We were surprised last year when the Write three positive things about today habit doubled in participants in one day after Lifter Zack Shapiro blogged about it. The habit now has over 1,450 members:
My @liftapp habit “Write three positive things about today” doubled in participants today. Got featured on @Lifehacker! http://t.co/glOg1oXy
— Zack Shapiro (@ZackShapiro)
What compelled hundreds of people to add this habit into their already busy lives? Science shows it’ll boost your happiness.
Actively recognizing the positive things in your life increases your longterm happiness.
The father of positive psychology, Martin E. P. Seligman, found that the practice of writing down three positive things a day and why they happened increased happiness and decreased depression longterm in his famous study “Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions”:
We… found that two interventions—writing about three good things that happened each day and why they happened, and using signature strengths of character in a new way—made people happier (and less depressed) up to six months later.
There’s another great reason to start this habit: Write three positive things about today is one of our most supportive communities. There are 1.56 props given per check-in on average.
How to start building this habit:
Right Now: Think of one positive thing right now and why. I’ll start: I’m happy you read to the end of this post!
Then: Add the Write three positive things about today habit on Lift. Set a reminder for 10pm each night. Get more tips by reading The Happiness Advantage or checking out Zack’s post.