I’ve been on a serious podcast kick ever since Ryder was born. Before his arrival, I listened to podcasts regularly but lately I’ve found myself listening to one or two every single day. They’re great to have on in the background when I’m nursing (a two-handed activity for this mama), making a meal or outside walking with Ryder and Sadie on mornings when Chase is at summer camp. I recently began listening to Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations Podcast and love the variety of topics and guests Oprah has on her podcast.
Late last week I discovered two previous SuperSoul podcast episodes that focused on happiness and joy. The first episode, entitled “8 Rules to Happiness” with guest Gretchen Rubin (episode #56), piqued my interest because I am a huge fan of Gretchen’s book, The Happiness Project. It’s a book I’d recommend to anyone looking to cultivate happiness in their everyday life through simple yet tangible actions that add up in a big way.
It’s been years since I read The Happiness Project (you may see my full review here) so I figured listening to the podcast would be a great happiness refresher. It was a fantastic episode and there was a little nugget of information toward the end of the podcast that really stuck out to me. Gretchen touched on happiness and genetics and what portion of our overall happiness is actually in our control. I found it fascinating!
According to Gretchen’s research, 50 percent of our happiness is genetically determined and we are “hard-wired” a certain way. Ten to 20 percent of our happiness is impacted by life circumstances such as health/illness, our occupation, etc. The remaining 30-40 percent is controllable. Gretchen explains that this controllable part of our happiness is crucial for us to focus on because this is the place where our thoughts and actions can greatly impact our happiness.
Gretchen adds that we all have a baseline level of happiness but we can make a serious impact on our happiness through our personal effort, actions and thoughts which can help us push ourselves to the top of our happiness range or to the bottom.
This made me think about my personal happiness and whether or not I believe I am naturally or genetically happy. I feel like I am a naturally happy person with a mostly positive outlook on life. I am generally content and optimistic most days and, as I’ve entered my 30s, I think this may be the quality I appreciate most in myself. This is not to say every day is a good day but, in general, I am able to find good in every day. For me, the overall happiness I feel comes back to one thing: Gratitude.
In another breath, I personally think our circumstances can have a greater impact on our happiness than the 10-20 percent Gretchen notes (especially when we or someone we love is faced with something truly horrible) though I do believe our thoughts and actions have a significant impact on our happiness. But do our thoughts and actions really account for 30-40 percent of our overall happiness? I think so.
And that’s where the second podcast (episode #62) comes into play! This episode featured an interview with Shawn Achor, a Harvard-trained researcher and leading expert on the connection between happiness and success. Shawn dives into the changes we can implement in our everyday lives that can positively impact our overall happiness in a surprisingly dramatic way. According to Shawn, there are a handful of habits you can do every single day that can overcome your genes and your environment/circumstances and elevate your baseline level of happiness every day after 21 days of practice.
Up first: Gratitude. When you first wake up, Shawn recommends thinking of three new things you are grateful for every single day.
YES! I believe gratitude is one of the pillars to living a happier life and hearing Shawn touch on the importance of gratitude only reiterated this belief. Without a doubt, I believe gratitude is at the root of the happiness I feel every day. It’s the feeling that pulls me out of sadness and negativity and it is at the core of the way I think.
And here are the five things Shawn recommends implementing for 21 days (or longer!) to increase overall happiness:
- Focus on gratitude. Think of three new things you’re grateful for every morning.
- Take two minutes to journal about a positive experience you had the previous day.
- Send a quick 2-3 sentence email or text message to someone thanking them for something. (I LOVE this one!)
- Exercise for 15 minutes. This trains your brain to believe that your behavior matters.
- Meditate.
Now I’d love to hear what YOU think about your personal happiness. Do you think you are naturally happy? If so, what is something you do regularly that you believe contributes to your overall happiness? Do you believe you have the ability to increase or decrease your baseline level of happiness depending on your thoughts and actions? Please weigh in below!!
