Monday 1 February 2016

The Happiness Planner


Last year my friend Claire from claireabellemakes posted a review about the Happiness Planner  and as soon as I read it I knew that I needed one in my life. I do have a slight obsession with planners and notebooks but you can never have too many right!? 


The best thing about this planner is that it helps you to focus on the positives in order to bring more happiness into your life. I think we can all fall victim sometimes to forgetting how far we've come and what we've achieved, as well as often not prioritising our own happiness. I used to think that happiness was something that just happened to me and my mood was in the hands of other forces. However, it's often believed that the age old feeling of "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" is ultimately determined by your own thoughts and attitude to life. The older i've got, and the more life experiences i've had, i've come to realise this more than ever. I'm so often aware of how my negative thoughts really impact on my anxiety levels and my productivity. But no one said it was easy to break these bad habits and thought processes and it's something I personally feel as though I am continually having to work at in order to achieve a better state of mental health.     


When it comes to choosing what Happiness Planner is right for you there is a choice of a dated year planner or an undated 100 day planner. Although I loved the look of the yearly planner I found myself more drawn to the idea of a really focused 100 days of happiness in order to give myself the kick start i've needed to sort out some areas of my life. All the planners are beautiful and it does feel like a difficult choice picking what one is right for you but I really couldn't resist the the girly pink and gold theme. The other great thing about the 100 day planner is that you can start it whenever you like which makes it really flexible. It could be the case that you have a holiday coming up or a big event which you want to be feeling your best for, or maybe a time of year that just works better for you. Whatever the case may be I would definitely recommend ordering your planner well ahead of time so that it arrives from the US in plenty of time. 


I wanted to wait until the new year to start my happiness planner as I felt that it would be the perfect tool to help me get focused for a positive year. Unfortunately my planner didn't arrive until mid January so I am starting it a little bit later than i'd hoped for but it actually feels quite good to have the new year out of the way way as I feel as though I am in a much better position right now to prioritise and work on the things i'd like to change. 

I have decided to start my 100 days of happiness today (Monday 1st February) which will take me right up to Tuesday 10th May. I'm already feeling so positive about this time frame as we're off on holiday to Ibiza in June and Summer is usually a time of year when I happen to feel my lowest (probably due to a combination of horrendous hay fever and lacking body positivity). I'm really hopeful and determined to enjoy this Summer which means starting some hard work now.  


When you begin your 100 days of happiness journey the first step is to complete your very own 'Happiness Road Map' which consists of a number of exercises which help you to reflect on yourself and the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled in life. The idea being that you then go on to integrate happy habits into your daily life over the 100 days. The exercises also include some more challenging questions which get you to think about your strengths, weaknesses and the things that you want to improve on. 

I have to say that all of the exercises got me really thinking and enabled me to prioritise in my mind the most important areas which impact on my levels of happiness. I found it quite a therapeutic process on its own just completing this section of the planner and in some ways it almost felt like a weight had been lifted. I really hadn't expected to feel such emotions from seeing in black and white exactly how I am feeling and quite clearly what I need to do.   


Once you have completed these exercises and decided on what you hope to achieve over the next 100 days it's time to get started on your happiness journey!

The main diary section of the planner is split into weekly sections which start by reflecting on and noting down your goals for the week ahead and including some rewards. Each daily page begins with a positive quote to get your day off to a good start. You then have the space to write down your focuses and 'to do's' for the day plus a section at the end for some positive daily reflections. At the end of a week you are encouraged to again reflect on what went well or wrong and how you're feeling. You also have to score different areas such as 'Happy' and 'Healthy' which you log at the back of the diary.

Even though I haven't started the diary yet I can clearly see how this process is going to help me to see how positive actions impact on my overall happiness and how not doing anything will probably make me feel unhappy. I also hope to be able to see an improvement on my scores as the weeks go on. I really can't wait to get started and I feel like this is going to be such a positive exercise and journey for me.    


My plan at the moment is to post an update on how my 100 days of happiness is going at the half way point of 50 days which will be Monday 21st March. I will also be posting my final outcome at the end on Tuesday 10th May which I know i'll be excited to share with you all. Fingers crossed I will see some really positive results! 


Have you ever used a Happiness Planner before? What was the outcome for you? 
I'd love to hear from you if you've used this planner in the past. 
Or if you're thinking about buying one now!? 
Comment below or send me a tweet! 


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5 comments

  1. I've just had mine delivered, hoping to start it over the next few days and can't wait! :-)

    I love that you can get a daily email along side it :-)

    Kirsty Leanne
    http://www.kirstyleanne.com

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  2. I need this in my life! It looks so good!

    www.itsagirlthingblogging.com

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  3. I really hope the planner is a positive addition for you! I love mine xx

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  4. Hey Sarah! We Met the other day at Sophie's house! Your blog is great! Love this happiness planner too! I think I will try it out. 😊

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  5. Hey Sarah! We Met the other day at Sophie's house! Your blog is great! Love this happiness planner too! I think I will try it out. 😊

    ReplyDelete

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