21 Days Later ................. World Mental Health AwarenessDay today

Today is World Mental Health Awarenss Day.

In the Office Im facilitating a challenge with folks with a colleague called '21 Days of Happiness'.
It might sound a bit twee but when another colleague did this earlier this year in the workplace everyone who did the challenge saw an uplift in their happiness, we are getting them to do a survey before and after to self assess levels of happiness in order to know.

I thought as quite a few people have been reading my BLOG lately that people might benefit from this challenge so I'm going to set you up for that and it's up to you whether you have a go.

The 21 Days challenge is also based on the fact that its perceived that it takes 21-30 days for something to become a habit, I think its also bandied around that if you spend 10000 hours on something that you become an expert.  Don't know about that as I've spent way more than 10000 hours as a human being and I don't think I'm an expert.

So, these are the tasks if you want to try the challenge:-

	Exercise
Wednesday 10th October

• Mindfulness – There are many documented benefits to meditation including reducing the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. According to Acor, meditation also allows us to get over our cultural ADHD, that has us focusing on more than one thing at once. It allows the mind to quiet and opens us up to new possibilities.

Thursday 11th October	Write three new things you are grateful for – This helps train your brain to scan the world for the positive things first, rather than focusing on the negative things. Gratitude has long been linked to increased happiness and it’s surprising how quickly your life can improve with this simple practice.
Friday 12th October	Journal about one positive thing that has happened in the past 24 hours, this process allows your brain to relive the positive experience. There are many options for journaling, online with sites such as Penzu or a hand-written journal. Writing by hand, rather than digitally, has been shown to increase learning, which might be helpful when you’re trying to change thought patterns.
Saturday 13th October	Exercise for at least 15 minutes –  exercise increases your levels of dopamine, energy, and helps improve your overall sense of well being.
Sunday 14th October	Mindfulness – There are many documented benefits to meditation including reducing the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. According to Acor, meditation also allows us to get over our cultural ADHD, that has us focusing on more than one thing at once. It allows the mind to quiet and opens us up to new possibilities.
Monday 15th October	Random acts of kindness – In Acor’s study, he had participants write one positive email that praised someone in their social network, but there are many ways to perform random acts of kindness. Get creative and have fun, you will not only make someone else’s day, but it will improve your own.
Tuesday 16th October	Write three new things you are grateful for – This helps train your brain to scan the world for the positive things first, rather than focusing on the negative things. Gratitude has long been linked to increased happiness and it’s surprising how quickly your life can improve with this simple practice.
Wednesday 17th October	Journal about one positive thing that has happened in the past 24 hours
Thursday 18th October	Exercise for at least 15 minutes
Friday 19th October	Mindfulness
Saturday 20th October	Random acts of kindness
Sunday 21st October	Write three new things you are grateful for
Monday 22nd October	Journal about one positive thing that has happened in the past 24 hours
Tuesday 23rd October	Exercise for at least 15 minutes
Wednesday 24th October	Mindfulness
Thursday 25th October	Random acts of kindness
Friday 26th October	Write three new things you are grateful for
Saturday 27th October	Journal about one positive thing that has happened in the past 24 hours
Sunday 28th October	Exercise for at least 15 minutes
Monday 29th October	Mindfulness
Tuesday 30th October	Write what you are grateful for from the 21 days of Happiness challenge – perhaps journal this but equally think about a BLOG or a POEM or anything creative as writing goes

Good Luck if you choose to try this.

Tony