Fine on paper, flat in practice. The findings that survive are unglamorous: time over things, other people over both, and saying the good thing out loud while it's happening.
Start here
Holding a good moment
Holding a good moment
Ask how the day actually felt, once
Pick one ordinary stretch today, the commute, the kids' bedtime, an hour with mates. Afterwards, score how it felt while it was happening. Then score the day as you'd answer if asked. Compare. Once, not a log.
5 minEvidence: worth trying
Holding a good moment
End it on the high note
Put the best bit last. The film after the chores, the walk after dinner, the warm line at the end of a hard talk. Not in the middle.
no timeEvidence: worth trying
Holding a good moment
Revisit one good memory a week
Once a week, pick one good moment from the last year. Two minutes back in it. Where you were, who was there, what it sounded like.
2 minEvidence: worth trying
Holding a good moment
Say it, then write it
Once a week, tell someone what they did for you. Then write the same thing down. One line, dated.
5 minEvidence: decent
Holding a good moment
Take a mental photograph
In a good moment, stop for ten seconds. Name three things you can see, hear or feel. Then carry on.
no timeEvidence: worth trying
Saying it
Money, spent right
Money, spent right
Book the experience, not the thing
Next time there's spare money: a trip, a match, a course, a meal with people. Not the gadget.
no timeEvidence: decent
Money, spent right
Buy back an hour
Pay someone to do the one weekly job you dread. Cleaning, ironing, the lawn, the tax return. Use the hour on a person.
no timeEvidence: decent
Money, spent right
Count the commute in the salary
Comparing two jobs, or two houses: price the commute. An extra hour a day is five hours a week, most of a working day gone.
no timeEvidence: decent
Money, spent right
Spend a little on someone else
Once a month, a small amount you'd have spent on yourself goes on someone else. Lunch, a gift, a cause you'd back.
no timeEvidence: worth trying