HAPPINESS IN A BOX

This month has truly flown by! I can’t believe we’re already at the end of our Attitude Audit. I loved hearing your positive habits from last week’s post. Thank you all for sharing.

Be present. It’s something I hear all the time, whether at yoga while focusing on breathing or researching thoughts on happiness and productivity. It’s so easy to be distracted these days. Just think about all the technology we use and the business of everyday life. But I think it’s so useful to think about how being present can benefit our lives.

I’ve been so excited to start this month’s Attitude Audit. I truly believe that your attitude and outlook on life can have a huge impact on your happiness. If you think positively, of course you’re going to feel more positive. It’s so logical – and yet can be so much harder to put into practice!

Our Collaborative Happiness Project focus for this month is titled, Attitude Audit. Have fun this month, assess your outlook on life and be open to changing it for the better. This inspiring desktop wallpaper is here to help you on your happiness journey.

I love that saying, ‘we are what we repeatedly do.’ It’s such a fine balance. You need a little bit of everything.

This week the focus is on planning to be happy. This is a topic I’m so excited for, because I’m all about planning and organising.

Last week we discussed the importance of accepting responsibility for your happiness and forgetting blame. I think something important to remember is that while you should absolutely hold yourself accountable and stand up to your happiness, you also need to know when to let things go.

Authenticity is a word I read and hear about often when delving into the topic of happiness. I think it’s an important one. The idea of authenticity influencing your happiness makes sense to me because if you act in line with your values and follow a path that is true to yourself then it seems natural that you would feel happier and stronger.

We’ve pledged this year to do more of what makes us happy, and to share that happiness with the world. As part of our Collaborative Happiness Project, we’ve collaborated with Gretchen Rubin and designed a limited edition cover for her wonderfully inspiring book, The Happiness Project.

Now, she answers a few questions about her own happiness journey and what the future might hold…

It can be easy to overlook the fact that we often have control over our happiness and our experience in life. That’s why this month’s important focus is about taking control - acknowledging that you have the power to take control of your happiness and your life.

The second focus on our Collaborative Happiness Project is to Take Control. Embrace the power of holding yourself accountable and make the decision this month to do more of what makes you happy, starting with this beautiful Desktop Wallpaper.

In case you missed the live chat with Kristina, we've captured the conversation here so you can look back over the discussion whenever you like. You can also keep up to date with the Collaborative Happiness Project on our blog here.

Expressing your gratitude can have a wonderful impact on your happiness.

The greatest thing about it is that you’re finding happiness through making others happy.

Inside this beautiful box are the tools to help you commit to your happiness. This year we’re pledging to do more of what makes us happy, and we’d like you to take that pledge with us. This inspiring kit is the perfect way to get started.

Hej (Swedish for Hello), Please find here our Conditions of Entry for 2013 Happiness Pledge Competition.

I’ve put together a collection of my favourite happiness quotes, including our own illustrations and designs from kikki.K, with others I’ve found along the way.

I believe an important part of gratitude, and of happiness, is recognising your own achievements. It can be easy to get caught up in the busy routine of the everyday, juggling all the wonderful and unique components that make up your life.

We spoke last week about the importance of taking notice of, and expressing gratitude towards, the small and big things in your life. I believe it’s also important to acknowledge the things in your life that you’ve made happen.

The Food and Exercise Journal is designed to assist you in the process of keeping fit and eating healthy, ultimately allowing you a greater sense of wellbeing and a happier state of mind.

At kikki.K we simply want to play a part in helping to spread happiness and joy, however small our impact may be, and inspire people to be happy more often. For this reason, I’m delighted to collaborate with Gretchen in presenting a limited edition copy of The Happiness Project.

Here’s an interesting fact; happy people live longer, feel better, function better and are more productive. So, with this in mind, who wouldn’t want to learn about happiness?

My one New Year’s Resolution this year is to commit to The Collaborative Happiness Project. I’ve taken a pledge to do more of what makes me happy by using the Happiness Journal alongside Gretchen Rubin’s brilliant book, The Happiness Project.

Join me for The Collaborative Happiness Project.

Now’s the time to stop and reflect on the year gone by and consider the year ahead. Put pen to paper and list what you plan to achieve, so that you can live the life you want to live.

Dreaming is the first step to achieving. It's time to dream big or dream small, just dream away. Be inspired to put pen to paper and record your dreams with this month's Desktop Wallpaper. Then join in the discussion as part of The Collaborative Happiness Project and start turning those dreams into reality.

How did everyone go writing down their dreams? I loved hearing each of you share. Bec, you have such a wonderful attitude and are already on your way to achieving your dream of selling your art. I think dreams can be scary sometimes, but sometimes it’s the scariest ones we want the most.

Dreaming is something I passionately believe in – it’s why we created the 101 Dreams Journal, which is still one of my absolute absolute favourite products. I think something very powerful can happen when you put pen to paper and write down your dreams. They become real. You start trying to make it happen, even subconsciously. Just thinking about it gets me excited!

One of my favourite quotes is ‘Live What You Love.’ I think if you aim to do this, you’re on your way to living a meaningful life. With passion comes a feeling of purpose, so if you know what you’re passionate about and involve yourself in those matters, I believe this can mean living with a sense of purpose.

This week is the final week to focus solely on Dreams. I’ve absolutely loved this topic. Thinking about my dreams and passions always inspires me and brings me happiness.

Download this inspiring desktop wallpaper with a calendar for the month of May to help you along your journey. There's even one for your phone.

After an amazing month looking at our dreams and passions, now we’re moving on to something a little more tangible – our physical environment! The spaces we spend our time in – at home, work and in our neighbourhood and community, can have a big impact on our everyday happiness.

My home is a place that I absolutely love. Not only does it contain lots of memories, but it’s a space that brings me happiness because it reflects my personal style and is open and organised (most of the time!).

Having a bright, clean and inspiring workspace is something I find so important. It just makes sense to me that if the space you work in is organised, light and full of inspiring images or objects, then the work you do there will reflect this.

This is the last week of focusing on our physical environment so I thought it would be wonderful to brainstorm simple, quick wins we can take with us into the future.