Not familiar with Happy Changes? Keep reading to get the scoop, otherwise skip down to start playing.
One of the secrets of making changes that stick, is starting so small that you don’t wake up the Chicken Little part of your brain. You’re setting yourself up for success, because even the tiniest of successes are encouraging (and multiply).
Yes I know, there’s also the hard part of starting small.
You want to make a change now dammit!
And that tiny step is still So. Far. Away. from what it is you really want.
I’m asking you to trust me on this.
At a minimum, you’ll get at least that tiny step closer (which you aren’t doing now) and, the much more likely scenario, it’s just the first step to getting what you really want.
And that’s the idea behind Happy Changes. A list of tiny changes you can experiment with over the next week. And beyond.
Choose one of these things, one that feels completely and utterly doable to you, even if you aren’t sure it will make a difference, and play with it this week. Let me know how it goes here, in the comments, on twitter (using the hashtag #happychanges) or Facebook.
Happy Connecting
Connection is one of my words for 2013. It means lots of different things to me, but mostly it’s about connecting with other people. And by connecting, I mean interacting, talking, sharing, seeing and being seen. I want to play a bit more consciously with connecting. Here are some possibilities to play with:
Join me:
- Stamp five notecards or postcards (I bet you already have some around the house, I know I do!) and put them, with a pen, somewhere handy. Write someone you love two or three sentences each morning while you eat breakfast and then drop the note in the mail.
- Whenever a friend or family member comes to mind, send them a quick “thinking of you” text.
- Make eye contact and say please and thank you when you are interacting with anyone in a service profession.
- Play Facebook Friend roulette. Choose a random FB friend and visit their page. Leave a quick note on their Timeline.
- Find and join a local Meetup group for something that interests you.
- Make plans with someone you’ve been meaning to see. Set up a coffee date, walk in the park, even a phone chat. Whatever works for your schedules, just make the time!
- Give lots of waves when driving. Wave people into the lane, give a thank you wave when you merge, stop and wave pedestrian’s (safely!) across the street.
- Use the app Postagram (on your iPhone, Android or from the web) and send a different person a picture postcard each day. You’ll get free cards just for signing up, after that, they’re just $.99.
- Make a list of six people you’ve been meaning to connect with, and each day choose one, and connect in some way. You could call, text, email, visit or everyone’s favorite, tangible post.
- Share other ideas you have for happy connecting!
As always, choose some small way to play every day for a week or two. Remember, no expectations, other than to be curious and have fun with it!
I’d love to hear how it goes, either here in the comments, on twitter (using the hashtag #happychanges) or on the Perception Studios Facebook page.
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Check out all the past Happy Changes.
Photo credit: I sent this Postagram postcard to my aunt in Fresno.
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