Exercise Your Happiness Muscle

Why is it that some people seem happier than others? Are they born happy, or have they made a practice of it? Evidence from the emerging science of happiness tells us that although genetics account for 50% of our happiness quotient, 40% comes as a result of our personal choices (with life circumstances accounting for the other 10%.). 

The best choices can be difficult to make, though, when we are barraged by all the stressors in our day to day lives- stressors that can make it all too easy for our mind to start distorting our reality if we don’t take command of our thoughts.

How to take command of troubling thoughts? Exercise your happiness muscle in the Gymnasium of the Mind.

In this episode of the Women Living well After 50 Podcast, my guest is Dr Dravon James Founder and Director of Everyday Peace. and author of Freedom is Your Birthright. We are discussing how to exercise a different type of muscle – Your Happiness Muscle.

During the interview we discussed:

• Happiness is an inside job, and sustainable correction happens through love.
• Committing to an intentional, daily exercise routine will allow you to navigate back to center, to your place of peace, every day- no matter what happens.
• How to Flex your Happiness Muscle:
  • Stay in the present moment.
  • Feed your mind purposefully: mind the company you keep, the books you read, the movies you watch, and the social media you scroll.
  • There is always something to be grateful for. Look for it.
    • Take 5 minutes each morning to write a gratitude card- list 3 things from the day before that you are grateful for and 3 things you will be intentional about today. Keep the card in your purse or pocket and refer to it during the day.
    • Keep a smile journal: The universe is always conspiring for us to be happy, but we tend to miss the signs. Invite it down by writing it down. Record all the times you catch yourself smiling in a day. You’ll be surprised at how often you do.
  • Shine the light of awareness on any negative thoughts that sneak in. Refuse to let your troubling thoughts hide in the crevices of your mind before they settle subtly in your psyche and your body. Draw them out by speaking them out loud (in the privacy of your car or wherever you are comfortable). Look at them, evaluate them, but don’t condemn yourself.
  • Energies rest in our bodies. Move your body every day to release the negative and celebrate the positive.

Listen to the Podcast

Watch the Video

Meet Dravon James

Transformation specialist . Dr Dravon James is the Founder and Director of Everyday Peace. She is the author of Freedom is Your Birthright, host of Dr. Dravon James Everyday Peace on MindBodySpirit.fm, coach on the SiriusXM Road Dog Trucking Show, and an actress whose career credits include a recurring role on HBO’s acclaimed The Wire. 

A leader in the healthcare industry for more than three decades, she is the recipient of the Secretary McDonough Coin of Recognition for her leadership efforts to combat the COVID pandemic. As the founder of the Next Step Leadership Academy, Dr. Dravon uses this training and experience to lead women to their next level of greatness in life and business using the power of Everyday Peace.

Dr Dravon’s journey began in poverty on the South Side of Chicago. Though she had always dreamt of a career on the stage, Dravon went on to earn a doctorate in pharmacy from Creighton University and has worked as a pharmacist all her adult life.

Along with her medical career and theatrical aspirations, Dr. Dravon has also always had a keen interest in personal development. After reading Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking in college, she went on to make a lifelong study of the power we all have to create the life we want.

http://www.drdravonjames.com/ 

Sample media: WFLA-TV Tampa  | The Daily Flash