3 things a day

There are many methods and little tricks to help you to improve yourself and your experience of life. One of the basic things that we know and might use to our advantage, is that our experience of life is highly determined by our perception of it – not the factual truth of reality. We have a mood filter through which we observe the world and ourselves.
We can use this.

My favourite and extremely simple way to improve your life are the 3 things:
At the end of every day, you name three things that you liked that day.
These can be huge things. Milestones that you (or someone you care about) have reached after much effort. They can also be what we erroneously call ‘small things’ like the way the sunlight hit you on the nose when you stepped out the door. Or the crunch of the sandwich you had for lunch. Or an (online) encounter that made you smile. A hug on the couch.

Some days it may seem like there has not been anything enjoyable at all. Hang in there and mentally walk through your day. Stop looking for these Huge Moments of Success that we are trained to recognise but look for an instance where you felt happy, joyous or content for just a second. The cause of such feelings is not limited to just yourself; most of our joy comes from others.
Usually when you’ve found one tiny moment of joy in your day, you will rapidly find others.

Catch yourself when going negative. We tend to add a but to our niceness and allow more headspace for all that has gone wrong, still has to be done or is yet uncertain. These things might be true and of some value but there is a time and place for everything and here we make time and space for 3 nice things and nothing else.

If you have a partner, perhaps make your 3 things a shared ritual around the end of the day. When you get into bed together, while hanging out in the evening or at the last walk of the dog. Some fixed time at the end of every day. Whilst adding to your own perception of your life experience, this will also add positive affect to your relationship and allow both of you insight into what it is your partner really appreciates.

You could also share your 3 things with a friend or family member. Keep the interaction easy and short to ensure daily repetition. Maybe you can make it a bedside goodnight ritual or you could text each other.

Or simply write your 3 things down for yourself. This could be in your diary, on your online blog or on Post-Its. You may want to keep them to look them up later or to be able to share them. Fine and totally up to you but not necessary.
The point is to prime yourself with the positive experiences you have on a daily basis.