This week’s Mental Sunshine is more about playing the long game with your happiness –
It’s about eating the metaphorical spinach.
Arthur C Brooks is a happiness researcher.
He talks about how every now and then, with the advice he gives for happiness, he drops in some spinach…
These are the things you know are good for you,
But they don’t feel great when you do them.
The things it can be hard to do, hard to swallow.
Like feeding spinach to a toddler.
Perhaps it even makes you cringe to think about doing these things.
I’m talking about things like taking responsibility for everything in your life
Even if that means admitting to yourself that you may have been the cause of many of your problems.
Being prepared to change your mind on something, even if your identity has been based around that thing.
Being humble.
Listening more than you talk.
Taking negative feedback on board, rather than automatically becoming defensive.
Genuinely listening when someone disagrees with you.
These are all things that may not feel great when you’re doing them.
In fact, they may not bring any Mental Sunshine into your life immediately after doing them.
But over the long term, if you remember to eat your spinach, your Mental Sunshine will be as strong as Popeye!
