Make a Happy List

So let´s start with a little exercise. Take your phone, a pen, and paper. Make sure you have 5-10 minutes of quiet time in which you can focus on this exercise. Set the alarm clock of your phone to 5 minutes, grab your pen and start writing down ALL the things that make you happy. Small or big. Don´t use your mind, use your heart, your imagination, your sense of joy. Write everything down in a flow until the alarm clock goes off.

Create your Happy Five

When you made the list have a look at it and see if you notice a pattern. Did you write down paragliding, surfing, canoeing? It may indicate you like adventure and active sports. Did you write down some long-distance destinations, tropical beaches or mountain hikes? You may like to travel. Maybe you like to read, walk, do yoga, dance, be creative. See if you can group your list into 5 categories. 5 nice categories that make you happy.

Get Daily Joy into your life with Daily Five

Do you have your Happy Five written down? Great! Now the last trick is to turn your Happy Five into a Daily Five. Think of ways in which you can do five activities a day that make you feel good about yourself. It may be reading, writing, listening to podcasts, delicious food, and going to the park with your dog. Or daily sports, talking to friends, watching a series, put your child to bed, have some quality time with your spouse. It is usually the little things that count. Do you like to make big travels to faraway countries? Perhaps you could read a book about your dream destination, or watch a documentary. Do you like adventure? See how you can break your daily routine by doing things differently.

My Daily Five

A couple of years ago when I was in a messy phase of my life, my dear friend and accountability partner Stefan van Boxtel shared his ideas about the Daily Five with me. I decided to try it out and liked it so much that I incorporated it into my life.

My Daily Five sometimes changes depending on where I am in my life. In general, my Daily Five has everything to do with self-care. At the moment it is daily exercise, healthy food, journaling, inspiration, and learning. Daily exercise can be a walk around the block, yoga at home, stretching, or a session at the local gym. As long as my body is moving. Daily journaling helps me to keep connected to myself. Reflect on how things are going and tune in to things I want to create. Daily learning consists of some courses I am taking at the moment about female leadership, mindfulness, and coaching. It feels good to develop my talents and collect more tools and insights for my coaching practice.

If I take good care of myself I feel good. This helps me to live the life I want to live. What I love about the Daily Five is that it makes you the creator of your day, of your happiness. And we are. We have the power each and every moment to make choices that feel good, support us, and help us create a better life for ourselves.

Make time for your Daily Five

Most people like the idea of the Daily Five but they tell me they don´t have enough time to dedicate themselves to it. It starts with your commitment to yourself. How important is it for you to feel good? And what activities make your life so busy? For example, if you do sport 3 times a week but don´t enjoy it. Can you look for another type of activity that can be part of your Daily Five? You can change running to dancing. An hour car drive from work to home can be time for an inspiring podcast, music, or a (handsfree!) conversation with a friend. One hour of mindless television can be an inspiring documentary or a good book. Setting your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier in the morning leaves time for some journaling and enjoying a healthy breakfast.

As long as you can use your creativity and see things from a different perspective, time is never the issue. All things flow easier when there is joy. Daily Five is a powerful practice to change your life today.