Pete Alexander2x TEDx Speaker and best-selling author helping transform burned out workers into engaged colleagues.

Stress Relief Tool - Create Your Joy List

9 Jun 2019 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:32

In this short motivational monologue, the speaker addresses viewers who are experiencing a particularly bad day and offers a simple, actionable stress‑relief technique: create a personal "joy list." The joy list is defined as a brief collection of things that reliably make the individual happy or at least bring a smile. The speaker emphasizes that the list can include any activity or object—ranging from watching movies with a spouse, attending San Jose Sharks games with children, hiking, to even a humorous whoopee cushion—so long as it works for the creator. To make the list readily accessible during stressful moments, the speaker advises photographing the list and storing it on a phone, allowing quick reference that can realign mood and aid stress‑relief efforts.

Chapters

If you've had one of those days, those days that seem like everything goes wrong and nothing goes right, you know what I'm talking about, those days that you just can't wait for them to end. If you've had one of those days, I have a tip for you. Create a joy list. It's a simple list of things that make you happy, or at a bare minimum, make you smile. There's no right or wrong to this list, it just has to work for you. For example, my list would include watching movies with my wife, going to San Jose Sharks games with my kids—yes, even in the playoffs when they always lose. It might be hiking, or it might be a whoopee cushion. Yes, I have a sense of humor, and I absolutely think that both the standard whoopee cushion, the rubber one that goes under the pillows or seats, as well as the remote-controlled ones you keep in your pocket, are hysterical. So whatever it is for you, just find that list, create it, and then take a picture of it on your phone so that you have it handy anytime you're having one of those days. Because when you refer to your joy list, It'll bring you back into alignment and also help you with your stress relief efforts.