Additional Happiness-Related Blog Posts
- The Essential Seven: Creating Habits That Lead to Happiness
- Little Indulgences = Big Happiness
- Abstainers vs. Moderators
- The Happiness Project Review + Takeaways
Questions of the Day
Do you feel like you are naturally happy? If so, what is something you think you do regularly that contributes to your overall happiness? If not, do you think it’s possible to elevate your baseline level of happiness through your thoughts and actions?
What are three things you are grateful for today?
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I’m listening to Shawn’s book, Big Potential, right now! He was a keynote speaker at a conference I attended recently and he blew me away! Such interesting research he’s doing!
So interesting!! I want to read that book!!
This is so interesting and definitely makes me feel so much better! I always struggle with why sometimes it feels like being happy is so much more work for me than others. Thinking about my family history (there is a lot of addiction in my family) it makes me think that maybe it’s genetics and that my baseline might not be as high. I love those one line a Day journals, but I’m going to start implementing some of these other tactics into my routine!!
Absolutely! I definitely think genetics play a big role (and both Shawn Achor’s research and Gretchen’s research confirm this) but I LOVE the power that comes in knowing we can positively impact our happiness through our thoughts, behaviors, habits and actions. I’d highly recommend listening to the SuperSoul podcast with Shawn Achor — he was fascinating!!
Great post! I am also intrigued by happiness research 🙂 I will have to check those podcasts out this week. I would agree that we are in control of a great percentage of our own happiness. Personally, I’ve found that visiting places that have way less than me and seeing that the people there seem to be much happier than many around me was the biggest factor in my gratitude and happiness journey. So often I think we all get caught up in the comparison game (it has never been easier than today to get stuck in the comparison loop) and it leads to unhappiness.
Have a great day!
Absolutely agree, the comparison trap is real and sometimes we need to see how little we need to truly be happy in the purest form. Recognizing all the positive aspects of our lives is the best way to improve the “less than stellar” aspects and therefore leads to way more happiness!
I agree with both of you and wondering if the internet/Facebook/Instagram way of life contributes to the feelings of unhappiness people feel because of constant comparisons to others.
Julie,
This post hits exactly my stride these days! I have been really into podcasts since my son was born, listening on walks, my commute, and when cleaning. I didn’t see you mention it, but I love “Happier” Gretchen Rubin’s podcast with her sister Liz Craft and the podcast Forever35 which is about self-care. Definitely been appreciating the podcasts about ways to bring more health and positivity into my life!
Happier is one of my favorite podcasts!! So good. And I’ll check out Forever 35 — sounds right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation!
I was wanting to ask what other podcasts you listen to? My favorites right now are NPR’s How I Built This, Second Life (women with amazing career changes), Coffee and Crumbs (feels like you are listening to your girlfriends) and Balanced Bites. I know you have mentioned Wait Wait–wondering what others you like? Thanks!
Forever 35 definitely contributes to my overall happiness 🙂
Wow, Julie, the timing of this post is incredible. I’ve been wanting to carve out some time first thing every morning and start a gratitude practice. Today was day 1, and honestly, I felt a little unsure of what to do. I LOVE these 5 things you included in this post (and already send my first text message!).
I am not a naturally happy person. I definitely have gotten that from my parents. They’re both miserable people. I don’t want to be that way, and certainly never want my kids to say that about me! My husband points out my negativity quite a bit, so I’m super committed to finding a way to focus on the positive instead.
Thank you for this blog post, and I hope you’re hanging in there with the sleep deprivation…I have a 7 month old who hates sleep and an almost 3 year old who is go go go. I know how crazy it is!
Thank you so much for weighing in!! Through your words it’s so clear to see how committed you are to creating a happier life for yourself and I LOVE what you said about your desire for your kids to view you in a positive light — there is no better motivation/reason!! <3 I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job!!
