Hello There my beloved friends and readers!
I am trying to revive my blog after years of silence. Also debating whether to go public or not. Oh well! that post is for another day. Please also pardon the appearance of this blog post as I am just brushing off dust from my blogging skills.
RR recently completed a career accelerator program this summer. He was supplied with a few recommended readings and one of them was author Gretchen Rubin. Since the success of her first bestseller, The Happiness Project, Gretchen has released a handful of other books that touch on happiness, everyday habits and understanding the way your personality and the way you are wired impacts your happiness. In her better than before book she has categorized all of us in four broad tendencies. I am in the upholder category and RR is in the questioner. You can also take the quiz and determine your own by going to her website .
Gretchen also hosts a podcast called Happier, along with her sister Elizabeth. I am yet to hear one of those awesome podcasts where the episodes are short, easy to listen to and often leave one with a little tip or trick that we would try and apply to our lives to try to increase our personal happiness. Gretchen approaches achieving happiness in an easy yet methodical way and gives insight into seemingly small things we can do or implement in our lives that may result in a surprising amount of joy.
Earlier this week, I came across the mention of the Happier podcast (episode 90 if you want to check it out on her website) in one of my favorite blogs. There Gretchen and Elizabeth discussed what Gretchen deems “The Essential Seven,” or seven habits that most impact our happiness.
Gretchen is HUGE into creating good habits and firmly believes that creating positive, lasting habits is essential when it comes to living a happier life. She mentions in her book better than before, “We can use decision-making to choose the habits we want to form, use willpower to get the habit started, then—and this is the best part—we can allow the extraordinary power of habit to take over. At that point, we’re free from the need to decide and the need to use willpower.”
We all know the habits we want in our lives. Healthy habits, responsible habits, habits that make us feel more connected, valued and successful. Gretchen breaks down habits into seven categories and in Episode 90 of the Happier podcast, she and her sister speak about something they want to change or begin doing related to each of The Essential Seven habits to increase joy in their lives. I found myself thinking about what I wanted to change or focus on in my life after reading about The Essential Seven habits and ended up creating a list in my mind that I thought might make an interesting new blog post.
The Essential Seven
Here are The Essential Seven, taken directly from the Happier podcast notes:
- Eat and drink more healthfully (give up sugar, eat more vegetables, drink less alcohol)
- Exercise regularly
- Save and spend wisely (save regularly, pay down debt, donate to worthy causes, make purchases that contribute to happiness or habits, pay taxes, stay current with expense reports)
- Rest, relax, and enjoy (pursue a hobby instead of constantly browsing, enjoy the moment, stop checking notifications, get enough sleep, spend less time in the car more walking, take time for yourself)
- Stop procrastinating, make consistent progress (practice an instrument, set aside two hours daily for uninterrupted work, learn a language, maintain a blog, keep a gratitude journal)
- Simplify, clear, and organize (make your bed every day, file regularly, put keys away in the same place, recycle, give away unused clothing and household items)
- Engage more deeply—with other people, with nature, with yourself, with the world (call family members, do some good every day, volunteer, spend time with friends, observe the holy days, spend time alone in nature)
Below I am breaking down The Essential Seven and sharing a little bit about one tangible thing that I am planning to do to address the habit and hopefully increase happiness.
1. Eat and drink more healthfully:
My goal: I am planning on being more wary of what fats I put in my body after my most recent annual check up (got cholesterol a tad bit higher than normal)
When Gretchen and Elizabeth discussed this habit, Elizabeth identified nighttime snacking as her biggest health-hindering issue. In her book, Gretchen has also identified the same issue for her. For me, it’s the cooking medium. I know this without a doubt. I was born and raised in India, where one's love is measured by the amount of oil or worse ghee (clarified butter) is put in the food. I struggle with this because I also use it as a way to celebrate, connect (RR and I LOVE planning the weekend Indian snack foods that I can recreate at home and introduce Parth to them), distract (I am guilty of over oiling as a form of procrastination), make myself feel better (my fats consumption definitely goes up when I am feeling more emotional). I have zero desire to completely give up unheatlhy fats (butter and ghee) because I like it and things like poori, samosa, paranthas, bhaturas and so on (various versions of Indian fried breads) make me happy. Baking is also one of the habits that I am trying to get into more and more as it utilizes way less cooking medium than stove top methods I have observed.
