Individual Assignment: Becoming Happy

Individual Assignment: Becoming Happy

Science has proven that we pursue happiness the wrong way. Unfortunately, this manifests in organizations and drives down employee engagement. This assignment will challenge you to re-examine your happiness paradigm by changing your behavior.

• First, watch Shawn Achor’s TED talk (Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work)
• Over the next 9 weeks, you will practice the following activities:

o             Gratitude Exercises. Write down three things you’re grateful for that occurred over the last 24 hours. They don’t have to be profound. (It could be as simple as a really good cup of coffee or your friend’s inappropriately-too-loud laugh.)

             DAILY

o             The Fun Fifteen. Do 15 minutes of a fun cardio activity, like walking to class or walking the dog or yoga. (The effects of daily cardio can be as effective as taking an antidepressant!)

             DAILY

o             Meditation. Every day take two minutes to stop whatever you’re doing and concentrate on breathing. (Click here to check out free meditation apps.)

             DAILY

o             The Doubler. Take one positive experience from the past week and spend five minutes writing down every detail you can recall about that experience.

             Weekly

o             Conscious Act of Kindness. At the end of each week, send a short email or text praising or encouraging three people that influenced your week.

             Weekly

o             Deepen Social Connections. Spend time with family and friends WITHOUT being on your smartphone, tablet or computer. Ask them to turn them off and truly engage!

             Weekly

• Each week, you will keep a journal of your experiences. There is no minimum length to your journal entries, but they should be thoughtful and done weekly.

o             Reflect on your activities for the week. Tell me what you did, how it made you feel, what your favorite part was, what was hard…

o             There will be 9 journal entries (first entry the week of 12/5, final entry the week of 1/30)

• Complete a 3-5 page paper (double-spaced, size 11 font) summarizing your 9-week experience (including a copy of your journal as an appendix item)

 

• Your paper should include:

o             What you liked and didn’t like about the experience

o             How you’ve changed

o             How other people have reacted

o             What you are going to do differently (short-term AND long-term) in your life based on your experience