How to be 10% happier

I think about this a lot. As a solo founder, it can get sad / annoying when you notice others doing more than you are, or when you have too much on your plate that you can't really get through in time, etc.

As hard as it may be, there's little areas / chances of joy in our daily lives. I've thought of a few. I'm generally not the happiest person in the room. But building something that's important to me and learning from other founders along the way, have taught me 2 tricks. As you know, I hate fluff and I get to the point so here we go:

Deliberately trying.

You'll hear many people often say that being happy is a mindset. Although I don't fully agree, I do believe that if you are actively engaging your brain to give less importance to the sadder and more depressive parts of your daily life, you will subconsciously seek the lighter / more joyous moments.

It may suck missing the train or bus on your way to work. Being late, thinking of all the shit that'll go wrong because you start your shift 30 minutes late, etc. - all of this going through your mind is totally rational and fine. But often times when we keep doing this, our minds start spiralling and we go from one negative thought to the next. Slowly, this becomes our reality and you start hating and seeing the shit side of everyone in your life, work, startup, etc.

How do you stop it? Well, you can't put a plug on it completely. But you are able to slowly shift your mindset to focus less on the negatives and start deliberately pouring your attention more towards the happier parts of your daily life. This takes months and sometimes years. I myself used to be extremely negative. But over time I learned that no one will rescue me from the whole I've dug. And so I slowly learned to intentionally find the semi-happy parts of my week so I can focus on what's really important. Building Sparrow. Which reminds me, you should tweet at: https://twitter.com/sparrowstartup

Understanding that everyone eats shit.

You've heard 10 times that "Instagram isn't real life". But I'll tell you all the startup glory of $10,000 MRR or $500,000 MRR isn't all fun all the time. I've read and spoken to ## founders and I know by now that almost everyone always remains in some state of uncertainty in their lives - personal or startup. There's no green grass on any side. It's all shit, with some patches of green. And that's okay. Because we're all here for a while.

Now I know this will vary. Your friend might be richer, his girlfriend might be hotter, her startup's growing and yours isn't - look I get it. I really do. Trust me haha. I won't tell you to "be grateful" or something. But I will tell you that every fucking thing around us is a process. Some people make it look effortless. But every fucking thing takes a lot of time to make, build, re-build, smoothen and grow to a million dollars. Nothing is free. Nothing is easy. All the good shit takes time and you're no exception.

I'm sorry these aren't super flashy "Top 52 Ways To Be Happy From An Ex-Pornstar" material. I'm not Vogue yo chill. But when you actively help your brain look at the brighter side of things or focus less on the negative outcomes (or potential, overthinky negative outcomes) you generally tend to feel lighter. It helps! Additionally, since our brain is wired for instant gratification, helping yourself understand that "good shit takes time yo" is also another great way of conditioning your mind to think long-term and not rush your body for stupidly large, short-term goals that are near impossible to achieve.

Last bonus point is meditation. Headspace has 10 free sessions. Legit calmed me down and helped me think straight. And if Headspace isn't cutting it, I know a couple of sane, zen founders who've built successful startups. Maybe talking to them would take the edge off? Idk, but hey, they're over at Sparrow https://SparrowStartup.com/) if you wanna drop by ;)

Love you guys, stay cool, get rich.