from a place of self-pity, self-doubt, and selfishness. Everything is focused on SELF, the more we let go of it, the happier we will be.
Learning brings happiness because we are progressing.
You will have a deeper sense of contentment if you count your blessings instead of yearning for what you don’t have. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Always ask yourself: “Will this matter one year from now?”
Gossiping is about our insecurities. We hear something bad about others and it makes us feel better about our shortcomings. Gossipers are, whether you realize it or not, the most insecure people you know. They are diverging attention from their faults and they are very unhappy people on the inside.
Happy people don’t make excuses and blame others. Making excuses can be a very destructive habit. Making excuses tells the world that you are not in control of your destiny.
Don’t fall into the trap of multitasking. People who are multi-tasking just manage to do a bunch of things poorly at the same time.
Avoid social comparison – it is the worst way for us to determine how we are doing in life. People are competitive. We need constant reminders of how “good” we are. Social comparison is a way that we feed our approval addiction. “I have a bigger house than he does therefore I must be doing better than him. Which makes sense because I am smarter and work harder than he does.” How silly it is that we tie our self-worth to the status of people who don’t really matter. If you think you are better than someone else then you gain an unhealthy sense of superiority. Happy people measure their self-worth against their own goals for themselves not against others.
Nobody knows you better than you. It is impossible for others to fully understand why you are choosing certain dreams or why you chose to follow your personal set of beliefs. Most people will give you advice based on their beliefs, not yours.
For many people, the accumulation of stuff is an attempt to fill a happiness void they feel internally.
Once you accept the fact that life is not fair you will be more at peace with yourself. Instead of obsessing over how unfair life is, just focus on what you can control and change it for the better.
Every time you perform a selfless act, your brain produces serotonin. Happy people do not wait for people to be nice to them, they look for opportunities to be kind to others first, and in the end they find that many people are nice to them.