I’ve thought a lot about this, especially lately. When I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, I don’t think I was particularly happy. I also don’t proscribe to the “omg cancer changed my life, and now things are so much better” school of thought, but there’s something about having your actual life put into much sharper focus (insofar as I have a disease that has a mean survival rate of just shy of 3 years, but I could well live longer than that) that can allow you to shift your paradigms along with shifting course in your life. A woman in one of my support groups told me that there is such a thing as “the magic of cancer” – the things that allow you to simultaneously grieve the things you’ve lost, or will lose in the future, but also find the people and opportunities in the present who make your life better, and, but for cancer, you would not know of them. And I have found that finding the magic in those opportunities sometimes feels like a more inclusive opportunity than, gratitude, or happiness, or even sadness or anger, because it allows those emotions to co-exist with the tangible things that provide us with a deeper, richer life. I choose to find magic because it alleviates the pressure to feel grateful, or feel happy, and opens the door to experience whatever emotions I am experiencing in the manner in which they present themselves. Creating magic, and finding magic, empowers me to be the rudder directing my experiences, rather than the recipient of them.
And I realize after typing this all out, that it’s WAY more comment than I had expected to write! brevity = not my strong suit. 🙂
I LOVE this – thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Emily! Wishing you good health and happiness!
This is SO INTERESTING! I’m a huge podcast girl too.
I’m definitely not a naturally happy person and have to really try to practice gratitude – which can be so hard. I’m definitely going to try those steps you mentioned!
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me … Miami Beach OOTD!
Love thinking about Happiness in my every day life! My goal this year is to live intentionally and happiness plays a big role! I am a momma to a little boy Grant (22 months), healing from 2 recent miscarriages, full time RN and I am very blessed, but I still struggle some days with anxiety! This podcast is perfect and EXACTLY what I needed!
Thank you for sharing this! I’ve skipped around in Oprah’s podcast so now I need to go back and catch these two episodes!
I am totally a naturally happy person. My Mom and my older sister are like me. My little sister is on medication and really struggles to be happy. I’ve only seen my father truly happy when he’s doing two things: playing his guitar and watching or playing soccer. I guess it also depends on what someone is into…my Mom, my older and I love scrapbooking and inspirational quotes. I also put up bible quotes throughout the house along with messages about being kind. Perhaps seeing these messages daily helps with the happiness factor sinking in…
Love this concept, Julie! I am a big fan of podcasts, and Oprah’s is one I listen to every week. I think I tend towards being naturally happy, though I struggle with anxiety quite a bit. When I am able to keep that in check, I have an optimistic outlook.
Side note: Just wanted to say kudos for the awesome blog content that you have kept up since Ryder’s birth! I’m so impressed 🙂 I know it’s not easy to fit work in alongside two littles, and in the opinion of this reader, you are doing a great job!
I like to think that I am naturally happy but I definitely have my down days. If I am having a rough day I make sure to carve out some time for a workout since I know it will put me in a good mood. Finding the time for workouts are tough with a 12 week old but I always tell myself that 15 minutes of working out is better than nothing!
So grateful for my healthy baby boy, a husband who loves and supports me, and a maternity leave that spans entire summer 🙂 yay for nice weather!
Interesting! I read Gretchen Rubin’s book a while back, maybe I will listen to these podcasts. I have noticed in my own life, I get a lot of happiness and personal satisfaction from working toward big goals. Fitness is a good example of this. When I was new to fitness, I used to go to the gym and just do the elliptical mindlessly or do random weights circuits, but there was never really an end-point or goal in mind. When I started training for a half-marathon, and working towards certain strength goals (deadlift certain lbs etc.) is where I started to see a real sense of personal satisfaction and happiness, feeling like I was working hard on something that mattered to me!! This is true in other areas of my life too, I get a lot of happiness from feeling like I have goals I’m working toward that matter to me, and in reflecting on past goals achieved, as opposed to just chugging through day to day without a goal in mind. Good topic to reflect on!!
Love this topic and I definitely agree with Shawn’s list. I can attest to the list because I do all of the items on this list, aside from the meditation one, but I do read the bible which I would place first on my list. Starting out with the bible places me with the right perspective for the day. Interesting about the life experiences. I’ve had A LOT of stuff from my childhood with my parents/step-parents that I’ve had to overcome. I’ve had to choose how NOT to be like them for my kids’ sake. People always comment how surprised they are that I can be so “normal” and loving after coming from such a bad place, but I definitely think it’s do-able. I would say the first step is putting God first, hand your problems over to him and then making the decision to change. Being grateful is huge, too, for even the tiniest things in our lives. Lastly, surrounding yourself with positive people who not only bring out the best in you but motivate you to change for the better. Nothing motivates me to change more than my husband and kids. Have a great day, Julie.
