Happiness is … continuous improvement

Happiness is … continuous improvement

Happiness is … gratitude. And happiness is appreciating all that’s going well.

I’m sure many of you would be familiar with the happiness practice of keeping a gratitude journal and/or writing down, daily, at least 3 good things that have happened.

I’ve been doing this for many years now and, as we know from the research, it’s fantastically simple and beneficial.

But some time ago I added another component to my happiness boosting practice. Now, as well as writing down 3 good things I also reflect upon, and record … 1 thing I could do better.

This serves a few purposes. It reminds me that life’s not always great, and so keeps things real. And it also reminds me that happiness is a journey, more than a destination.

One additional aspect of this, however, has also proved extremely useful. And that is, each week, I look back on my “could do betters” and reflect on what I’ve been recording. Interestingly, more often than not, there are common themes, areas of improvement that come up again and again.

Seeing that in black and white is very powerful; and a potent reminder of the bigger areas or common pitfalls I need to really address.

One never arrives at happiness. Happiness is an ongoing, never ending project. Being more aware of what and where one can improve is just as useful as knowing what’s already good!