Everyone gets a bad day. There are some days when we get too anxious, too short-tempered, or just straight-up unlucky. Although all of us experience such a day, what makes it truly bad is our conscious choice to linger too long in it. April Shprintz shares one simple tip to boost your mood and overcome even your worst days.
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Bad Day Mood Booster
Reframing A Bad Day
I am so glad you’re here. Now I’m a big fan of when you have a bad day, reframing things or a bad situation, and turning it around to a way that you can feel better about it. What if that isn’t working? What if you’re having a bad day and you need another way you can turn it around? I have one for you, and I absolutely love it. Helping someone else could be the answer. This isn’t just me saying it.
I have a study, it is backed up by 27 different studies in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. What they found was that performing small acts of kindness actually provides dramatic changes in overall happiness and life satisfaction for the people who are doing them, even reduces depression and anxiety. This is something that I have long personally believed in, but I love it when science and research back it up.
Performing small acts of kindness provides dramatic changes in overall happiness and life satisfaction for the people doing them. Share on XWhen you choose an activity and you choose to help someone versus someone telling you to go help someone, because having that choice makes a big difference. It could be something really little. It could be smiling at a stranger, opening a door for someone, maybe sending a thoughtful text, giving a compliment, or making coffee for someone. It doesn’t matter. It has all of these impacts on us scientifically in our brains because it not only increases our feelings of belonging and community, but it also reinforces a sense of purpose and control.
Here’s the science-y part. Triggers feel-good chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin. What I love about this is that sometimes when you’re focused on what’s going on with you, the only thing that’s gonna get you out of it, the only way you’re going to go away from it, is to focus on something outside of yourself.
Giving A Helping Hand To Others
For those of you who know, I created the generosity culture because I believe in pouring into your people, your clients, and your community. This resonates with me. I have found that personally, this is a great way to get yourself out of a funk. Now I’m not saying do this instead of reframing. I’m not saying always focus on others and don’t pour into yourself. It’s from a mindset perspective, taking your focus and putting it on something you want instead of something you don’t.
Finding a way to help someone else is a great way to boost your mood when you are having a bad day. Share on XHelping someone else almost always boosts your mood and makes you feel better. Next time that you are having a really bad day and things are really hard and you try your reframing techniques, you’re really trying to see how this is working out for you instead of happening to you, and maybe it helped you a little but it didn’t help you as much as you wanted, try finding a way to help someone else.
I’ll tell you, this is a great way to boost your mood when you’re having a bad day. Personally, doing these small little things to help other people helps me all the time. I enjoy it. I like giving people compliments that I think about them in my head, or making a stranger smile. Especially if they seem like they’re a little bit of a curmudgeon. A grumpy person getting them to smile feels like an even bigger deal. Just doing a little thing like letting someone go in front of me in line at the grocery store. Giving someone my seat on a bus when it’s full.
Those kinds of things fill me up, and the science backs it up. I get it. The oxytocin, the dopamine, but doing those little things, it’s almost like giving gifts all the time, and it can be really exciting. The next time you’re having a bad day or the next time you want to have an even better day, try this out and let me know how it works for you, because I think it’ll make someone else’s day better and it’ll make your day even better. Here’s to your success.