Forgot to mention that this was NOT an overnight change and there was a lot of forgiveness involved. 🙂
Oh Julie, I loved your first few posts about the Happiness Project, and this was such an amazing follow-up! Thank you for this! I send people the link to your other posts all the time, and I’m excited to add this one to the pile! (Also, I’m a huge lover of Super Soul Sundays!)
Overall I’m a naturally happy person at my baseline. I think the reason I’m able to be that way has a lot to do with the great, safe, family foundation that I had as a child. I felt safe at all times, and I felt the support of my family at all times. I know several people who did not have that safe family foundation, and did not have that support, and it HAS impacted their overall baseline level of happiness. I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of the protection/safety/support you receive from your family during your developmental years. (I know some children – now adults – who were abandoned by their mom as toddlers, and I cannot even begin to tell you how that has damaged their self esteem and their ability to strive for happiness as adults. Also, I know a family of kids raised by an abusive alcoholic father, whose mother died young, and the impact on their baseline level of happiness is visible and palpable.)
However, I do think it’s possible to carve out more happiness for yourself even with trauma in your past. Per the above, I know people with traumatic backgrounds who really scrape and claw and WORK very hard to carve out happiness in their lives, and it’s heroic to me. They have to work harder than you and I, but they have managed to grasp joy and hold on.
My dad is a naturally optimistic person, even with all the things he’s seen over his lifetime (like people getting killed next to him during war). And so I also cannot underestimate a genetic piece to my baseline happiness. I have been told by more than one person that I have an “enviable level of enthusiasm.” lol I get excited by very simple things.
Such a great post. THANK YOU for this. Your blog is one of the many things I’m grateful for!
I’ve been using The Five Minute Journal for about a month now, and I love it! Great way to be more grateful and to be more intentional about taking actions to make myself happy. Seems to be a perfect fit for today’s post.
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minute-Journal-Happier-Minutes/dp/0991846206/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1531758650&sr=8-2&keywords=5+minutes+journal
This is a really interesting post! If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I’m a “naturally” happy person. Whether it’s because of genetics or upbringing, I feel like, if I’m not reminding myself to practice gratitude and doing things to increase my happiness, I can have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Like you mentioned, though, every day is different! Some weeks I am happy as a clam even though I’ve done nothing to try to increase my happiness and don’t have anything particularly exciting going on.
One thing that I’ve done to increase my happiness is meditation. I use the Headspace app and it really helps me to free my mind of the daily clutter that would typically turn a mostly happy day into a mostly unhappy one. Have you ever tried Headspace or any other kind of meditation? It is seriously soothing.
Practicing gratitude on a daily basis is a huge one for me! Most days I feel like a happy person but there are definitely days that are more of struggle.
Today I’m grateful for the growing baby in my belly, a husband who supports me at my lowest (and highest) points, and a loving family who I am fortunate to spend a lot of time with often.
Hi Julie! What a great post. It’s my first time commenting here even though i’ve Been reading your blog for years.
I think about happiness very often: how can I feel happier? How can I express my happiness? And most importantly how can I help others around me feel happier and understand how happy they make me.
You talked about something I truly believe which is the importance of being grateful and of reminding ourselves of everything good in our lives.
However it is also true that sometimes life brings us challenges that are more difficult to face than we would like.
Personally I am in kind of a difficult place right now but reading your post has reminded me that we are all just doing our best and that we all want the same. I am not alone in my desire to be happier and that was a huge deal for me today. Thank you!
This post definitely called to me after a particularly rough week emotionally. It’s actually, in a way, comforting to know that genetics play a role in happiness as I do feel that I have to work harder to achieve it sometimes. All the women from both my paternal and maternal sides have clinical anxiety, myself included.
Fortunately, I don’t think happiness and gratitude are mutually exclusive, because every day I feel how absolutely blessed I am.
