Activities to Thrive
- Visit www.your100things.com to create a goal list and track it with support.
- When we appreciate the good in our lives, the good increases. If you don’t appreciate the good in your life, you will notice that the good decreases. Use a gratitude journal listing three things you’re grateful for each night. Or use the practice with your children and your spouse of a weekly, “What I appreciate about you” habit.
- Best possible self exercise. Think about your life in the future, perhaps 5 to 10 years from now. Imagine everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard, succeeded at accomplishing your goals and have realized your dreams. Write about what you imagine for 20 minutes a day for three days in a row. The exercise helps you become primed to notice things in the environment to help you accomplish your goals.
- Exercise – it releases endorphins, increases your self-esteem and more. In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, the author talks about how to beat stress, sharpen your thinking, lift your mood, sharpen your memory, and much more through exercise.
- At www.positivityratio.com you can take two weeks to track the sources of negativity in your life. It helps you become more mindful of your emotions. It also tracks the effects of life changes.
- Write a letter to someone you’ve never thanked and deliver it in person.
- Commit conscious acts of kindness – A long line of research, including one study of over 2,000 people, has shown that acts of altruism including giving to friends and strangers alike, decreases stress and increases happiness and well-being. Try completing 5 acts of kindness over the course of one day. Visit www.randomactsofkindness.org for ideas.
- www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu has a variety of assessments on general happiness, gratitude, optimism, close relationships, depression, and strengths.
