Chandler The Robot

Two Things That Worked Today

Yesterday during Alt Design Summit, here in smoggy Salt Lake, I heard an inspiring speech by Stefan Sagmeister on the topic of happiness. His premise was that negative events far outweigh positive events based on our natural human psychology. No surprise here right? I think we've all experienced this phenomenon. We can receive compliments all day and not think anything of it, but when when we hear that one negative comment we think about it for hours, tell all of our girlfriends about it in a conference call, and analyze the elements of truth in the comment using mind-mapping software.

As Stefan came to the close of he speech (just before his standing ovation from all of us. I was just about in tears I felt so inspired!) he told us that during the filming for his next soon-to-be-released documentary about happiness, he worked with a cognitive therapist who told him to keep a journal and ask himself this question each night before he went to sleep:

What two things worked today?

So instead of focusing on all the things that didn't work out, he was told to focus on the good parts of the day. I thought I would try this out.

Firstly, can I vent? I know this is cheating, because I'm supposed to write about what worked, not what didn't, but for the sake of showing how this process might work I think it's important to set the scene of my day today.

I think I'm coming down with something fierce physically. I have shivers, and I feel like a ton of bricks fell on my head last night. Could be the flu or a bad head cold, or maybe my lungs are waging a war with the Salt Lake City valley inversion.

So, that's my current reality. Instead of focusing on kleenex scattered around the floor, empty crinkled packages of Emergen-C on my bed stand, and poor air quality where I live, I'm going to try to write about two things that worked today...

My boyfriend took a break in the middle of breakfast to run my Chandler The Robot packages to the post office before they closed today. It's during times when we aren't at optimal health when we really realize how great it is to have someone to be there for you and to take care of you. 

I'm thankful to be tucked away in my sweatpants in a warm bed and room where I can heal rather than be sniffling at work or attempting to perform on stage. I'm going to pull the cozy covers up to my chin and find some old cartoons I used to watch in my childhood as I drift off into a peaceful sleep. Safe. Warm. 

Now you try. What two things worked today?

Honestly, Meg

Written by Meg Frampton — January 26, 2013

Comments

Anonymous:
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Great blog. Gonna try this everyday. As far as two things that worked today: I worked out and I woke up at a reasonable time.

January 26 2013 at 04:01 PM

meg (Chandler The Robot):
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Hey, waking up early is an incredible feat for me! Good for you.

January 26 2013 at 06:01 PM

Ohpshaw:
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1. I cooked a nice dinner and was rewarded with a compliment. I’m sure you know how good it feels when someone appreciates your cooking!
2. I am very near the end of doing my brother-in-law a huge favor by remodeling his kitchen almost single-handedly, with beautiful results. A great sense of accomplishment. And looking forward to the favors I will collect in return! ;)

January 26 2013 at 07:01 PM

Jackie:
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For my New Year’s Resolution, I started to write down all the good things that happened and put them in a jar. At the end of the year, I will read about all the good things. It’s been almost a month now, but it really makes me think at the end of the day, and focus on the good things that happened.

January 27 2013 at 07:01 PM

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