What is Happiness? What does it look like?
That’s what’s beautiful about this world. We aren’t the same. We’re all so different. Different likes, preferences, styles … everything!
But, we are still fundamentally human, and as humans we are all very aware of feelings of contentment, comfort, and happiness.
Feelings though, are just that… feelings. They don’t do anything. They don’t help us accomplish anything real. They’re just, there. So why are we chasing feelings? Especially whenever we can’t help feelings. Feelings just show up.
But you know what is in your control? Your actions, each and every day.
That’s why instead of chasing feelings, I believe we should chase behaviors and habits.
The happy that we’re going for here is NOT a feeling. After all, we can’t control feelings or thoughts that just pop up in our head. The happy that we are striving for is a rolling average of our behaviors and habits.
Think about an action or behavior that makes you happy whenever you do it. Working out is a great example here. I don’t know any person that doesn’t feel a sense of happy after a workout.
For me, I really enjoy coloring with my daughter. I really enjoy the feeling of getting work done. I enjoy the feeling of finishing a workout. I enjoy the feeling of completing a project at home. I enjoy the feeling of coaching someone.
Think of some of the things that make you happy.
Now, how do you get the feeling? By committing to the action that precedes said feeling.
I’m not going to get the feeling of coaching someone if I don’t coach.
I’m not going to get the feeling of finishing a workout if I don’t workout.
I’m NOT going to get the fun feelings of happiness I get from coloring with my daughter if I’m distracted or trying to do other things.
Thinking about the feeling is not the same as actually feeling the feeling. (Wow that was a lot of “feeling” there).
To achieve the feelings, we have to engage in the behavior.
So let’s make a pack, you and me, to begin or continue chasing habits that we know bring about happy, and also positively affect our health.
Are you expected to engage in these habits each day? Well some of them, absolutely, but not all. It’s unreasonable to expect to hit everything everyday, all the time. That’s why we want to continue to think of things as a rolling average of your behavior. Some days will be better than others, but we can still make those low days count with a few habits.
Let’s break these habits down into two categories: Daily and Weekly.
- These should be things you know you can do, even when you feel down.
- Think of 2-3 habits you can do each day that brings you a bit of happy.
- Think of 2-3 habits you can do each week that brings you a bit of happy.
Please notice how I said brings YOU a bit of happy. Don’t do stuff you think you “should” do or what others tell you to do.
Write those down on the attached Torque habit tracker, and hang that sucker on your fridge. Look at it each day. Ideally, you’ve picked some habits that are easy to engage in each day and week.
If there’s one thing that I want you to take away from this, it’s that we should think of our own personal happy as the rolling average of our behaviors. We’re going to be playing this game of life for a long time, and it’s important for all of us to identify what behaviors we can engage in that keep us feeling great, and keep us healthy.
So let’s download this sucker, write it up, stick it on the fridge, and chase these habits.
Or, if you’re more of a digital person, send me an email at amanda@crossfittorque.com with the habits that you want to chase.
See you at your happy place,
-Amanda
Torque HABIT Tracker <—DOWNLOAD HERE!
