Pursuing Happiness
“Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
Hola from Spain! It´s hard to believe I have less than a month before I head back to Chicago. If there´s anything I have learned while traveling this summer--its to enjoy every day and find the little moments of happiness (and cherish them). This summer has been extremely fun, yet challenging and I am very glad I have had this opportunity.
Before I went to college I received a book called, “My Happiness Project,” by Gretchen Rubin. I just started reading it over this summer and it has inspired me to experiment with pursuing my own happiness.
While I'm still at the beginning of the book and my goals are not set in stone, here are a few things I have started this summer to expand my knowledge, lead a healthy lifestyle, and maximize my own happiness.
Knowledge
There's a famous saying that goes something like, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” While I have been learning a lot this summer with 10 credit hours- this experiences abroad has made me interested in learning more about myself and growing as an individual. Here are a few things that I have done to start the process.
#1 Podcasts
I never really understood podcasts, I always had it as the app on my iphone but never really explored it. I guess my first experience was when I used to watch the Shaytards on Youtube a few years ago. There a mormon family from Logan, Idaho, who uploaded daily videos of their life online and created a community called the Shaytards. The parents also had a separate account called “When the Kids go to Sleep”, where they would post podcasts weekly about their lives and how they have changed as a result of over 5 years of daily videos.
Now that I have a two hour commute to work every day I figured it´d be a good way to squeeze in some extra learning. Some podcasts that I have been listening to recently are:
#2 360 exam
In order to prepare for the upcoming recruiting season and to update my linkedin profile I sent out an online brand assessment to my friends and family from reachcc.com. It´s free for the first 15 days and it helps you identify your brand attributes, brand skills, brand persona, leadership competencies, and how you function in a group. I´ll be posting a full report in a when I get all of my feedback but here are some of my current results:
Top Brand Attributes
- Creative (6)
- Cheerful (4)
- Driven (4)
- Loyal (4)
- Physically fit (4)
- Quirky (4)
- Self-motivated (4)
Top 5 Brand Skills
- Inspiring others (6)
- Growing Professionally (4)
- Managing time (4)
- Brainstorming (3)
- Communication (listening, speaking) (3)
- Counseling (3)
- Relating to others/building relationships (3)
#3 Myers Brigg
Carl Jung, a famous psychologist, created a personality tests that sorts individuals into to 16 personality types based on how they take in information and how they make decisions. I have taken this test several times to learn more about myself and people like me and I always get the same type: INFJ. As the rarest personality type in the world (1-3% of the population) I figured it would be beneficial to learn more about myself and how I do my best work. I´ll be writing a blog post about this as well, but basically an INFJ´s main functions are:
Introverted Intuition (Ni)
Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
Introverted Thinking (Ti)
Extraverted Sensing( Es)
Healthy Lifestyle
About halfway through high school I started my fitness and healthy living journey. It started out with Bodyrock.com workouts, daily yoga junior and senior year, and slowly changing my eating habits. It has been a long journey but I have learned a lot over these past 4-5 years. here are some recent activities I have started:
#1 Kayla Itsines BBG 2.0
I first learned about Kayla Itsines´ BBG Program through Instagram. She's A fitness guru who has created a business and community to inspire young women to stay active. She has 2 workout guides that are twelve weeks long each and they combine interval training with LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) and I believe it's the most effective way to stay fit on a tight schedule. I finished the first round about a month ago and I´m on the 2nd week of her second guide.
#2 Meditation/Yoga
Like I said earlier I started practicing yoga in high school. First period of junior and senior year I had daily yoga class with Mr. Patton. He was one of my favorite teachers and some of the lessons I learned during 50 minutes of daily yoga far extend beyond my 12 years of compulsory education. While these daily practices are not a part of my life currently I still find ways to practice it. Whether it's through good posture, deep breathing, or patience I try to incorporate yoga somehow.
Since I have been in Spain, I have been taking a weekly yoga class at the local gym. For some reason, it slipped my mind that the whole class would be taught in spanish, so that has been an adjustment for me. However, I have been enjoying it and welcoming it as a new learning experience.
I have also started incorporating meditation back into my life, whether it is a quick 5 minute session in the morning before work, or a guided deep meditation. My favorite right now was recommended to me by my talented friend, Blythe Baird, and can be found here.
Maximizing Happiness
This trip has been an extremely life changing, introspective experience. It has certainly expanded my comfort zone, both physically and emotionally.Thus, it has inspired me to do a few things.
#1 One Hundred Happy Days
I started seeing #100happydays pop up on instagram about a year ago, and while i found it to be initally annoying, I figured it would be a great way for me to notice the simple things in life, even when I am having a bad day. To keep track of my #100happydays, check out my instagram @sarapchamberlin.
I have also challenged myself to write everyday. It could be in my journal, on my blog, in my phone. I believe that by writing things down I can learn more quickly and it will be a great reference down the road.
