Yesterday I taped my mouth taped shut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, before there’s a chorus of “YES, FINALLY!”…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a post about staying open-minded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if that’s what you’re thinking. Ouch! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, well, be a bit more op – en – min – ded!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be more like Sweden in Summer. Open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It feels like we crawl out from under rocks in Sweden in Summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s glorious, hot and sunny and the urge to be outside explodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there are houseguests. People come to stay (see picture).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yesterday, Habitmaker Marie’s son Gustav was here and he’s such a great houseguest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, he’s a newly qualifying Naprapath (like Chiropracter but with more Napra). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, we were trying to impress him with home-made vegan yoghurt and he was adjusting our spines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, later, in a mumbled conversation in the hall on the way back from the bathroom, I hear Mia laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next thing she’s taping my mouth shut. She explains that Gustav tapes his mouth to breath through his nose at night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, do you also get a sense of your mind closing right now? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, really!?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, what the hell, it’s summer. Only live once, etc etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masking tape applied (vertically btw), I turn out the light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only to wake up this morning full of life at 5.45am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(yes, read that again).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was really well-rested and recalling a vivid, life-enhancing dream that put some fire in my belly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Openness pays. It is an element of Summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, so, if like me, the next part of your Summer is about getting to work again, here’s a suggestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It increases happiness and disproves the myth that solitude (being closed) is better than being open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talk to a stranger on your morning commute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We’ve used the 2014 study by the Chicago Booth School of Business behind this suggestion in our events. It showed that people who speak to a stranger experience increased happiness, even eight hours later. And the strangers they talked to, at a staggering 100% of those questioned, reported also feeling happier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The curious part is that the same people expected to feel better if they interacted with no-one on the morning train. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, try this out, if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you’re curious about the switch that gets switched in the human brain when we do this, there’s a really cool hypothesis about that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that’s perhaps for another day\/event\/post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you try this, and you’d like to let me know how it goes, or experiment with this together with a buddy (since that’s what Habitmakers is about), then follow\/register\/dm me and I’ll get you set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In happiness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tim<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So a young houseguest suggested taping my mouth shut at night. And my openness needle initially sank into the red. Yet I woke up full of energy and recalling my dreams. And, in this article, how openness correlates with happiness according to Chicago Booth School of Business research.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,34],"tags":[27,36,35,38],"class_list":["post-230264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buddying","category-habits","tag-accountability","tag-habits","tag-happiness","tag-openness"],"yoast_head":"\n