What’s on your happy list?

Do you have 5-10 things that make you immediately happy? What would they be and are they in your control?

It could be something simple like drinking a cup of tea or coffee, or eating chocolate or cake, things that are instantly available to you and need no planning or waiting. Are these in alignment with your values?

If we think about eating cake or chocolate, how would that sit if one of your values was health? Do the things that make you happy actually align with your values, or is there conflict with what’s on your immediate happy list and your values.

I’m definitely in the cake and chocolate space for my happy list, yet when I think about my health, which is one of my values, then there is definite conflict.

I can make it work though by making a few small changes; I choose to eat 70% dark chocolate as it has less sugar and I don’t actually want to eat a lot of it, so I get my chocolate hit but in a better way that gorging on a milk chocolate bar.

I love cake but I make it less of an immediate happy item as I don’t tend to buy it. I love baking so if I have to actually make it then it is not on my immediate happy list, but on my delayed happy list so I therefore plan when I am going to bake it and have it less often, therefore succeeding in my immediate happy list of things being more aligned to my values and my delayed happy list is more of a reward but still somewhat aligned to my values.

Our values are areas of life that are critical to our wellbeing, acceptance and happiness overall, so its really important that the things we choose to do contribute in some way to our values.