Pulling Yourself Out of a Funk
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Pulling Yourself Out of a Funk and Turning Around a Bad Day
This week’s #culturedrop is me sharing a quick tip on how to pull yourself out of a totally crappy day. It’s simple, straightforward and incredibly effective — something I use personally whenever I find myself having a day where everything that can go wrong goes wrong.
Those days happen to all of us, when it feels like the universe is conspiring against you: car troubles, receive bad news, technology fails, and every little thing just piles on to add more to an already bad day.
Simple trick for me.
When I find myself in an unending spiral of negativity, there's one thing that always helps to pull me out of it almost instantly: doing something nice and thoughtful for someone else. It’s super simple and incredibly powerful.
There’s something magical about shifting your focus away from your own problems to brightening someone else's day. For me, there’s no other tool in my arsenal that works as quickly or consistently to be an instant mood changer.
Also, there’s legit science behind it.
Turns out it’s not just magic, there are numerous studies that support the idea that performing acts of kindness can have a massive impact on your mood.
Psychological Benefits:
A study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, found that participants who performed daily acts of kindness experienced a significant increase in happiness compared to those who didn’t
Biochemical Responses:
Engaging in kind activities triggers the release of hormones such as oxytocin and serotonin, which boost feelings of trust and bonding, and contribute to feelings of well-being and happiness. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that even small acts of kindness can lead to an increase in both emotional and physical well-being.
Social Connection:
Acts of kindness generate social connections, which impact mental health. A study from the University of British Columbia found that students who performed kind acts felt more connected to their community and experienced a boost in mood and life satisfaction.
How to do it.
Do something incredibly kind and thoughtful for someone
This can be as simple as a call or text to a friend with a heartfelt message of gratitude or appreciation. As easy as telling someone how much you appreciate them in your life and why they matter to you.
Repeat if necessary
Don’t stop at one. Send a few messages. Sometimes I’ll take 15 minutes and do as many things as I can think of. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, it doesn’t have to cost money, something genuine and heartfelt can be really profound.
Make a stranger’s day
Think of ways to brighten a stranger’s day as you move through the world. It could be a compliment, a kind gesture, or a really big smile. It’s surprising how good it feels to make someone else’s day, especially if you don’t know them and it’s for no reason at all other than to just be kind.
Give it a shot.
Next time you find yourself in the middle of a really bad day or moment, try hitting the reset button by doing something nice for someone else. It’s a pretty cool way to turn things around.
The worst case scenario is that it doesn’t have much impact on you, but it almost definitely will on them. And you get to spread a little joy in the process.
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This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop