My running coach, Holly Johnson, wrote a book a few years ago called How To Make Feeling Good Your Priority [ad] (my review). In it, she wrote about how she applies her running mindset to everyday life. Specifically, when feeling bad during a run (tired, hurt, etc), she would find a way to feel good right now. She’d seek one small adjustment that could make an immediate difference. Her aim was to stop a bad moment from becoming a bad day.
Related to that, I once got some advice to maintain a list of small things you could do to make you happy. They could be quick, or more involved. Perhaps some are situational and some could be done whenever. The idea is that you could use them to substitute out a bad habit or for a pick-me-up. Like, instead of doom scrolling, you listen to a song you like.
In that spirit, I have developed a list of small things that make me happy (or will make me feel like I had a good day). I am not trying to get all of them every day. They’re meant as a way to fill time with things that lift me up instead of doing things I would prefer to do less of. A lot of them are tied to my 2026 theme of Fuerte y Suerte, but not all.
- Work towards 10,000 steps
- Hang on a pull up bar (there’s one in my office)
- Sit in a deep squat for 5 minutes
- Go for a walk outside
- Work towards my daily protein goal
- Read a book
- Do Morning Pages
- Journal
- Selfie Video (5 min) to practice extemporaneous speaking
- Call, text, or meet with a friend
- Listen to Spanish (Podcast, Music)
- Fill a page with Spanish writing
- Code on a side project
- Tidy
- Meditate
- Quality time with my wife
- Listen to music
- Sketch
One nice thing is many of them can be combined. I can go for a walk outside, get steps, and listen to Spanish Music. Or go for walk outside with my wife. Read a book on the elliptical. I did my morning pages in Spanish yesterday. Many take just a few minutes. A hang is less than a minute right now. I can do it while waiting for a compile (jk, I use Python).
And, if I do want to just watch some YouTube, I can sit in a squat or find something in Spanish to watch. Or find some music videos (and dance).
If you are looking to find a way to break a bad habit, a list like this is useful to implement a substitution strategy. If January 1st makes you motivated to make change, then Use Motivation To Program Your Environment—make the list and put it somewhere you can see it.