Pushkin

When we enter a new year, many of us start to feel inspired about making big changes in our lives.

That new day on the calendar can motivate us to improve our careers, our health, our habits, and our happiness.

But when we start to think about how to go about making all these improvements,

that's when things start to get really, really loud.

We start to hear all these outside cultural voices shouting at us about what we should be doing,

that number that we're really supposed to have on the scale,

or the glossy gym we absolutely need to join,

or the new productivity or dating app that all our friends are trying.

These outside voices tell us there's one way to get fit or quit biting our nails

or get that big promotion at work.

It's a new year they scream, and this is how things are going to have to change.

These new year voices are all very well-intentioned,

but they can sometimes get so loud that we can't even hear ourselves think.

So in this new year season of the Happiness Lab, I want us to try something different.

Instead of listening to all these loud outside voices, we're going to do the harder work of looking inward.

Over the next few episodes, we'll try to pay attention to the wise voice inside us,

our inner compass, if you will, that often gets drowned out by all the outside noise,

and we'll see that carefully listening to the quiet voice of what our bodies and our minds truly need,

may be the real path to happiness in 2023.

Our minds are constantly telling us what to need to be happy,

but what if our minds are wrong?

...