Over the last few weeks we celebrated the Jewish Holidays, which start with the Jewish New Year. Between the family gatherings and many (many) meals, I always like to take some time to reflect on the year that ended and what I would like the new year to bring. This year I couldn’t help but reflect on my personal journey with happiness and how it led me to start my own company, Happy Things.
First, let me introduce myself.
I’m Talia Soen, the Founder & CEO of Happy Things. I’m 35 years old and have spent most of my life feeling like I wasn’t happy enough. For years I was on a quest for happiness, believing it was right around the corner; if I just finished my degree, got a better job, ran a 10K marathon, got married… I would find it. As I’m sure you can guess, I did all those things – but happiness wasn’t waiting on the other side.
There was, however, a good side to this search: my interest in mental health, happiness, and wellbeing led me to get a degree in psychology, become a yoga teacher, take various courses (in coaching, fitness, nutrition and more), read books, listen to podcasts… and essentially, learn everything I could about happiness and most of all try to understand – what was I missing?
You Can’t “Achieve” Happiness
After years of over-achieving, the main thing I learned was that, ironically, happiness is not a goal to be achieved. This statement is backed by academic research: Happiness is a skill. Just like learning a new language or practicing the piano, we can practice happiness and learn how to live a happier life. Happiness doesn’t lie in these big goals we set for ourselves, nor does it require a complete lifestyle change. Happiness is made of small, daily things.
For example, here are a few happy things you can do to start practicing:
