Why I'm Happy
A tool to focus each day on the positive things in life
Create a challenge by inviting a partner and add each day your good news of the day
Adapted from Three Good Things - University of California, Berkeley
Motivating
By choosing to do this practice with a partner, you stay motivated and know better what matters most to you and your partner.
Reinforcing
Good thing from another day can be sent to reinforce focus on good things in your life. You can choose the frequency and duration of these reminders.
Efficient
Writing about three good things is associated with increased happiness immediately afterward, as well as one week, one month, three months, and six months later.
How to do it
Each day for at least one week, write down three things that went well for you that day, and provide an explanation for why they went well. It is important to create a physical record of your items by writing them down; it is not enough simply to do this exercise in your head. The items can be relatively small in importance (e.g., “my co-worker made the coffee today”) or relatively large (e.g., “I earned a big promotion”). To make this exercise part of your daily routine, some find that writing before bed is helpful.
Why you should try
In our day-to-day lives, it's easy to get caught up in the things that go wrong and feel like we're living under our own private rain cloud; at the same time, we tend to adapt to the good things and people in our lives, taking them for granted. As a result, we often overlook everyday beauty and goodness - a kind gesture from a stranger, say, or the warmth of our heater on a chilly morning. In the process, we frequently miss opportunities for happiness and connection.
This practice guards against those tendencies. By remembering and listing three positive things that have happened in your day - and considering what caused them - you tune into the sources of goodness in your life. It's a habit that can change the emotional tone of your life, replacing feelings of disappointment or entitlement with those of gratitude - which may be why this practice is associated with significant increases in happiness.
Why it works
By giving you the space to focus on the positive, this practice teaches you to notice, remember, and savor the better things in life. It may prompt you to pay closer attention to positive events down the road and engage in them more fully - both in the moment and later on, when you can reminisce and share these experiences with others. Reflecting on the cause of the event may help attune you to the deeper sources of goodness in your life, fostering a mindset of gratitude.
Source : http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/three-good-things