The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

True Rules, I became far more aware when I applied them. By mindfully deciding how to act in line with my values instead of mindlessly applying my rules, I was better able to make the decisions that supported my happiness.
    STIMULATE THE MIND IN NEW WAYS.
    As I looked for ways to become more mindful, I realized that using my brain in unfamiliar ways would enhance my experience of the present moment and my awareness of myself. I came up with several strategies.
    First, I posted sticky notes around the apartment to remind me of the frame of mind I wished to cultivate. The note on my laptop reads, “Focused and observant.” The bedroom note reads, “Quiet mind.” After I put a note in the master bathroom that read, “Tender and lighthearted,” Jamie crossed it out and wrote, “Light and flaky”—I had to laugh. The note in my office reads, “Enthusiastic and creative.” I also switched on the “Breezy Singer” bluebird that I’d bought in May so that the goofy birdsong would make me mindful of thoughts of gratitude. A blog reader adopted a similar strategy to stay mindful.
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    E very day, I type passwords into programs and computers too many times to count. I don’t save my passwords on the computer but am a compulsive email-checker. So a multitude of times a day, I type the same thing over and over and over.
    And one day, I realize that what I use for my password gets ingrained in me, due to constant repetition. Like a mantra. Let’s say my passwordis “tennis” (I play tennis, by the way), and although I do not think about tennis on purpose all the time, I eventually realized that it’s my favourite activity, it’s what I put a lot of time and effort on, it’s what I do most outside of work.
    I later changed my passwords to a goal I’ve been working on, or an achievement I want. They become a constant reminder of my goals, my dreams, of what I want to achieve. It’s basically the same idea as surrounding yourself with reminders of your aims, your dreams. Or repeating positive thoughts in your mind.
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    Next I decided to try hypnosis as a different route to cultivate my mind. A friend is “super-suggestible,” and her crazy stories about what she’d done under hypnosis had piqued my interest. My first act for October was to take a train to Old Greenwich, Connecticut, to meet Peter, my yoga instructor’s cousin and a hypnotist.
    I wasn’t sure what I thought about hypnotism. Proponents argue that the hypnotic state, with its concentration, boosted relaxation, and increased suggestibility, brings heightened focus and responsiveness to instructions, so hypnosis helps people break bad habits and imprint new patterns on their minds. Or it might be, I speculated, that posthypnotic change was due to the “Hawthorne effect” I’d experienced in January (studying a behavior can lead to its alteration) or the “placebo effect” (treatment works because it’s expected to work). Nevertheless, whatever the particular mechanism involved, hypnosis sounded worth a try.
    As I got into Peter’s car in Old Greenwich, I realized that I hadn’t done much research on him. It felt a bit odd to be off in some small town in Connecticut, getting into a stranger’s car, and being driven to his office in a small apartment in a residential building. Fortunately for me, Peter was legitimate.
    First he led me through a series of relaxation exercises; then we talked about the list of aims he’d asked me to bring. I’d included goals small and large—everything from eliminating nighttime snacking toexpressing daily gratitude. Then came the actual “hypnosis.” First Peter asked me to imagine myself gradually becoming heavier, tracing numbers with my eyes, visualizing my left hand rising into the air (my hand didn’t move an inch). Then he slowly instructed me on the behavior that I would change.
    When I feel myself feeling snappish, I’ll remind myself to lighten up. I can make my points more effectively with humor and tenderness than with irritation.
    When I feel myself getting annoyed because someone is giving me bad ser vice—a pharmacist, a nurse, a clerk, etc.—I’ll establish a friendly, cooperative tone. I’ll remember to cut people slack.
    As I turn to my computer or sit down to eat or walk down the street, I’ll feel happy and grateful for my health, for loving my work so much, for having such a great family, for having such a comfortable life—and from this derive a feeling of