06 Mar If you’ve ever wanted to know THE BEST happiness and wellbeing routine then this article is for you!
As many of you would know, I’ve pretty much spent my entire adult life studying and teaching aspects of psychology, mental health coping and happiness to literally thousands of individuals as well as … myself.
You might also know that I’m a big fan of habits and routines, having written and recorded 10 Audible audiobooks beginning with “Habits for Happiness”, “Habits for Happiness at Work” and including a series also on habits for depression, anger, anxiety and more (see HERE).
And so, it’s time to reveal what I’ve learned about what’s THE BEST routine for happiness and wellbeing.
Interested?
Well, drum roll, THE BEST routine … doesn’t exist!
There isn’t A BEST one. At least not one that works for everyone all the time!
Research into exercise has repeatedly found that “the best” form of exercise (strength or cardio etc) is whichever one you enjoy the most. The reasoning goes that if you like running, you’re more likely to do it regularly and, therefore, benefit. On the other hand, if you don’t like running, and prefer lifting weights, well … I think you get the idea.
In my experience, the same holds true for the application of mental health and/or positive psychology strategies. THE BEST ONES are the ones you feel fit well with you. We all know, for example, that there’s good evidence to support meditation and mindfulness practices, but I also know many people for whom these just don’t feel right.
And so, today’s message is, do your research, learn about as many happiness boosting strategies as you can, or strategies for coping with anxiety or depression or whatever, and give them all a try; a decent try (and ideally, with some expert guidance).
But then, and here’s the key point of this post, design and develop and fine tune YOUR OWN BEST POSSIBLE routine, one that you feel comfortable with and one that’s likely to make sense to and therefore work for you.
That will then be THE BEST routine, THE BEST set of habits, for YOUR happiness and wellbeing. And in this context, that’s all that counts!