Being Happy

Three Practices You Can Start Today

Simple Actions, Real Shifts

Practice 1:

For building Awareness

When: As soon as you wake up, before reaching for your phone

What to do: Ask yourself: “What would happiness look like today?”

Not tomorrow. Not when you achieve something. Today.

How:

  • Lie there for 30 seconds
  • Let the question settle
  • Notice what answer comes (don’t force it)
  • Don’t judge it or analyze it
  • Just notice

Why this works: Most days, we wake up and immediately think about what we need to do. This practice shifts you to what you want to feel. It sets an intention without creating pressure.

What I noticed: The first few days, I had no clear answer. That’s okay. By day 7, answers started appearing: “A quiet morning.” “A good conversation.” “Just not rushing.” Small things. Real things.

Practice 2

For building Understanding

When: End of each day, before going to bed

What to do: Think back through your day & find one moment when you felt good.

Not ecstatic. Not excited. Just… good.

How:

  • Close your eyes
  • Scroll back through the day like rewinding a video
  • Stop when you land on a moment that felt pleasant
  • Remember it—what you saw, heard, felt
  • Let yourself feel it again for 30 seconds

Why this works: We’re wired to remember what went wrong, not what went right. This practice trains your mind to notice and remember the good moments. Over time, you’ll start noticing them while they’re happening, not just in retrospect.

What I noticed: Week 1: I struggled to find moments. Week 2: I found them but they felt small. Week 3: I started looking forward to this practice because I knew I’d have something to remember.

Practice 3

For building Practice

When: Any time during the day when you pause (waiting in line, between tasks)

What to do: When paused, Ask yourself: “Am I present?”

Just two words. No judgment.

How:

  • Pause whatever you’re doing
  • Take one breath
  • Ask: “Am I present?”
  • Notice if your mind is here or somewhere else
  • If it’s somewhere else, just notice where it went
  • Come back to now

Why this works: Happiness lives in the present moment. But our minds live everywhere else—past, future, worry, planning. This micro-practice brings you back. Again and again.

What I noticed: 95% of the time, I wasn’t present. I was planning, remembering, worrying, rehearsing. But each time I asked the question, I came back. For just a few seconds, I was here. And that’s where life actually happens.

How It Works

How To Use These Practices

Don’t try to do all three at once.
That’s how habits fail. Too much, too fast.

1

Week 1

Just the Morning Question. That’s it. One practice, every day.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
You’ll forget. You’ll remember at 10 PM that you didn’t do the practice. That’s fine. Do it then. Or start fresh tomorrow.

2

Week 2

Add the 5-Minute Rewind if Week 1 felt easy.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
You’ll remember more often. It’ll start feeling less like a task and more like a choice.

3

Week 3

Add the Two-Word Check-in throughout your day.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
You’ll notice something shifting. Not dramatically. Just… differently. You’ll catch yourself being present without trying. You’ll notice joy without looking for it.

Follow as above or do them in whatever order feels right for you. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s consistency.
Not because you should. But because you want to see what happens.

This isn’t magic. It’s just attention. And attention, consistently applied, changes everything.

IF YOU WANT TO GO DEEPER
These three practices are just the beginning. The 30-week journey I’m offering takes you much further:

Understanding what happiness is (& isn’t)

Discovering your personal obstacles

Building sustainable practices that last

Integrating it all into daily life

But you don’t need the journey to start. You just need these three practices.
And the willingness to try them. Not perfectly. Just honestly.

Being Happy

A FINAL THOUGHT

You Deserve to Feel Happy, Inside and Out

I’m over fifty. I’ve spent years reading about happiness, studying it, understanding it intellectually.
But three weeks ago, I learned something simple:
Knowing about happiness and practicing happiness are not the same thing.
These three practices? They’re practice.
They’re not preparation for some future happiness.
They are the happiness:

In the doing.

In the noticing.

In the returning.

Start today: Pick one practice.
Try it for seven days: See what happens.
Then let me know. I genuinely want to hear.
— Ashish
Being Happy
P.S. If you’re ready for the full 30-week journey, you know where to find me. But even if you never join, these three practices will serve you well. They’re yours now. Use them.

QUICK REFERENCE CARD

PRACTICE 1:
Morning Question

“What would happiness look like today?” 30 seconds, right when you wake up

PRACTICE 2:
5-Minute Rewind

Find one good moment from today 5 minutes before bed

PRACTICE 3:
2-Word Check-in

Am I present?” Throughout the day, whenever you pause. Simple. Practical. Yours