CHALLENGE: Make a JOY List!
Seriously, when was the last time you actually sat down and made a list of things that bring you total joy and contentment? Or even thought about it for longer than a couple seconds?
In this episode of the podcast I talk about 7 Simple Practices that Will Make Your Life Better and one of them is curating joy. Meaning, actually plan time in your calendar for things that bring you joy.
Do you have a running collection of things that feed your spirit? For most people, the answer is no. We’re moving so fast in life that we don’t have time to single out things just for the sake of contentment or peace. You know what’s worse? We’ve been programmed to believe that if something doesn’t make us money, or change the world, or get us 50K likes on Insta, that it doesn’t have value.
SO, I’m going to challenge you to make your joy list of 10 things that make you happy even if they don’t make sense to other people! And not things that only sorta make you happy like “take your bra off at the end of a long day” happy, but TRUE JOY.
I’ll go first! Here are 10 of mine!
1. A slow cup of coffee while looking at a beautiful view
2. Laughing with my kids
3. International travel – after several years during the pandemic where this was near-to-impossible, I cherish trips even more!
4. Going to cute little locally-owned coffee shops and asking them to make me “the special.” EVERY place has one and I never even look at what it is. I have never been disappointed.
5. Long multi-course dinners where it’s been like 4 hours and yet food is STILL coming out and you’re like “I am NOT, not eating this ravioli!” but then you totally do because that ravioli is delicious
6. Really luxurious sweat pants – (swear to goodness, the pure joy I get from new sweatpants is embarrassing!)
7. My heating pad. That’s right, heating pads. Y’all…I lay on one every night like an iguana. I am always cold so I love sitting on something warm
8 . Talking about and helping people with their businesses – I am such a geek for entrepreneurs and I love talking about every aspect of it
9. Hawaii – always and forever my favorite place in the world!
10. Learning something new in ANY subject! I’m so curious that I legit have a page in my Notes on my phone titled “Things to Learn More About”. The list currently includes: Toulouse Lautrec, the Onna-Bugeisha, and blockchain.
My JOY list is actually much, much longer, but I’m guessing you get the idea! Here’s the point…. if you know what feeds your soul, you can schedule some time into every week to guarantee moments of joy. If you’re struggling to feel passionate, or you want more moments of joy (and trust me, you DO!) try this simple exercise! Ok, it’s your turn…go make your list!