Meditation is something I am dying to pursue. As someone with an endless to-do list and two kiddos, calming my racing mind is so appealing.
A silly thing that brings added happiness to my life is something I’ve been doing for a few years now: checking out the National Day Calendar and picking something to celebrate that isn’t widely known at least once a week. Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day, by the way! 🙂
I think your idea is really brilliant. Having something to celebrate brings extra joy into our lives. I’ Have to start doing that! Thank you for sharing this!!!
Love this!! I actually just listened to Gretchen when she was a guest on The Purpose Show podcast recently. (another good one you should check out) I’ve actually never read her book, but now I want to!!
I am generally a happy person and when I’m not feeling right, a good workout always makes me feel better. or even just going on a walk outside. Anything that gets my body moving always helps with stress and anxiety.
Do you feel like you are naturally happy? If so, what is something you think you do regularly that contributes to your overall happiness? If not, do you think it’s possible to elevate your baseline level of happiness through your thoughts and actions?
I think for me, it is being surrounded by positive people. This is why I limit my time around my in laws and other negative people. It is just too much.
What are three things you are grateful for today?
Three things I am grateful for today:
1. Coffee
2. I am able to workout
3. Able to afford to take a certification test
This is an interesting question. I would say I’m naturally inclined to be happy, but I also naturally shove down negative emotions and do not address them, so sometimes I think I experience a fake happiness because I am ignoring my other emotions – which is definitely not healthy. I’ll have to listen to that podcast. Thanks for sharing!
I have to thank you for mentioning the Happier podcast on your blog! I read the Happiness Project years ago, and I decided to listen to her podcast after you mentioned it a few times. I love it! I listen to it every week, along with her sister’s podcast. Thanks again!
To answer your question… I think I am naturally a positive person, which definitely helps me lean towards being naturally happier. I also think it is ABSOLUTELY possible to elevate your baseline level of happiness through your thoughts and actions. It can just take some time.
I didn’t know Oprah had a podcast, so now I’ve got to check it out. I’ve listened to Gretchen Rubin’s podcast before. I really like the idea of sending a message to someone to let them know you are thinking about them. Doing things for others always makes me happy. Interesting stuff, Julie. I liked this post! 🙂
Hi there,
So I have to say that when I was younger I had a more positive and happy outlook on life. As I have gotten older I think my genes have taken over a bit more. And what I mean by that is my family tends to have a harder time seeing the brighter side of life and situations. I noticed this change in my personality of being sad or upset a lot more then usual so I started implementing gratitude practice (morning and night), working again (I stopped after high school), and getting out into nature helps me a great deal too!
I love Gretchen’s podcast! I also recommend Forever35 and my other favorites are The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey and Sorta Awesome. So good!
Do you keep a gratitude journal? If so can you link to it? I can’t decide if I need one that prompts me or if I just want a regular standard journal.
I am so, so glad you shared this, Julie! I always admire your positive outlook and want to be more like you! I am someone who is prone to depression and anxiety so I do struggle to to be happy (but want so badly to be happy!) I always thought that a post breakup period in my 20s would forever be the hardest period of my life. But honestly, the hardest period was when my older son had half day kindergarten and my younger son was having major sleep issues (he slept so well in the rock n play but once he outgrew it, I could NOT get him to sleep in his crib…he’s sleep next to me or in my arms) I literally thought I was going insane…I couldn’t take any medication because I was nursing and I felt like every second of every day I was taking care of someone else’s needs and neglecting my own. My advice for moms, especially new moms and moms who recently welcomed new additions would be to 1. pump bottles so you can 2. get away and have time to yourself. I also had horrible anxiety and didn’t want to leave my son. Now that he’s 2.5 it’s easier but I know I still can learn so many things that would help me feel better and be a better mom and example to my kids. I’m definitely going to try these ideas!
I can’t wait to listen to these podcasts!
