Tal Ben Shahar, Harvard positive psychology lecturer and author, has been kind enough to send through his five-a-day:
- Time with people I love – usually with family members.
- Doing something that is meaningful and pleasurable to me professionally (usually writing).
- Quiet listening to favorite music.
- Physical exercise for 30-60 minutes (running/yoga/etc).
- Gratitudes before going to bed.
Gratitude is an interesting one – it’s like the old cliche of ‘count your blessings’, but I’m interested in how specific he is here. Gratitudes for the day passed, just before bedtime, sounds like a recipe for a more enriching and happy sleep to me. Might have to give that one a try…
So thanks very much to him, and thanks also to banana-eating happiness dude Very Happy Phil for telling him about the project.