Sounds too good to be true doesnt, an article about how to make yourself happy and feel good? Surely thats the elusive goal were all striving for? Well, its in fact easier to achieve than we may think, and sometimes we can get so caught up trying to be too clever, sophisticated or perfect, we forget the tiny details and moments that bring enjoyment to our lives. Performance Coach and best selling author Anthony Robbins suggests rather succinctly If you dont have a plan for pleasure, you will have pain. In other words, if you dont make space for, and actively bring into your life, the experiences that bring you positive, pleasurable feelings, then youre resigning yourself to inevitable succession of pain. Ouch. Think about your own creative life for a moment. What do you do that makes you feel good? Do you actually know what brings you pleasure and joy? Do you know what makes you happy? Dont be too analytical or think on too large a scale. Start with the little things. What brings a smile to your face, and a glow in your heart? What puts an extra bounce in your step? What makes you laugh out loud? It could be anything from writing a line of prose youre really pleased with, looking at a photo of someone special to you, watching your favourite comedy film, coming up with a new idea for a painting, eating chocolates and drinking wine, simply recalling a fond memory, or a thousand other things. Consider it this way. At any point in our lives, we have an almost unlimited number of positive choices available to us that, at a moments notice, can increase our level of pleasure, and therefore reduce our level of pain. Time to get creative. Take a pen and paper and list right now 15 ways you can instantly feel good. Think about as many different contexts and areas as possible, and from very minor changes up to major activities or choices. Be as imaginative and creative as possible. And dont stop until you have 15 AT LEAST! Revisit this list and add to it as often as you can. Keep all the entries in a single notebook and call it your Joy Journal or Pocket Pleasure Pad or something else thatll make you smile just thinking about it. The key to this technique is to build as huge a list as possible so you have in one easily accessible place a vast resource of ways to make you feel good, before you have the chance to turn to negative or destructive methods. The more you use the list and the more you add to it, the more itll become habit and the more youll naturally increase your level of pleasure and feeling good. The ideas will feed off each other and lead to new ways of feeling happy. Take this idea a step further by having a plan each day for something pleasurable, something thatll make you feel good. Program it in your diary or somewhere youll remember it and stick to the plan each day. You could start with a small simple activity or gesture, enough to spark off those positive feelings, and then build up from there. Its your plan and your life, make it as appealing and enjoyable as possible for you! Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin
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