It has been a while since I listened to those episodes on the Oprah podcast. I love her podcast! I actually got the Before Happiness book by Shawn Achor on my Kindle after listening to the episode. I like to believe I am a naturally happy person, but lately there have been a lot of stresses in my life that have made it more work for me to be as happy. I do practice gratitude daily though and looking back at my month list of things I am grateful for certainly helps. My mom suffers from depression so I could definitely see myself having some of those genes but I also fight it and try to look at the positive side. It also helps that my fiancé will point out if I start falling down a negative hole. Sometimes you need those friends or people in your life to tell you, hey you are being really negative and it makes you think, how can I rephrase this in a positive way? It can be work, but it gets easier over time.
I’d actually started trying to list three new things I’m happy about each day and I made it… one day, LOL. I forgot. But prior to reading your blog entry today, I’d looked back a few days and realized I’d totally dropped the ball, so I have a nice post-it reminding me 🙂
Natural happiness at the moment hasn’t been terribly great, due to both genetics and general life circumstances, so I’ve made the move (after years like this, therapy, etc.) to a prescription anti-depressant, and for me that’s a good solution. That said, it’s also important for me to work on myself, and since I’m now able to see light, I’m working to gain a bit more intrinsic happiness as well 🙂
Julie I love this post! Thank you so much for sharing it! Three things I am grateful for today: my husband is off work today, we just got a new puppy girl, and we’re looking forward to being in our new home sometime this year 🙂 Now I’m off to read more of your posts on happiness ??
I think we can do our best to try to find happiness, but I also think it’s not exactly easy to “just be happy.” There are things in life that suck the happiness out of you and I prefer to think if it as a learning experience rather than committing to be happy when it’s impossible. On another note, I love watching Super Soul Sunday!
I’m finishing up my first trimester and I have found myself randomly feeling down. I’m not used to this feeling as generally I’m a pretty laid back, happy in any situation kind of person, but some days I feel like I wake up with a cloud over my head. I’m hoping I can blame the pregnancy hormones for my strange moods, but I love your reminder for the little actions we can do to shift our focus.
One of the reasons I’ve been feeling low is because I used to do yoga almost every day and ate 80% healthy (daily salads and smoothies) but now my entire routine has changed due to my fatigue and I’ve been eating ALL the carbs (french fries + pizza please). Definitely feeling very off with my change in exercise and eating, so trying to figure out how to get myself back on track. Going to implement your gratitude tips and carving out time for myself. Thank you for sharing!
thank youfor sharing this topic got some tips in mind ..great one
I love this post. It really got me thinking about what kind of person I am in the happiness realm, and this is how I’d sum it up: I’m a naturally happy and very optimistic person in the morning, but in the evenings my mood tends to decline. For me, it seems that energy level is a big contributor to my overall happiness. In fact, I know this to be true because if I really reflect it, I’m happiest when I feel energetic. This is why exercise, novel experiences, morning times, etc. are when I feel the happiest.
Have you heard of Rachel Hollis’ new book – Girl, Wash Your Face? It’s kind of related to this topic since she talks at length about how it’s up to us to change our life, in whatever capacity that means (achieving dreams, being happier, losing mom guilt, etc). Since you mentioned podcasts, this is such a great book to listen to on audio. She narrates herself and is absolutely hilarious and motivating and so darn enthusiastic! I love all the stories she shares about her own life.
I LOVE this post, Julie! I think I am generally a happy person. I try to think on the positive side and try not to be so negative, which I think has a lot to do with my happiness. To be honest, I am victim to the comparison trap, and generally become a little unhappy and more negative if I compare myself to others a lot. But, overall, I definitely think your level of happiness has a lot to do with your thoughts and actions. I am going to have to check out those podcasts! 🙂 I have really been into self-help books, and have been loving all things Rachel Hollis. She has a book out and also has a podcast! She is phenomenal! I hope you are having a great week! Xoxo
Aloha! I so love this post! Yes, I believe I am naturally happy. I have prescribed to the theory “of its meant to be its up to me” for many years and being happy and confident in myself has elevated me to places I never thought I would be in life!
Three things I am grateful for today:
1. Pushing myself to persevere and learn a skill that would give me an unforgettable life
2. The power of spirituality and meditation
3. The ability to continually learn and be inspired by people I have “known” for years online. 🙂