The Doubler

This is the exercise which inspired me to create this blog because it's so easy to do.

The basics are this: Once a day, think back over the past 24 hours, and choose a positive experience you had during that time. Write down as much detail as possible about this experience.

The theory is that your brain can't tell the difference between having the actual experience, and merely visualising the experience. As a result, you are effectively having a positive experience twice.

Image by engin akyurt from Pixabay

I think there are a number of things I think we could do to make this work even better.

Always write the details of your positive experience by hand, rather than on a computer or mobile phone. There is research that shows that handwritten notes are retained in the memory more easily than notes typed on a laptop. I would suggest using a cheap notepad, or a diary, for this purpose.

It might be an idea to do this exercise first thing in the morning so that you start your day with a positive outlook. You could also re-read your notes at lunchtime, to get a further lift.

If you do this every day, you could read through all of your positive experiences at the end of a week or month. Can life really be so bad, if you have a notepad detailing all of the positive experiences you had this month?

Is this something you could share with your partner? What if you both did this exercise separately. If you both agree, you could share your notes every day or week.

Likewise, is this an exercise your children could do?

I first came across this idea in a free Audible show called Get Happy: Introduction to Happiness. The show is free to listen to for all Audible subscribers (even if you are using a free trial).