Not Just One Good Thing

These workouts are about raising your levels of happiness. Not about positive thinking, optimism or self-esteem. There is a difference, but I’ll slip that in another time. Let’s get started.

Time for our warm-ups

I’m not messing you round by saving the best for last here.

In many ways this one is The Biz.

Why should we do this? Doing this exercise will make you happier. The increase in happiness from doing it, is measurable and sustained. So is the decrease in symptoms of depression.

How many circuits? In the research programmes that have used this exercise, sticking to it for a week was suggested.

Is it hard to stick to? Apparently not. People keep doing it after they’re told they can stop. (60% of the people who have been taught this exercise are still happily doing it, on their own initiative six months later. That has to beat the staying rate of January Joiners at your local gym.)

What’s my base line? If you want to get on the scales before you start, you can do that here: Happiness Questionnaires


Today’s Workout

Christopher Peterson, in A Primer of Positive Psychology (New York: Oxford, 2006), calls this exercise Three Good Things, pointing out that it’s a lot like counting your blessings. This is going to be a three step routine. Here's how...

Towards the end of the day, before you go to sleep, set aside a time to list three things that went well during the day. OK? Stop at three good things. No more, no less.

For each thing that went well, answer the question, Why did this good thing happen?

Finally, consider the question, What did I do to help make this good thing happen? Occasionally you might feel you’ve already done this, in answering the second question. Try anyway, but if you can’t answer this one more specifically, don’t worry.

Do this exercise every night for a week

Time for the Cool-down

Nearly there. Now record your answers by jotting them down.

If you find this hard to do, or you think you're not going to be terribly good at looking back on your day, you could jot candidates for the list down during the day. You could maybe keep one of those tiny notebooks from Paperchase handy for this, or one of those Muji key ring thingummies, the ones with a wad of small blank flashcards attached. But these records are not your list. You must wait until close to bedtime to do this!

If writing really isn’t your thing, then tell a dictaphone or a live person. But it is not enough to tell yourself.

Let the rest of us here in the gym know how this exercise goes.