The Joy List Method

Me in Bali. One of the pivotal points of my journey.

In my first session with new clients I always ask “what brings you joy.” Without fail, they respond, “this is a hard question.” When I hired my first coach, I was not living my best life, to say the least. I was burnt out, felt directionless and I was numbing myself with a whole lot of Netflix, food and wine. In our first session, my coach asked me, “what makes you happy.” I froze. I think I uttered my family and my friends, but even those two aspects of my life were on the rocks. I truthfully couldn’t think of anything that made me happy–that brought me real joy. One of my first homework assignments was to start a joy list. Every night simply write down five things that brought you joy that day. The first few weeks, it was a struggle. I was so numbed out that I struggled to come up with three. I committed to the practice and after the first month, I noticed a shift. My list was not only five things, it was MORE than five. After a few months, my joy list practice almost made me laugh because I could go on and on. My list would include little things like the way the woman at the market smiled at me or the amazing smoothie I had that morning. My joy list method was one of the most impactful tools during my transformation and I see it have the same impact on my clients.

Why? Reflecting on the joy of each day literally reprograms our brains to see the joy that had existed all along but we learned to ignore. You eventually start looking for joy. You start slowing down. You start shifting your mindset.

This is a lifelong practice you can start today. At the end of each day in a note in your phone or better yet in your journal, write down five things that brought you joy. Set a goal for 5 days a week for a month. Then move to seven days a week for the following month. It may be challenging at first, but in time, your joy will be infinite.