I was looking forward to digging out my more colourful clothes and seeing if wearing bright colours really would boost my mood and make me feel happier. I was already aware of the fact that in the summers back in the UK I would wear lighter colours and a wider array of colours but as soon as autumn came around, I would retreat back into my black, dark blue and maroon coloured clothing. I just didn’t wear bright colours when the weather was miserable, and I was much more likely to feel miserable as a result. Thus, I was already convinced that the colour of my clothing does have an impact on my ..read more

Week 3 – Get up to watch the sunrise each day Yes! I freaking love sunrises! This week’s challenge has brought me so much joy and happiness because I genuinely love getting up to watch the sun come up but haven’t been doing it much recently. This week gave me the kick up the bum to get that alarm set for 7am and to find a different spot everyday to watch the sunrise and to see which place is my favourite. Here’s how my week went: Day 1: My boyfriend and I decided to climb up to the top of a very large hill that is halfway between where we live and the beach. From the top of it you can for ..read more

If this sounds like your worst nightmare – then you will understand the tough week I had! Ha ha! Giving up caffeine, alcohol and sugar all at once was a killer! I put this strategy forward because we are constantly bombarded with mixed information about the dangers and benefits of these three substances, so I thought it would be interesting to see if going without them had a positive impact on my happiness. Although I don’t consider myself someone who drinks much coffee (one or two cups a day), eats much sugar or consumes too much alcohol etc. I can tell you now that I found this week rea ..read more

Week 1: Will giving out lots of compliments make you happier? For week one of the 52-week Happiness Challenge it was voted by those on my Facebook page, that I spend the week giving out compliments to see if it boosted my mood and made me happier. There I was on Monday morning, full of beans and excited to start the first day of this challenge when my boyfriend walked into the living room dressed in a suit, ready for an interview he had that morning. He looked extremely handsome and I immediately told him so. I thought, result! I’m only an hour into the day and I’m already dishing out the c ..read more

How I put an end to years of insomnia As a teacher, I was used to working 50+ hour weeks and feeling like I’d never done enough. Even though I was working as hard as I could, I would feel guilty anytime I wasn’t doing ‘school work’ because I knew there was always a list as long as my arm of things I ‘could/should be doing’. Sound familiar? It was a nightmare! Unsurprisingly, after a 10 hour day at school, followed by an evening of marking until 10pm/11pm each night, it wasn’t long until my sleep was affected. I just couldn’t switch my brain off enough to go to sleep because my thoughts were ..read more

Hey, I wanted to share this personal story with you because it's something that has had a huge impact on my life. In 2017 I organised and led a two-week school trip to Swaziland, Southern Africa. I selected six students aged 16-18 to accompany me on the trip where we would volunteer with orphaned and vulnerable children. It was a once in a lifetime trip for the students and were all very excited to travel so far from home and experience a new culture. When we arrived in Swaziland we were amazed at the beauty of it. Beautiful landscapes of rolling hills, rivers and farmland. After q ..read more

Nerves are the worst. We know we have to push the boundaries of our comfort zone to achieve our most important goals - but why does it have to feel so incredibly uncomfortable? And why do we waste so much time thinking about everything that could go wrong? If we’ve got a super important job interview coming up, for example, we'll think about the questions we might be asked, how we'll answer them, how we'll sit… and before we know it, we're convinced we're going to mess everything up (and trying to remember why we're even bothering to do this). Hello, total confidence-destroyer. Inst ..read more

My exciting news!!! Eeeeek!!! I got some really exciting news this week that my blog here at The No1 School of Happiness has been selected as one of the top 75 Happiness bogs from around the world by Feedspot.com!! How amazing is that? Especially as it has only been up and running for a matter of months! My blog made number 59 on the list which is totally awesome. (I'll share the link at the bottom of the page). Why its vitally important to celebrate each little win This got me thinking about an important part of The Positive Plan course that I focus on, which is all about celebrating your ..read more

In today's blog post I wanted to talk to you about the importance of getting outside of your comfort zone if you want to live a happy life. Fisrt up, lets clarify what I mean by your 'comfort zone: Comfort zone: a place or situation where you feel completely at ease and without stress or anxiety. Sounds good right? Wrong! Now let me tell you why. Just like our beds, our comfort zone is something most of us like to be in as much as possible because it feels safe, secure and familiar. However, your comfort zone is the mental equivalent to a desert – very little grows there! Why should I care ..read more

Need a little inspo to get you through the week? Working a job we don't love (and hustling towards our dream in our spare time), can leave us wondering whether anything is evergoing to change. Doubt, fear, and despair starts to creep in. It's so easy to get discouraged when life doesn't seem to be going the way we want. When we feel this way, the key to success is to stay motivated; and the best motivation usually comes in the form of advice from super successful folks who've walked the same path we're currently treading. Because success leaves ..read more