The holiday season is a special time when family and friends come together to celebrate. This coming together can include hectic travel schedules, last-minute shopping, and family relationship stresses. But what can you do to make this important time of the year as joyful as possible?

According to an article written by Richard Sima in The Washington Post, “Here’s an antidote to an ever-stressful, busy and uncertain world. Try finding and savoring little bites of joy in your day. I call them “joy” snacks.”

According to the article, new research shows that finding and savoring these nuggets of joy can be a way of consistently cultivating a happy, fulfilling life. It’s paying attention to the goodness that is already present in your life.

“By mindfully tuning into the pleasant, nice, and sometimes routine experiences of every day, we can transform an otherwise mundane moment into something more meaningful and even joyful.”

Finding “Joy” Snacks

These “joy” snacks can be simple events like lunch with a co-worker, enjoying a walk with your dog, or reconnecting with an old friend. It’s small day-to-day experiences that bring meaning. You just need to be on the lookout for them. Next time you are watching a favorite television show with your friends or family, savoring a good book, enjoying a scene from nature, or hanging out with friends, take a moment to recognize the joy this event brings and how it is contributing to the quality of your life.

As the new year approaches, we strongly encourage you to take the time to reflect on what brings you joy and then actively seek to engage more with those sources in 2023. Reading chapter 2 in our book, Time To Get Real!, will help you with this.

We recommend that in addition to reading our book Time To Get Real! and working through the Life and Career Planning Model© that it provides, consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner as you read each chapter of the book and capture your thoughts in the interactive exercises. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.