FitWorks Burbank

Being hard on yourself slows down progress because it has you focusing on what’s NOT going well- and whatever you focus on repeatedly, is enhanced. But it can be a hard pattern to break! 🔗

Here are some tips for how to be easier on yourself, and 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧:

📢 Focus on the group, instead of on yourself. Notice the group dynamics and get into conversation with others, make jokes, and appreciate other people’s sense of humor or characteristics. This will help you take the focus away from yourself.

📢 If you tend to be critical of yourself, name your inner-critic! Naming the voice of judgment, criticism, or comparison is an effective way to disidentify from that voice and realize you are not that voice. When you name the inner critic (give it any name!) it allows you to say, “no thank you” and choose to not listen!

📢 Smile! Cheesy? Perhaps, but physically smiling releases hormones that contribute to pain-relief and happiness. You can hold a light smile by simply focusing on the corners of your mouth and turning them upward. Even a small smile can change the way you think and feel.

Did you know there are two types of happiness? 😱

👉 𝐇𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 is when our expectations or preferences for what makes us happy are balanced with our perceptions of life. “When things are good, it means I’m safe” / I’m happy. This kind of happiness is a result of having things set to where you prefer them to be.

👉 𝐄𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 is based on something harder to define- it’s not as easy to understand why it’s felt because it’s a feeling that comes from within, and may be based on simple things like “I am happy because I am breathing.”

Hedonic happiness is based in the nervous system- which is designed to scan for differences in environment from moment-to-moment. This type of happiness is constantly changing as the nervous system regulates itself into new levels of “normal”.

Author of “𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀” Sean Webb makes it clear that because Hedonic Happiness does not last, we can learn to manage our long-term well-being by spending time developing Eudaimonic Happiness through finding our deeper purpose, and changing our “blueprint” for what makes us happy.

Some philosophers throughout history have believed that the ultimate goal in life should be to maximize mental and bodily pleasures (hedonic), while thought-leaders like Plato and Marcus Aurelius, and Maslow’s Hierarchy theory place more value on self-actualization to flourish (eudaimonic).

But most researchers agree that both types of happiness are necessary: Hedonic Happiness helps regulate emotions, lower negative thinking, and reduces stress, and Eudaimonic Happiness leads to greater meaning of life, expands our sense of virtue, and enhances our experience of being alive.

🤔 What’s one way you can increase both types of happiness in your life this week?