FULFILLMENTDAILY

40 Simple & Effective Tips To Find Joy Every Day

The Challenge: We get so busy we forget how to access joy.
The Science: Research shows there are countless ways to make a difference in our days!
The Solution: Here are 40 simple tips to help bring the bounce back in your step.

Joy is what makes life beautiful. It’s what gets us through challenges and allows light to illuminate the shadows. Joy heals our wounds, inspires us to greatness, and fills our souls with goodness. Here are 40 simple ways I’ve come up with for accessing joy on a daily basis!

  1. Play with kids.
  2. Play like a kid.
  3. Learn something new (play a new sport or game, learn how to cook a new dish).
  4. Get out in nature.
  5. Count your blessings.
  6. Spend time with your pet.
  7. Travel.
  8. Connect authentically with friends and family, sharing your vulnerabilities.
  9. Dress up in costume for no reason.
  10. Lose yourself in a great book.
  11. Laugh and smile, no matter how you’re feeling.
  12. Sing out loud.
  13. Dance. If you can’t dance, just skip.
  14. Pay a compliment to a total stranger.
  15. Listen to uplifting music.
  16. Serve others. Volunteer.
  17. Exercise.
  18. Set a goal, then reach it (run that marathon, pass that test, lose those five pounds).
  19. Get messy (go barefoot, play in the mud).
  20. Prepare and slowly eat a healthy meal.
  21. Offer to teach someone a new skill.
  22. Write a thank you letter or Facebook post to someone for no particular reason other than just to say, “I appreciate you.”
  23. Memorize a poem.
  24. Turn your errands into an adventure (by making a game out of finding certain items at the store or spotting yellow cars while driving there).
  25. Take a nap.
  26. Nurture romance (spend time just kissing your partner, buy a surprise gift, write a love letter).
  27. Ask someone for help (and express appreciation for their guidance).
  28. Watch a favorite old movie for the hundredth time.
  29. Discover a new smell (in the form of a candle, flower, or massage oil).
  30. Help someone in a small way (by carrying their groceries or paying their toll on the highway).
  31. Snuggle.
  32. Get rid of stuff. (Take it to a homeless shelter. Lighten your load and make someone else’s life better at the same time.)
  33. Watch a sunrise or sunset.
  34. Make a commitment to change a bad habit, then do it.
  35. Create something.
  36. Eat a cupcake.
  37. Spend an evening by candlelight.
  38. Meditate and enjoy the silence.
  39. Take a walk in the rain.
  40. Surrender (give it up to God).
MeiMei Fox
MeiMei Fox is the published author, co-author, ghostwriter and freelance editor of numerous non-fiction health, wellness, spirituality and psychology books, magazine articles and blogs, including New York Times bestsellers Bend, Not Break and Fortytude. She has edited a book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and was Expedition Writer for Alexandra Cousteau's 2009 Expedition: Blue Planet. Currently, she is penning a YA sci-fi/fantasy trilogy with her husband Kiran Ramchandran. In addition to writing, MeiMei works as a life coach, assisting her clients in realizing their most ambitious dreams. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors and distinction from Stanford University with a BA and MA in psychology. She also holds an MA in counseling psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and is a certified yoga instructor. She sits on the board of HOPE Foundation, an NGO dedicated to helping street kids in Calcutta, India. Her mantra is: Fear Less, Love More!
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