35. The Happiness Paradox and Cheering for Your Rivals to Build Joy

How do our elements of joy help us build this internal, infinite supply of joy that is within us? One reason is that we don't focus on happiness here at Joy Lab. Sounds wild, right? That's because of a little thing called the happiness paradox. Tune in for this episode as Aimee talks about this obstacle and how we use our elements of joy to overcome it. You'll also get a super simple and surprisingly effective strategy to boost your joy... and it involves reality tv and your least favorite sports team... enJOY!

Key Takeaways (see full transcript below):

• Joy is not the same as happiness. It's also not the opposite of depression. Joy is a deeper state of being that we can build up and maintain all the time.
• Chasing happiness is a recipe for fatigue and frustration.
• The happiness paradox is a reminder that we can instead build our elements of joy to uncover the inner state that we're actually after, and that is natural to us.
• Have fun with your work... try the simple sympathetic joy practice Aimee suggests in this episode:
  • Cheer for your rival sports team.
  • Watch a competition show and cheer for everyone. 

Links Mentioned:

• Joy Lab Program (step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life)
• Joy Lab podcast episode 8 (Why Gratitude Is Good [And Gratefulness Is Great])
• Joy Lab podcast episode 9 (Sympathetic Joy: Happiness Goes Viral)
• Joy Lab podcast episode 30 (Gratitude in the Wild: See What Is)
• Joy Lab podcast episode 31 (Gratitude in the Wild: Accept What Is)
• Joy Lab podcast episode 32 (Gratitude in the Wild: Choose Wisely)
• The paradox of pursuing happiness (Zerwas & Ford, 2021)
• Fronto-striatal activity predicts anhedonia and positive empathy subtypes (Mirabito, et al., 2019) [this is the study with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition]

Full transcript available at: https://www.naturalmentalhealth.com/podcasts/joy-lab-podcast/episodes/2147812899