What does it mean to be totally committed to something? It often means that you recognize a desire for something, set a goal to reach it, and then dedicate yourself to do what it takes to reach that goal.

We commit to a relationship when we get married, we commit to a job or a career, and we may be committed to a hobby. But today I want to focus on committing to cultivating happiness.

In yesterday’s post, I shared how at least part of how happy we are is directly related to a choice we make. I also shared my goal of running this 30 Day Challenge to help us all make a conscious decision to be happier, and to create a new habit of having a more positive outlook.

Get into the habit of happiness

The first step to make that happen is to make a commitment to this 30 day challenge process, and to happiness. This holds true for any new habit you want to engrain in yourself. The first step is always to commit to it. From there, it’s a matter of daily practice until the new behavior or action has become a true habit.

A habit is something you do without any conscious thought or effort. Our journey toward a happier version of ourselves is no different. We have to commit to happiness. Of course it isn’t as easy as saying to yourself that you will be happier from here on out. While that’s certainly helpful, it isn’t quite as simple as that. Before we can truly commit to happiness we have to define what makes us happy.

Getting to your destination…(part 2)

Spend some time today to simply notice and reflect on what makes you happy, and also what doesn’t make you happy. Dig deep. For example, if curling up on the couch with a good book makes you happy, think about why that is. Is it because it gives you a chance to dive into imagination and fun, or escape and forget about your own life for a while? If you’re escaping, try to pin-point what you’re hiding from when you dive into a book, and what you can do about that.

If getting up at 6am to go to work makes you unhappy, and changing to a later schedule isn’t an option, think about the positive things about getting up early. You get to see the sun rise, you get to come home at a decent hour and have time to relax with your family or friends before bedtime. Something as simple as implementing a relaxing bedtime routine and going to bed a little earlier may make it much easier to get up at 6am and improve your whole outlook on workday mornings.

Remember, all you’re doing today is noticing and bringing awareness to your state of happiness. We’ll dig a little deeper into what makes us happy and how we can go about cultivating more happiness in future posts. For now, find your own personal definition of happiness and come up with at least ten (10) different things or people that make you happy. Then commit to using the coming days to work on becoming happier. You won’t regret it.

Fun resource

[From time to time, I’ll point you to something that I think would be useful during this Happiness Habit Challenge. Sometimes it’ll be a book, sometimes it’ll be another website or blog post, sometimes it’s my own offering. If I get any benefit from it (rarely), I’ll let you know.]

If you’re going to commit to just one habit, commit to a morning routine that supports you. How you start your day is the most important resource you have on your journey to Happiness. Check out Eric Barker’s blog post on the subject, and his resources. I love his blog – it’s one of the few that I subscribe to – and I strongly encourage you to sign up for his weekly gems.

To get and give support and encouragement from total strangers (also sometimes called “accountability”), get access to our awesome Happiness Habits 2016 Challenge Facebook group here. It’s a private group, so you can only access it if you’re on the email list.

To get a reminder prompt from me via email to make sure you don’t miss a post, sign up for the 30 Day Happiness Challenge here: