7 Months + 7 Ways to Cultivate Happiness
On the long drive from New Orleans to Nashville after the holidays, I started thinking about all of the shifts and changes I had manifested in my life in 2017, both internally and externally. The one that stood out the most to me was my ability to truly shift my mindset to one of doom and gloom to one of happiness, strictly through tuning in, listening to my body and making some very real CHANGES. It wasn't easy, and I'm not claiming severe depression can be cured through lifestyle alone. But I am here to testify that you can change your perspective, your diet, your lifestyle, your everyday actions, and you can even change your feelings. They are temporary. Fleeting at best.
So, without further ado, I deemed 2018 the year of Cultivating Happiness! I know happiness isn't a static frame of mind. It requires effort, day in and day out, to see the glass as not only half full, but able to be filled up by YOU! I also know that it takes 21 days to create a habit, so I thought we'd tackle this big, overarching goal of cultivating happiness with 12 bite-sized goals. Here we go. This is going to get good, ya'll. Six months. Six 21-day challenges. It adds up to one very happy start to 2018.
You can find the seven-month breakdown of our cultivating happiness challenges below.
Please join me on this journey. Share your moments of cultivating happiness through our 21-day challenges by tagging me on Instagram @TiffanyNapper. I'm rooting for you. I'm here for you. I'm leaning on you, too. Now go slay today. I love you.
January - 21 Days of Movement
February - 21 Days of Connection
March - 21 Days of Gratitude
April - 21 Days of Decluttering
May - 21 Days of Thank Yous
June - 21 Days of Fake Vacay
July - 21 Days of Happy Journaling
MONTH 1: January is our Month of Movement! Any kind of movement counts. Dance in your living room. Get sweaty in a 60 hour bootcamp class. Take a vinyasa yoga class or a 20 minute walk in the neighborhood. Whatever you do, show up for yourself for 21 days and commit to moving your body. This is only the beginning. You got this.
MONTH 2: February is our Month of Connecting with one another. Follow me on Instagram for Daily Connection Tips on my stories. It's time we look up from our laptops and phones and remember how happy it makes us to connect with one another.
MONTH 3: March is all about Gratitude. Repeat after me, and see how much lighter you feel after recognizing the abundance in our lives. Each day practice saying out loud what you are grateful for: the small things and the big things. The sun shining, electricity, your lover, your best friend, your career, your cat. Write it in your journal. Share it on Instagram or Facebook. Focus on it for 30 days and watch gratitude become a way of life.
MONTH 4: April is spring cleaning on another level. Clutter is smothering. Clear the clutter in your closets, bathroom drawers and in your mind. Rather than getting overwhelmed, try focusing on one area to clean each day for 30 days. Start with your spice rack/drawer. Then your sock drawer. Even tackle your inbox by unsubscribing to all of the emails you delete daily. Free up space in your life for what brings you joy.
MONTH 5: May is all about giving true thanks - in person - as much as we can. Say thank you to each person you come across who brings a little joy into your life, and even to those who don’t. Find a way to give thanks.
MONTH 6: June is our month of pretending like we are on vacation. When you are on vacation, do you notice that you are kinder to yourself and to others? Let's cultivate that mindset year round. Go for an impromptu bike ride to a new coffee shop. Seek adventure in your daily life.
BONUS MONTH 7: July is the month of the happy journal. Write down 3 things that are making you happy, every day for 5 minutes. Studies show it will increase your happiness by 25 percent!
Here’s wishing you more joy than you ever imagined, here’s wishing you are beaming from the inside out.
xo
Tiffany