
31 Days of Happiness: Final Report
I just finished 31 days of no drinking, no smoking, and no distractions to live a happier life. Is the challenge really over? I think not. Being happy is a challenge in it self. When I see happy people I envy them, but how much time and effort did it take for them to be happy. Everyone is different and I know now what makes me happy. These past 31 days have taught me a lot about myself. I learned how to be more patient with my work. I learned how to control myself if a problem arises. I learned that my life before the challenge was awful. It was an eye opening experience. I never want to feel that way again.
I have always tried to take the shortest path in everything I do. Whether it was school work, building something, or even trying to learn something new. But this challenge was different I tried to do the longest path possible. Before I would settle for smallest effort, but this challenge I didn’t stop changing my life and I didn’t settle.
My biggest hurdle during the challenge was discipline. That has been my biggest struggle my entire life. Being disciplined. I talked about Jocko Willinks in my last post only because he is a great inspiration for me. He talks about discipline a lot and how its hard to maintain because discipline is hard to maintain. I believe him when he says he struggles with discipline and I am shocked because I know he was a Navy Seal for years. It goes to show you even the toughest guys need to maintain discipline. I am proud of my self though. I disciplined myself to not smoke weed or drink alcohol. I also disciplined myself to get up every morning at 5AM. I disciplined myself to work on my project everyday. I found that a solid routine for me is the best way to maintain my discipline and happiness.
Being happy is hard to maintain because its happiness. Its a good feeling to have and never let go. However things will get in your way just so you wont be happy and that’s where the grind comes in. To maintain happiness you have to work hard. It took me about 2 weeks just to feel happy again. My secret is I always was doing something. Constantly moving around or fixing something kept me from feeling sad. I would remind myself how I felt when I got high everyday and wouldn’t do anything. I was miserable and I knew I had to do something quick.
Now I am on the track to living a better life. Now I just need to maintain it. Keep maintaining discipline and work hard. Grind out every second I have to getting better at my craft. The whole experience from starting the challenge to writing about my findings every week was great. I want to do more challenges and log what I find.
