Is The Happiest Time Of The Year 7pm On 6th August?

A study in Britain says that this should be the happiest time of the year. I think that’s rubbish, and in this article I’m saying why 3am on 7th February 2012 is a much better bet…

As soon as I saw that news item, I felt that familiar urge to write an article, because happiness is something I’ve written about a lot.

The study said that Saturday is the favourite day (no work), and that 7pm is the best time. That comes work patterns which mean 7pm is an optimum time for leisure activity. August is a popular month as it brings thoughts of holidays and good weather.

Throw all that in a pot and give it a good stir, and it makes a good headline. The problem is that it’s just not true, and there are 2 reasons for that.

Firstly, it’s a false combination of factors – it takes the ideals of not working and combines it with data that comes from the time when we *are* working, and this is a key point. People often base their view of happiness on what other people tell them should create happiness, rather than what they think themselves.

This means you can be chasing someone else’s view of happiness – hardly a surprise then when it doesn’t work!

Secondly, creating definitions of happiness like this reinforces a view of current unhappiness! In this example, if I’m going to be happy on 6th August at 7pm, does that mean I was not happy on 5th August at 3pm?

You can see that this is a fairly obvious example, but in fact we do it all the time – how many times have you said to yourself ‘I will be happy when so and so happens… or if such and such happens…’

It’s all too easy to do, but it puts a subconscious downer on your happiness in the present, because you are telling yourself you can’t be happy without certain conditions.

Happiness is a state of mind – if you step back and appreciate what you have got rather than hanker after what you haven’t, you can up your happiness level right there and then! It costs you nothing, it’s instant, and you can do it anytime you want!

The study about 6th August went on to say that 3am on a Tuesday in February is the worst time. That’s also rubbish, for the same reasons I covered before. I’d like to suggest you could think of 7th Feb 2012 (a Tuesday), as your happiest day, but of course I won’t as it would go against everything I’ve just written!

No, 7th Feb is not your happiest day, no more than 6th August is. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with looking forward to an upcoming event, but that’s not what I’m saying. I’m talking about equating happiness in the future with an implied lack of happiness in the present.

To sum up, the date is irrelevant – a simple change in mindset can bring you a stream of happiness, starting right now, whatever the time or date!

If you enjoyed this idea, you’ll enjoy my book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’ If you buy it and don’t enjoy it, I simply give you your money back – go grab your own copy right now!

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