Introducing the Happiness Project + Giveaway

I was recently given a book by a friend called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and after hearing about it online and then flicking through the book I was inspired to do my own Happiness Project. If you haven’t heard of the book, it is basically about a lady who was tired of feeling run down and miserable all the time, so she decided to do something about it. She started off on a project that would span an entire year. Every month was assigned a theme, and within these themes she came up with a selection of goals to help her reach the happiness theme of that particular month. It’s a really inspiring and thought-provoking book, so I would really recommend giving it a read if you ever get the chance.

So, I decided that I am also fed up of feeling sad all the time. Having depression makes life incredibly difficult and, whilst I know I can’t cure myself, I can be more proactive in my choices, which in turn could lead to an improved state of mind. Conducting my own Happiness Project seemed like the perfect thing to start, what with it being a new year and all that, so I started thinking about how I could do one for myself. I have decided to use the same monthly themes that are talked about in the book, because I feel I am able to come up with relevant goals for each of them, which are personal to me. Obviously no two happiness projects will be the same, because we all have individual challenges that cause us unhappiness and different things that make us feel happy. But I felt I could relate the themes to my own life and come up with a range of goals that cover all aspects of my life.

I thought I would make a series of posts, over the next year, so that you can experience my Happiness Project with me, and perhaps even join me and do a project of your own. I will do a post at the beginning of each month, detailing the monthly theme and the goals I am aiming towards, and then at the end of the month I will do a brief wrap-up about how I have got on over the last month and reflect on how the project is going.

So we are obviously in January at the moment, and the theme for this month is to ‘Boost Energy.’ My goals this month are as follows:

Go to sleep earlier

I find that because of my health problems I need a lot of sleep, and even then I still don’t feel very energetic. I’m not expecting miraculous changes, but I’m hoping that by going to bed a bit earlier I will feel a bit more refreshed the next morning, especially when it’s a college day!

Eat more healthily

This is quite a sensitive area for me because of my eating disorder, so I know I need to be careful with the kind of goal I set myself. Rather than focussing on cutting things out or reducing the amount I eat, I thought a focus on healthier eating might be better. I believe that eating healthily means generally sticking to healthy foods, but at the same time allowing yourself a little of what you fancy. Everything in moderation is what I’ve always been told. So I will be trying to replace some of my snacks with healthier alternatives and try and ensure I’m eating as wide a variety as possible of fruits and vegetables.

Swim once a week

This is actually a goal I came up with when I saw my Physiotherapist. I used to do Hydrotherapy at the hospital twice a week, which was really helpful as I’m able to do exercises in the water than I could never do on land. But unfortunately the Hydro sessions were time limited, so before Christmas I signed up to my local gym on a swimming membership. I went sporadically but always found it very relaxing when I did eventually go, so this year I want to try and go once a week, unless there’s a valid excuse why I can’t go. It’s also an opportunity for me to have a bit of ‘me time,’ which must be good for boosting physical and mental energy.

Tidy out my wardrobe and Organise my craft unit

My mantra has always been ‘A tidy house equals a tidy mind’ so if my room is anything to go by at the moment, my mind must be incredibly messy! Rather than aiming to tidy my whole room, which I think will just be detrimental to my health, I wanted to focus on just a couple of aspects. The first thing I need to do is tidy out my wardrobe, try clothes on and actually get rid of stuff that either doesn’t fit me or I will never wear. At the moment they are just making the room feel more cluttered and having a negative impact on my body image when I look in the wardrobe and realise I have things in there that don’t fit me any more. I would also like to organise my new craft units that I bought at the end of last year. This will actually be incredibly helpful for another goal in a few months time, so I really need to work on getting it done.

Go to the cinema once a month

This is a slightly abstract goal, because I’m not 100% sure if it will actually have any impact on my energy, but it’s something I have been wanting to do for a while and now felt like a good time to introduce it. I love going to the cinema and, now that I’m a student, I feel like I should be making the most of reduced ticket prices and trying to do a few more social activities with people who live nearby. I’m hoping it will promote extra happiness, especially if I go and watch a comedy or a Disney film!

So there we have it. Five different goals to work on this month, and I think that hopefully they are very achievable goals. I’m really looking forward to taking part in this project and would love you to join me with your own. If you would like to take part and happen to take any photos as part of your project, please use #JensHappyProject so I can check out what you’ve all been up to!

I’m enjoying this book so much that I decided to buy another copy to giveaway to you guys! All you have to do is enter on the Rafflecopter below. This giveaway is open to everyone and anyone, as it won’t be too heavy for me to post if you happen to live abroad, so please do enter if you’d like to win the book and a little letter from me. I will check the winning entry so please play fair. The giveaway will close on 16^th January, so you have just over a week to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you read The Happiness Project? Do you have any resolutions you’ve made for this month?

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