Happiness Journal

This could be a rough year for many painting contractors. With construction slowing and home owners holding on to their money more tightly, leads are likely to slow. Customers will likely be more price conscious than ever. Since "anyone can paint", we might see an increase in competition.

It could become very easy to get stressed out and focus on all of the negatives. This can feed on itself-- often when we focus on the negatives we stop being pro-active and wallow in our misery. Focusing on the negatives can blind us to the many positives in our life.

In late December somebody turned me on to the idea of a Happiness Journal through HBL. The idea is pretty simple-- each day you write down 3 things that made you happy or brought you pleasure. These don't need to be huge events-- it could be as simple as a good meal or hearing your favorite song. The idea is to spend a few minutes reflecting on the positive.

This can have a huge impact psychologically. It gets us to recognize the good things that we have in our life. It reminds us that there are positives. Just a few minutes a day thinking about what makes us happy can make a huge difference, and it can change our perspective on the problems.

Running a business can be difficult at times. And with the economy the way it is, it could get worse. Anything we can do to keep a positive outlook helps. As the owner of a business, it can sometimes seem like the weight of the world is upon our shoulders. Thinking about the positive can help lift some of that weight.

I started doing a Happiness Journal on January 1. I tend to be optimistic and focus on the positive, but I’ve still found it both fun and illuminating. Some days I struggle to select only 3 items—I have many more to choose from. Other days, finding 3 items has been a little more difficult. For example, I came down with a cold on New Year’s Eve, which made the entire weekend a bit of a downer and less active than normal. But just thinking about what I had enjoyed during the day brightened my spirits.

Life is full of ups and downs. We don't hit a home run everyday. But we don't strike out every time at the plate either. Sometimes a series of singles are just are rewarding and meaningful as a grand slam. After all, a grand slam isn't possible without three other runners getting on base.

My wife is also keeping a Happiness Journal, and we intend to share and discuss the items we have listed. This will be a lot of fun in a number of ways. It will be an opportunity for us to share our thoughts and discuss positive events. We will probably learn a few things about one another.

I certainly don’t mean to imply that we should ignore our problems or pretend that everything is fine and dandy. But at the same time, we shouldn’t ignore the good things and pretend that our world is falling apart. A Happiness Journal helps keep the proper perspective, and that may be more important than ever in the coming year.