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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to realize that you can take charge

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Speaker 1: of at least some of your happiness, even in rough circumstances.

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Speaker 1: Doing what we might call happiness homework can make life

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Speaker 1: feel more doable. Today's tip and several others this week

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Speaker 1: come from psychologist Sonya Lubomirski's book The How of Happiness,

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Speaker 1: A Scientific Approach to getting the life you want. Since

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Speaker 1: the dawn of time, people have wanted to become happier.

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Speaker 1: Since the dawn of time, people have also fretted that

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Speaker 1: this is a rather frivolous pursuit amidst the world's sufferings.

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Speaker 1: Plagues aren't new, and the world has gone through plenty

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Speaker 1: of terrible things. But it turns out that happier people

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Speaker 1: have more energy and more motivation to solve the problems

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Speaker 1: around them, enriching their communities as they feel better themselves.

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Speaker 1: So how do we become happier? Luba Mirsky identifies three

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Speaker 1: main influences on happiness. About half of your happiness is

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Speaker 1: due to your natural happiness set point research with identical

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Speaker 1: and Fraternal Twins finds that, as with weight, each person

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Speaker 1: has a happiness level that they gravitate towards. While that

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Speaker 1: may seem kind of depressing that half of your happiness

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Speaker 1: is completely outside your control, it can also be comforting

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Speaker 1: that there's nothing wrong with you if you're never as

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Speaker 1: sunny as your roommate. Another chunk of happiness is due

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Speaker 1: to circumstances, job situation, family sattus, health finances, where we live,

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Speaker 1: and yes, whether we're on lockdown to slow the spread

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Speaker 1: of a virus. What might surprise you, though, is that

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Speaker 1: this chunk is pretty small. And other words, if you

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Speaker 1: want to be happy, moving to the beach or getting

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Speaker 1: a twenty dollar raise may not actually be the fastest

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Speaker 1: way to get there. Instead, Lubamirski writes, if you're not

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Speaker 1: happy today, then you won't be happy tomorrow unless you

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Speaker 1: take things into your own hands and take action. That's

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Speaker 1: because the remaining forty of our happiness, according to Lubamirski,

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Speaker 1: comes from what she calls intentional activity. This brings us

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Speaker 1: to our happiness homework. It turns out that happy people

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Speaker 1: have specific habits. According to Lubamirski's research, they invest in relationships,

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Speaker 1: with family and friends. They express gratitude, They help people

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Speaker 1: they know and those they don't. They practice being optimistic,

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Speaker 1: They exercise, and they pursue goals of lasting importance. She

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Speaker 1: advises that we should spend time on what she calls

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Speaker 1: happiness work to become happier, just as we spend time

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Speaker 1: on physical training to become more fit. It makes sense

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Speaker 1: if you take time each day to do something such

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Speaker 1: as calling a friend, writing letters to nursing home residents,

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Speaker 1: going for a walk, or counting your blessings, you will

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Speaker 1: be happier than you would otherwise be. It's as simple

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Speaker 1: as that, So why not make time for these things?

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Speaker 1: Challenge yourself to set aside a few minutes each day

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Speaker 1: for these happiness homework assignments. If your kids study after dinner,

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Speaker 1: maybe you can do some of your work then too.

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Speaker 1: Or you can assign yourself happiness homework for the first

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Speaker 1: thing in the morning that will get your day off

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Speaker 1: to a great start. In the coming days, I'll share

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Speaker 1: a few of these specific practices Luba Mirski recommends for

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Speaker 1: boosting our happiness. If you want to read more, you

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Speaker 1: can check out her blog for Psychology Today, The How

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Speaker 1: of Happiness and her recent post how to Hold onto

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Speaker 1: Happiness when your world collapses about you guessed it, happiness

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Speaker 1: and the time of coronavirus. The good news is that

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Speaker 1: we don't need to consign ourselves to unhappiness just because

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Speaker 1: circumstances are far from optimal. Some chunk of happiness is

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Speaker 1: still within our control if we're willing to try. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the

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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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