257. How to Feel Happier Today (Without Changing Your Circumstances)
You keep thinking happiness is waiting for you somewhere else.
On the next holiday. The next girls' night. The next massage. The next time life finally slows down.
Then the trip ends, you come home, and within a few days you're carrying the same mental load you were hoping to escape.
This guided journaling session is an invitation to look beyond the circumstances you've attached happiness to and discover what actually creates that feeling for you.
Journal prompts:
- What does happiness look like for you on the outside? Think about the things you've associated with happiness like travel, freedom, a quiet house, more time, or anything else that comes to mind.
- When you've genuinely felt happy, what did it actually feel like on the inside? Notice what was happening in your mind, your body, your heart, and your nervous system.
- When was the last time you felt those feelings? What was actually happening? Were you on holiday, or was it a simple moment you almost overlooked?
- Knowing what you've discovered, what is happiness for you underneath the circumstances? How would you define happiness beyond the places you go, the things you buy, or the experiences you have?
- How can you create more of that feeling this week? Think about one or two simple ways you can intentionally create those emotions without waiting for the perfect moment.
Sometimes, happiness is found in slowing down long enough to notice what's already here. It's found in being present while making dinner, laughing with your kids, taking a walk without your phone, or giving yourself permission to enjoy an ordinary Tuesday.
Work with me:
- The Leaders Table: https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table
- Breakthrough Intensive: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough
- Exhale Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me
Transcript
Hello, hello. Welcome back to Beyond Awareness. On Tuesday's episode, episode number 256, we talked about why traveling won't actually be the thing that makes you happier. And we talked about the actual thing that is causing a fulfillment leak and how to actually become happier. And today I'm giving you strategic prompts to find happiness today or this week and
how to actually feel that in your bones without ever booking a retreat or a trip or even going to a fancy dinner out or a big girls' night or anything like that. Because once you know how to find happiness within, you can feel it at any point in time. You don't have to wait and put so much expectations on something like a night out or even more expensive like a trip or retreat or anything like that.
So grab your journal and a pen or open up Google Docs or the Notes app on your phone, or if you're driving or hands are sudsy from listening to what to this while doing dishes, then you can just think through these prompts. These prompts will also be in the show notes. So feel free to save this episode and come back to it at any point in time. All right, let's dig in.
Prompt number one. What does happiness look like for you on the outside?
And this is where you can think of things like travel, maybe freedom, maybe a quiet house. What comes up for you when you think of happiness from the outside, externally?
Prompt number two, when you have actually felt happiness, and you can think back to that trip if you want, or to the quiet house, whatever it was for you, what does it actually feel like on the inside? In your brain, in your heart, in your belly, in your body, what does it feel like?
Prompt three. When did you last feel those feelings, those sensations? And what was actually happening? Were you on that trip? Were you actually hanging out with your kids at the playground? Were you eating an ice cream that was impromptu on your drive home from school? What was happening when you last felt those emotions and or sensations?
Prompt four. So knowing all of this, what is happiness for you underneath the circumstances? This is where you get to redefine or add to your list of what creates happiness beyond the bigger things like travel.
And finally, prompt five, how can you create that feeling this week?
And if it helps, go back to the prompt that talks about the feeling. So for you, if you felt calm or if you felt a sensation of excitement fluttering in your heart, whatever it is, how can you create that this week? Maybe it is an impromptu ice cream trip or going to a playground or ditching the kids and your partner and booking a massage for yourself.
Maybe it is asking the girls to go to happy hour. And I think the difference here, if it is something bigger that excites you and gives you the same emotions and sensations that you're looking for, is the expectations that you're putting on it. You're not putting the expectations that this is the thing, the only thing that is going to solve and get rid of all of your mental load and all of the weight that you might be carrying.
It is actually the expectation that it fills you up. And when we focus on things filling you up, that's when you become more whole. And that's when the rest of your life and the rest of the people in your life start to feel that energy from you and start to feel the happiness that is coming out of you. And looking, thinking of like rays of sunshine. That's what you will feel and they will feel from you. So how can you create that feeling this week? What are some actionable things?
Amazing job. I'm so proud of you for really going there with me this week and looking at happiness from a different perspective and knowing that yes, traveling is really cool. It's an incredible experience, but it's even better when we don't attach the results of being the thing to release our mental load and to solve all of our problems. And we can go on the retreats with a different energy and
Most importantly, knowing that we can source happiness every single day, even just by being present, by channeling our energy and feeling our feet on the floor, feeling our hand that might be on our kids' shoulder, or even if we're just watching TV, really being there mentally with our family during bathtime, whatever it is, has just got the vision too of while you're cooking dinner, maybe don't cook dinner alone. Ask your kids to join you. Make it like a family thing.
And that can create happiness for you while you wait for that trip. And if you don't have any trips planned, I actually am in a season where I used to travel when I was working with Beachbody at least four times a year. And since I no longer started working with Beach or have been working with Beachbody, I no longer travel as much. I went to Los Angeles in November of like two years ago for Thanksgiving. And I'm actually
Just got back from Los Angeles at the time that this is airing. And those have been my only two trips. It's insane to me, but I've been so happy in between. And it's because I've channeled my presence and happiness and little things in between. So you don't need that trip. All you need is to find out what fuels you, what fulfills you on that random Tuesday afternoon. Thank you so much for listening, and I hope that you feel happy today.
