Things I’ve learnt about myself after 100 Happy Days challenge.

On the 1st April I started the 100 Happy Days Challenge.
The challenge was to think about something that makes me happy, something I am grateful for, things I appreciate and upload a picture of what made me happy that day for 100 consecutive days.

At first I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that the aim of the challenge was to create a positive habit and as a result becoming more happy, appreciative and grateful. It takes on average at least 66 days to form a new single habit but the most powerful changes take place after 90 days, hence the 100 happy days challenge. I also knew that our behaviour impacts our mind and the way we feel and vice versa so I was aware that by looking out for positive things in my day could only benefit the way I think and feel. I decided to sign up to the challenge and I chose Twitter as the platform for uploading my pictures.

The first few weeks were quite challenging... I went through most of the day without thinking about anything specific that made me happy and only when I sat down in the evening I would reflect on my day and remember that I need to upload my picture. To start with there was a theme of pictures of my son, husband, friends, family, food as those things were the easiest to appreciate but as the time went by I made a conscious effort to pay more attention to other things that I appreciate. There was a shift in the way I started to look at things. I started noticing more simple things like a free seat on a crowded train, lovely weather, day off, picnics, things that I wasn’t really appreciating that much before. I was waking up looking out for things that were making me happy and I was grateful for rather than waiting until the evening when I was reflecting on my day. 18 days into my challenge I had some sad news. My grandma passed away and a few days after, I had more bad news... I have to say, despite the sad news I made a conscious effort to concentrate on the positive aspects of my life, things I am grateful for rather than concentrating on sad news. This wasn’t easy and as ironic as it may sound, looking out for happy things, realising how happy and lucky I am really helped me through this hard time.

So what helped me complete the challenge?

Accountability – If you read my blog post or Facebook page, you would know that I publicly announced I am starting the challenge. I wanted to complete the challenge more for myself than anyone else, but that accountability also kept me going. Friends and people who knew I am doing the challenge kept asking how I was getting on which was encouraging me to complete the challenge even more. Also, few of my friends followed my steps and started the challenge themselves which was very encouraging.

Benefits – I knew the benefits that the challenge would bring. Apparently people who completed the challenge felt happier, more appreciative of life after finishing 100 Happy Days challenge.

Results – As the challenge was progressing I could feel more aware of things around me that made me happy. Looking out for positive things also became more subconscious than at the beginning. I consider myself a happy person, but I really think I’ve been happier and more appreciative of life in general since the beginning of the challenge.

Habit – uploading pictures everyday became a little bit of a routine and a habit. Although the challenge is over, I still look out for positives and I am not taking things for granted.

The challenge has made me reflect on my life and things I am grateful for more. I became more appreciative of small things that before I wouldn’t necessarily appreciate. The 100 Happy days challenge experience for me was positive and I would highly recommend giving it a go.

If you would like to flick through the pictures of my challenge, you can do that on https://twitter.com/LifeCoachPlease

Reflect, consolidate and move forward...

As the end of the year is rapidly approaching, it is a good time to reflect and
review the last 12 months, to celebrate your achievements, appreciate your efforts and to analyse what stopped you from achieving your goals (if any) and resolutions that you set yourself at the beginning of the year.

Sometimes I find I can be quite hard on myself if I haven't accomplished everything I set myself to achieve, but then I wonder if the goals I set were realistic or if any goal I haven't achieved was that important to me anyway, because if I really really wanted it to happen, I would have found the time, energy and motivation, and would have done everything in my power to achieve it, right? Then, I think to myself that maybe I expect too much from myself? Sounds familiar?

Whatever the reason may be, I think it is crucial to take time to think about what is really important to you and what you would like to accomplish in the year to come. If the goal you are setting really matters to you, then you are more likely to find the motivation and drive to achieve it. To help you appreciate your accomplishments and set important goals you may want to consider some of the questions below:

Reviewing the last year:

What have been your 3 biggest achievements / accomplishments of 2013?

What are you most proud of achieving?

What are the top three lessons you have learned this year?

What one personal quality have you developed most in 2013? (For example: patience, empathy or courage etc.)


Planning the year to come:

What are your top three priorities for the coming year?

What makes it important to you?

What would your end goal look / feel / sound like?

What would the outcome be if you achieve your goal?

What would be the consequences of not achieving your goal?

How will you achieve your goal?

Who can support you in achieving your goal?

When will you achieve it by?

You don't need to wait until January to make a list of your New Year's resolutions. Your goals can be set any time of the year, all you need is a pen and paper. I hope that these few questions will help you with successful goal setting.

Good luck!