The Myth of More

Our Happiness Set-point is the range of happiness we return to no matter what is happening in our lives. If you naturally have a high happiness set point, when stress happens and life knocks you around,  you’ll naturally return to that high level.

But that’s not the case for more than 50% of the people who filled out the survey.  The majority have a naturally low happiness set-point.  So even when good stuff happens and things are looking sunny, our set-point brings us back down again.  Doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Thankfully,  there’s something we can do about changing our happiness set-point.  We can choose to do stuff that will raise our level and keep it raised.  I want to share with you what you can start working on this week that will start lifting your happiness to a new level.

My first tip is to remove the Myth of More from your life. More money won’t make you happier. Ask lottery winners. Even they return to their lower happiness set-point far before the money runs out. You don’t need more belongings. You don’t need more status or a better car. It’s the affliction known as the desire to acquire. And it gives you a false sense of happiness.

Be honest, do you go shopping to lift your spirits?

It’s time to stop the Myth of More. Instead, be grateful for what you do have. It may be really hard to do at first because our brains love focusing on bad stuff. Give yourself a goal to help you get started.

You can use my concept of continuous goals from my book,  Raise Your BAR.  Choose to be grateful for just 1 thing everyday for 30 days straight.  Keep track of it on your calendar or some other place you look at frequently.  At the end of 30 days, you’ll have a list of 30 things to be grateful for and you’ll have started your brain on a new way of thinking.  This continuous goal can be extended or you can just rely on the habit taking hold and reminding you of new things to be grateful for.  Are you up for the challenge?

Next week, I’ll give you another tip on how to increase your happiness set-point.

To your improving happiness,

Lindley