Happiness & Habits

“The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine our happiness. We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

We are pleased to share this recap and recording from our November 2022 Women’s Forum program: Happiness & Habits.  Many thanks to  Melinda Dransfield, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, for sharing her expertise with our community and helping us establish some fundamental habits to cultivate more happiness in our lives.

Melinda kicked off the program by reminding us that the goal is NOT to be happy all the time – but to give yourself permission to embrace opportunities and create habits that open you up to experiencing more joy! And when you create habits that foster personal growth, you stretch yourself through new discoveries and cultivate happiness because you progress towards becoming the best version of yourself – and that inspires happiness!

Melinda’s Key Takeaways and Habits for Happiness

1. Happiness is a Choice – that requires effort at times. Every moment, every morning, you can choose to be happy.
2. Happiness is fueled by holistic well-being. The dimensions of a 360-well-being practice include: spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, financial, occupational, social, and environmental well-being
3. Happiness is a daily practice. Each dimension of happiness needs nurturing, every day. Here are a few habits Melinda suggests adopting. Listen to the recording here to learn more.

For 30 days, cultivate Gratitude by reflecting and/or writing down:

• • One thing you are grateful for about your day and why.
  • One thing you are grateful for about another person and why.
  • One thing you are grateful for about yourself and why.
  • And remember, try to capture different things each day.

Practice Mindfulness to become more present. For 2 minutes per day, sit still, observe your breath, and focus on it.

Nurture your Relationships. Create a habit of doing one kind or thoughtful act each day for someone. And keep it simple!

• • • Send a text message to let them know you are thinking of them
    • Share a favorite quote
    • Pick up the phone to ask about their weekend
    • Don’t forget Random Acts of Kindness: pay for the coffee of the person behind you, comment on someone’s post that resonated with you, and offer that person praise or gratitude for what you learned!

Connect with Your Purpose! Spend 5-15 minutes per day engaged in activities that help you connect to your purpose. Here are some of Melinda’s ideas:

• • • Practice a faith-based activity
    • Read something that lifts your spirit and aligns you with your purpose
    • Review your vision board
    • Volunteer in your community
    • Carve out time to be in nature
    • Set aside the devices
    • Spend quality time with your family.

Resources & Links

For more on this topic, here are a few additional resources:

• Check out Melinda’s brief Mindful Minute Renewal Breaks
• Watch Robert Waldinger’s Ted Talk: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness which has been viewed over 43 million times.
• Listen to The Science of Happiness Podcast. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.
• As Melinda reinforced, financial well-being is an essential element of our overall holistic well-being. We encourage you to review CAP STRAT’s Year-End Private Wealth Checklist and make sure you are optimizing your financial resources to accumulate and grow your wealth.
• Finally, be sure to check and register for the next Women’s Forum events.

About Our Speaker

Melinda Dransfield has just started a new professional chapter as the Coaching & Delivery Leader, Human Performance Institute at Johnson & Johnson. She is also the founder of Breakthrough Performance Group. She offers limited keynotes for organizations and limited Executive Well-being Coaching for high-achieving women who desire to have it all – Health, Happiness, and Success at work and home! And, she is the former Chief Wellbeing Officer for Happiitude, the world’s leading Happiness and Mindfulness Company located in Mumbai, India.

Melinda completed her coaching studies at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and was certified through the International Coaching Federation in 2019 as a High-Performance Leadership and Executive Coach. She is also certified as a Happiness Coach through the Berkeley Wellbeing Institute.

You can reach Melinda on LinkedIn or at melinda@melindadransfield.com

CAP STRAT Women’s Forum is grateful for Melinda’s partnership over the years, and we extend our best wishes for her continued success in this new role and beyond.