Weekly Happiness Note October 10, 2024
How to Become the CEO of Your Happiness
“For everyone seeking a brighter path, may you find your light within.”
– Emily Madill
Happy Thursday! 🌞
If you’d like some helpful pointers to tune inward, check out this week’s note, “How to Become the CEO of Your Happiness.”
You can access this week's topic below (available for free subscribers) and consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive the weekly planning prompt and framework to set you up for October 14th - October 20th.
❤ Emily
This Week’s Featured Topic:
How to Become the CEO of Your Happiness
It’s true; happiness is an inside job.
Do you allow external forces to undermine your sense of happiness?
It’s easy to point fingers and pass the blame for why we aren’t happy or why we believe we’ve been robbed of our joy. If we think other people or circumstances cause our unhappiness, it’s only natural to also believe the source of our happiness comes from outside of ourselves.
Expecting our external world to fulfill our sense of happiness within our internal world is an easy trap to fall into. However, it’s an endless trap that will cause us to drift further from what we truly desire. Making our happiness dependent on forces outside our control sets us up to continually chase a moving target.
If this rings true and you receive a temporary sense of happiness that fades when the external source is out of reach, you aren’t alone. I’ve been there, and I still go there at times. I’ve experienced heartache, disappointment, loss, and self-doubt, all while feeling disconnected from myself.
I’ve handed my power over to others who don’t have my best interest at heart, hoping and expecting to receive approval, relief, or something different from them. I’ve been on the maddening roller coaster where chasing my happiness became an endless loop. I understand the frustration and sadness that can come from yearning to feel like everything will be okay. That true happiness is within my reach.
I’ve learned that happiness is mine and yours for the making. There isn’t a happiness quota in the world. There is enough joy and love for everyone. We are all worthy of happiness. Let’s squash that ugly thought that says we aren’t worthy. Let that sucker go once and for all.
Creating happiness is a practice where we build ourselves up one gentle step at a time. It comes through reminding ourselves to connect inward and trust in our wisdom and resourcefulness. It also comes from reminding ourselves to ignore the propaganda and external noise that shouts at us to chase our happiness—the kind that aims to convince us that we are failing in life if we aren’t following a particular ideology.
Building ourselves up becomes more manageable when we stop searching outside for happiness and begin the journey home. The journey where we trust in ourselves to guide our steps forward. Where we intentionally quiet the external noise and pressure so we can hear the wisdom that lives within us. The wisdom that lovingly takes our highest path and that of our fellow human beings to heart.
Deciding to take charge of our happiness doesn’t mean we won’t still experience sadness or heartache. We are human beings, and it’s normal to experience a wide range of emotions on our journey. This isn’t about sweeping all the hard, messy emotions under the rug. We don’t have to ignore our feelings in favour of always striving to walk around happy. Yet, this is often the message our external world urges us to believe: that we shouldn’t have to feel complex emotions and that there is something wrong with us if we do. The standard message is that we are broken and should follow the newest, quickest fix that encourages us to chase our happiness.
We can turn to many valuable resources for help that will give us immense happiness and growth. The game changer comes from checking in with ourselves FIRST before we jump on a new path. When we make it a common practice to befriend and trust our inner truth, knowing what feels right within the sea of a noisy world becomes second nature.
Understanding that happiness is ours for the making means we are gentle with ourselves as we move through our emotions. Especially when life serves up the hard, messy stuff. Accepting agency over our happiness helps us trust our inner voice, knowing it will help point us in the next best direction. Sometimes, the next best step is reaching out to our trusted people or taking a baby step in a new direction. Our inner wisdom might hint that we question the validity of a story we may be playing out in our minds or that we pull resources from our external world.
Committing to a life of personal happiness isn’t about being alone or soldiering through life. It’s about turning inward to hear the whisper of our truth before we assume others know better for us than we do. It’s about appointing ourselves as CEOs of our happiness and then making steps and decisions to re-direct and course-correct.
When we empower ourselves to take charge of our happiness, we are more apt to stay on our path aligned with our truth. The true sense of inner peace and happiness stems from authentically walking our path with pride.
When was the last time you listened to the whisper of your truth? If you appointed yourself in charge of your happiness, what might change for you over this next year?
This Week’s Quote:
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Planning for Next Week📝:
Use the framework below to plan your upcoming week: October 14th - October 20th. Some people like to map out their forthcoming week on Friday to ease into the weekend, knowing they are ready to hit the road running on Monday. Others (like myself) have a Sunday planning ritual. Do what works best for you. Over the years, in supporting many people in their planning and goal-setting, it seems to work best to pick a day of the week that’s easy to stick to so that your weekly planning becomes a habit and ritual.
What are your wins? Before you organize the upcoming week, ‘October 14th - October 20th’, reflect on the week you are wrapping up. What are your wins (big or small)? What is something you are grateful for? What have you learned about yourself this week? Record your reflections in your journal or the Notes section of the Planner Printout. Feel free to comment below (others in this community will also be able to see your comment) or hit reply to this note and share directly with me.
Planner PDF printout: This printout is from the ‘Fall in Love with Your Life, Seasonal Planner’ and will give you the framework and planning system to help you organize your upcoming week: October 14th - October 20th. Click here to access. You will need to enter a password to open the PDF. It’s in all caps: FILWYL
Accountability: If you’d like an accountability check-in to support you in making the weekly planning ritual a regular habit, just hit reply to this email after you’ve organized your week and let me know you’re organized and complete. Feel free to share your weekly intention/power word. I’m always happy to be the check-in support and would love to celebrate your wins.
Instructional Video: Get free access to this mini 20-minute video course. It will show you how to efficiently use the ‘Fall in Love With Your Life, Seasonal Planner’ method of organizing your week. Go here to access the free video course.
Priorities: What are your top three priorities for the upcoming week? What are some of the daily ways you will prioritize yourself? Remember to balance your energy output with energy input. Think: What has been energizing me lately? What has been draining my energy?
Connect with Nature: When out in nature, do you find it easier to connect to your inner wisdom? Spend some time outside without being connected to your phone and see if it helps you quiet any worries you may have and instead feel more present in the moment.
Journal reflection point prompted by nature: What lessons have you learned from nature this week? How can you apply these lessons to your daily life?
Share your intention for the week of October 14th - October 20th. What are you calling in? What is your power word/phrase?
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Disclaimer: This newsletter's advice and strategies are for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional advice. While we strive to provide accurate and helpful information, we cannot guarantee outcomes or be held liable for any consequences of using or misusing the information provided. We encourage you to seek professional advice or consult with qualified experts for guidance related to your particular needs.