Activate Happiness in 5 Minutes with Alex & Mimi Ikonn

POWER OF JOURNALING

• Your morning is one of the most important times of your day to set the overall mood for your day.
• Five Minute Journal was inspired by a friend of Alex’s who used to journal for 1-2 hours a day.
• Given most of us only have 5 minutes in the morning, he asked himself how can we get the same effect in 5 minutes as if we were doing something for 1-2 hours?
• We all have 5 minutes to use journaling to change our life. Taking 5 minutes to journal is simple and effective, and you can treat it as a habit like brushing your teeth.
• The book mentioned: Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
• TED Talk mentioned: The Happiness Advantage TEDx Bloomington

POWER OF GRATITUDE

• Gratitude can increase your happiness, and as a state, it can transform your life.
• Alex & Mimi were able to create the life they did because of gratitude.
• Try building the habit of thinking of one thing you’re grateful for when you wake up.
• Without gratitude, even if you’re a powerful person, you won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
• Our brain is a muscle, we have to use it — so to experience gratitude you have to practice it.

MORNING QUESTIONS

1. List 3 things you are grateful for.
2. List 3 things in answer to the question: “what would make today great?”
3. List your daily affirmation: one line reaffirming to yourself who you are and who you want to become.

WHY JOURNAL?

• Using these questions every morning hones your brain in on what you want out of the day, helps you focus on what will you do to make the day great.
• Journaling is much easier when you have some structure to what you are writing.
• You will see a difference after you practice for only a few months.
• Consistency is the most important thing, just like with anything else in life (exercise, healthy eating, etc.).

EVENING QUESTIONS

• Before sleep, you can reflect on your day and the amazing things that happened.
• This can be small things — e.g. you shared a nice experience with your spouse, received a compliment at work.
• We usually think of all the things we didn’t do or the things that went wrong, but there’s always something positive that happened.
• You can do this exercise with anyone in your life: ask a loved one or a friend.
• What were 3 amazing things that happened today?
• How could you have made today better?
• This last question might sound negative but you want to identify habits that aren’t serving you — e.g. going to bed late.
• Write your answers as if you’re already doing it — e.g. I go to bed at 10pm every day.
• You can always see areas for improvement in your life but by writing it down in a positive form you avoid seeing it as a problem and instead, see it as an area for improvement and then you can find solutions to get there.
• People think success has to be complex and difficult, but simple is best—it is hard for someone to be consistent if they’re trying to do a huge amount of work.

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN

• There is magic in writing it down.
• When you write it down it goes into your subconscious and becomes an anchor in your mind to guide your focus throughout the day.
• You’re in a twilight zone, a different brainwave state early in the morning and late at night, so working on yourself at these times will help you to reprogram your brain and build better habits.
• These exercises help your brain focus on what you want to do and experience, refresh your mind morning and night, and help you to have a more positive mindset on a daily basis.
• Treat these exercises like a toothbrush for your mind and be consistent—do you ever stop brushing your teeth? Do you ever not do it before you leave the house?
• This is good mental hygiene, and you do it not just for yourself but so other people don’t have to deal with it as well.
• In order for us to be healthy and fit, we need to exercise gratitude and mindfulness.
• Everything starts from within—you have to do the work.
• If you do these exercises for a year you will see tremendous mental change.

CLEAR GOALS & MANIFESTATION

• Work on having a clear vision, otherwise how will you get there?
• Reflect on your goals and write them down as if you have already achieved your goal — e.g. I am living in the apartment on the sixth floor.
• Try being grateful for things before you even have them in your life. This could be something like a state of mind, a relationship — e.g. I am grateful for feeling confident.
• Whatever you keep putting into your mind will manifest.
• Today is a fresh day and a fresh chance for you to start journaling.

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• Don’t forget to take a screenshot of this episode, tag us on social media (@alexikonn, @mimiikonn & @jimkwik) and share your greatest “aha!” moment from this episode with us!