Dmitry Golubnichy - Can You Be Happy for 100 Days in a Row?: The #100 HappyDays Challenge

Artisan | New York

To everyone who has taken on the #100HappyDays challenge and to those who are about to do so

Contents

Introduction

Hi. Im Dmitry, the creator of the #100HappyDays challenge.

When I started the challenge, I already had everything that was supposed to make me happy: a dream job in the education sector with a good salary, passport stamps from more than fifty countries, an attic apartment in the heart of Zurich, a lovely girlfriend by my side. I was living the life. But even with all those boxes checked off, I still didnt feel satisfied. I felt like I needed to chase more, new, better...

So I took a trip back home to Riga, Latvia, where most of my childhood friends had settled. And I noticed something: They were very content working the same jobs theyd had since high school, living in their small apartments, marrying their childhood sweethearts, going for weekly beers with buddies. They didnt care about finding the fanciest club or the most beautiful seashore. Rather than flying off to Polynesia or the Amalfi Coast, they were happily honeymooning in a small town fifty kilometers (thirty miles) from Riga where there istrust me on thisliterally nothing to do. Me? I was miserable about the lack of really great snow in the Swiss Alps during that skiing season.

Clearly, my unhappiness was coming from within. I needed a new perspective. Just as I had set about achieving ambitious career goals, I decided that discovering what makes me happy would be my priority for the next hundred days. And to hold myself accountable, I promised to post a photo of my findings daily on social media with the hashtag #100HappyDays.

Around day 12, people began asking what I was up to. Our exchanges often went like this: What are you doing? Appreciating what makes me happy. Can I join? Of course! What are the rules? Just find what makes you happy, post about it, and repeat for 100 days!

Soon friends of friends wanted to do their own happiness challenge and asked me to create a website to answer their questions. On December 30, 2014, 100HappyDays.com went live, and that same day, three thousand people registered. I realized this was bigger than my own happiness quest.

But what did I learn about what makes me happy?

Happiness is an active choice.

Happiness lies in small things.

Happiness is most real when its shared with others.

To achieve happiness, it helps to appreciate and accept uncertainty.

Before long, I grew less concerned with my own mental state and more interested in helping others discover their personal happi-ness. And it turns out that I am happier when I am empowering others to focus on joy!

To date, more than 8 million people worldwide have taken on the #100HappyDays challenge, celebrating over 25 million happy moments. Participants are randomly selected to rate their happiness levels on days 1, 25, 50, 75, and 100. By the end of the challenge, people report being an average of 19 percent happier than when they started it! Participants say the challenge helps them notice what makes them happy. It improves their mood and makes them appreciate their life. They become more optimistic, they receive more compliments, and they realize how fortunate they arethey even fall in love!

As for me, I now work full-time with the 100 Happy Days Foundation to inspire people to choose a happier existence. And I wrote this book to help you do just that.

How to Use This Book

So how do you do your own #100HappyDays challenge? Find something that makes you happy every day for a hundred days. Its as simple as that.

Many people start and stop the challenge, citing not enough time as the reason. This book is meant to help you make it through by supplying ideas and inspiration. On the following pages, you will find a hundred happiness-inducing suggestions inspired by doing the challenge myself, watching others, and reading and thinking about happiness full-time.

Please remember, though, that this is your happiness journey, and you should customize it as you wish. If riding your bike really fast ( row, that counts too. You can choose to open to a random spot every day or proceed page by page.

Throughout the book, youll also find Science of Happiness essays that go deeper into the research-based findings on what tends to make us happy, so that you can better understand why self-care, physical activity, and connecting to nature, for example, are essential to achieving lasting happiness.

It helps to create support for your happiness challenge. Pick your favorite social network and share photos of your happiness journey there using the hashtag #100HappyDaysBook, or you can simply send your pictures to MyHappyDay@100HappyDays.com to do it privately.

The most important thing to remember is that this is for you and no one elseyou dont have to compete with anyone elses happiness levels, and it wont make you happier to cheat. Discovering what makes you happy is its own success!

And now youre ready to become an expert on your own happi-ness. Off you go!

Day 1

Wander a nearby gallery or museum in search of a piece that sets your heart aflutter. A Matisse might do the trick, but so too could an obscure impressionistic work or a postmodern statement (one of my favorite paintings is Yellow-Red-Blue by Wassily Kandinsky). Dont worry about appreciating the movement of the brushstrokes or an interesting composition. Just relish the joy of the discovery process and give yourself the space to admire something that speaks to your soul.

Go the Extra Mile

Bring a friend along. Once youve each spent time admiring a piece, take turns sharing your perspective. It will deepen your enjoyment of the day, and your friendship.

Day 2

In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.

John Muir

A Stanford study found that walking in nature for ninety minutes can ward off negative thoughts and reduce a persons risk of developing mental illness. Thats because natural environments have a restorative and relaxing effect on the brain. Plus, trekking in the daytime gets you out in the sunshine, which stimulates the brain chemicals that improve mood. Enough talk. Go take a hike!

Day 3

Day 4

Kindness is contagiousit creates a better environment for everyone. And it has some self-serving benefits as well, especially in the workplace: Your most thoughtful colleagues are not only more committed and less likely to quit their jobs, they are also the happiest. A University of Wisconsin study found that office altruists got an immediate psychological reward from helping others and were also more satisfied with their life thirty years later. So do yourself a favor and surprise an associate with a latte today.

Keep It Going

Visit 100HappyDays.org/KindnessNinja.me (a project from the 100 Happy Days Foundation) for the worlds biggest kindness scavenger hunt.