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| Healthy semolina, almond and whole wheat cookies |
2. Exercise Regularly:
My goal: Take 20-30 minutes for yoga every day
I feel fortunate to really enjoy Yoga (a habit so embedded in my DNA by my adoptee grandfather that its like breathing for me) and it is already a part of my routine but I know I could always benefit from more stretching and cardio. Whether it be taking myself through some of my poses while Parth naps or simply carving out 10 minutes after my workout to stretch, I know my body (and mind!) are the only tools that I need and they would benefit immensely from a little extra stretching. I am setting an additional 10 minutes as a goal for myself because it feels more achievable and realistic.
3. Save and spend wisely:
My goal: Identify a spending tracking app and cook more meat and seafood at home for RR and Parth.
My finance-savvy husband tracks our monthly spending, which is something I personally struggle with. I am glad that he does it because it makes it easy to see when certain categories jump on a month-to-month basis. However, doing it in a haphazard and unorganized way is both tedious and burdening for us. Looking for an app that both he and I can use to track our spending is one of my goals.
Food is one of our biggest areas of spending and the difference in our monthly food expenditures when I take the time to meal plan weekly and cook at home versus when I don’t, is more shocking than I would have anticipated in my past life. Multiple trips to the grocery store add up, especially when you factor in impulse buys or take-out on nights when you feel like you don’t have anything good at home to eat. It is especially challenging for RR, who is an omnivore and is always excited to introduce Parth to new foods. When I shop with a plan and a list, I spend less, feel more organized through the week and our food waste goes way down. It’s a win-win and a habit that I am actually looking forward to getting into. I am also planning to consult more and more online resources for healthy and tasty recipes for meats and seafoods cooking.
3. Rest, relax and enjoy:
My goal: Spend more and more time as a family
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| RR and Parth |
Just look at RR and Parth on the hillock on our most favorite place in NYC. We had so much fun this summer now that Parth is a curios little toddler. Watching them bond is both peaceful and allows me to focus on the beautiful weather and how good it feels to simply rest my body and collect my thoughts while I read one of my favorite blogs (Aguanomics). I know all of the family people must have said it many times before but watching father and son have a blast on an outing and seeing them get the biggest kick out of simple things like sticks, dandelions and squirrels also serves as the perfect reminder for me to enjoy and cherish the little blessings in life. I am planning on more and more such experiences as the weather gets meh here and the days get shorter.
4. Simplify, clear and organize
My goal (personal): Organize, sort and store Parth’s toys' chest.
This one is haunting me every time I walk across Parth’s toy chest in our living room. I need to carve out some time to sort his toys and organize or donate everything that’s broken, he has lost interest since he is no more a baby and the toys are no longer mocking me from a giant heap in the corner of living room.
My goal (work): Create an ongoing web blog series on my professional blog , brush up my resume/CV and work methodically towards my and my family's better future going forward. Through the professional network, I feel very fortunate to have worked with a myriad of talented and gifted professionals but since I am just getting back into the grind again, it can feel very overwhelming at times to keep all of my relationships in line. I have worked and interacted with people in a variety of ways (volunteer, full time, part time, project based gigs etc.) and while I have all of my contacts and referees in front of me on my computer every day, once I have completed the day, I forget to get in a touch with them in a timely manner. I need a good organizational system in place for keeping track of what I need to do for upcoming career related moves and who I still need to follow up with a request for a reference.
5. Engage more deeply:
My goal: Write down my gratitude in a list and thank at least one person before bedtime with Parth.
All too often I will find myself thanking people at the end of the day and my brain feels like a jumbled mess. My mind will wander and I want to get better at being more intentional with my thank you. Since writing is something I love and something that immensely helps me work through my thoughts and feelings, I want to begin writing out my thank you to people too.
Question of the Day
Pick one or two of The Essential Seven habits and tell me about a goal that you would like to create for yourself to help yourself feel happier in that specific area of your life.
As always please feel free to comment below or send me an email message.
The post I am back with Creating Habits That Lead to Happiness appeared first on pallavithinks.
