Micro Class - What Went Well Today and Why?

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Hey, guys, what's up? Good morning. This is Brian with another exercise called what went well today. What went well today and why? This is from a guy named Martin Seligman, who many of you know as one of the godfathers of the positive psychology movement, which is looking at the scientific underpinnings of how we can live with more happiness and as he puts it these days, how we can flourish. So this is an exercise from his most recent book, Flourish, which we have a philosopher's note on, and I'll do a full episode on that soon. But really cool exercise. And if you remember, several days ago, we talked about gratitude, right? And the guy named Robert Emmons told us that we can get a 25% boost in our happiness by keeping a gratitude journal. Five things we're grateful for. Really powerful. One of the easiest, most simple, elegant, robust ways to boost our happiness. Well, the what went well today exercise, it's kind of like that on Yerba mate. Pick your favorite stimulant. So here's the exercise. Basically for a week, spend 10 minutes. At the end of the day, think about three things that went well and then think about why they went well. So three things that went well during your day, right? Just kind of recap it at night. What went well today and why did it go well? It can be mundane things like, you know, your spouse did the dishes. Why they do that? Because they're a good person and they care about you and they care about keeping the house clean and doing things, you know, you like and stuff like that. Yesterday we had a what went well? We launched our first virtual conference with Mastin Kipp. We did his daily love extravaganza. 25,000 people signed up for that. Went off without a hitch. Really proud of that and excited about that. Why did that go well? Well, our team rocked it. Masten put together a great show and the behind the scenes team within Theos just, they worked hard. You know, we were took so much pride in doing a great job.

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That's the why. Now, when I ask myself these questions, whether it's journaling at night, which I often do, or thinking about it right before I go to bed, which I often do, or talking about it on hikes with Alexandra, which we often do, it basically entrains your brain to look for the things that are going well in your life versus the things that aren't going well. Then you also see all the amazing kind of reasons why they're working and you move from kind of a victim mentality to a creator and you move into a deep sense of gratitude for how these things are working well. And you also identify the things that you're doing that are helping you achieve things that are going well. So it's a really cool exercise. Super simple. What went well today and why? We know scientifically from Seligman and his colleagues. This is one of the key ways to flourish, to focus on those things that are really working in our lives and and then to identify why. So give it a shot. If you're feeling it, take some time. Right now, press pause. Think about three things that went well yesterday or maybe so far in your day to day, from the mundane to the awesome, and think about why. And then get in the habit of thinking about these things often. Use your gratitude. Flex your gratitude muscle and just really appreciate all the things that are working in your life. So there you go. Quick video. What went well today and why guarantee you. And the science proves that if you did this for a week, you'd probably want to do it for a lot longer. And as Seligman says, your depression will go down, your happiness will increase, and your overall sense of well being will be magnified and optimized. So there you go. What went well today? Why have an awesome day. See ya.

Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson.

Me.

Two basic things. One, our free newsletter. It's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And two, our Optimal Living membership program. This is where I put all my best stuff. 10 bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there. Philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes. When you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas from great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my Optimal living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101 Habits 101, et cetera. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.