Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Happiness and 43 Things

I’ve been wondering about the relationship between my 43 Things postings and my happiness project. A post by Gretchen Rubin on the original Happiness Project makes it clearer, I think. She writes about the difference between resolutions and goals. You achieve a goal. You keep a resolution. So 43 Things is a good place for plotting the progress towards goals, while something else would be good for keeping track of resolutions.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

To-do list entries.

In a flash of insight today, I saw why it is important to make goals as well-defined as possible. I had a mixed bag of things on my to-do list. One of them was as simple as “trim membership card” (so it would fit in my wallet) and the other was “do paperwork”. When I went to tick off the things on my list, I noticed that the things I’ve done made me glow with accomplishment, while the “paperwork” made my spirits sag momentarily. I’ve done some paperwork, but have I done enough? Have I forgotten something? A tiny dent appeared in my shining happiness.

So it appears that for my happiness, I should try to make the items on my to-do lists as sharply-defined as possible.