This Tuesday Tune-In is short and sweet – and the point of it is to hear from you at the end.

Recently, while listening to a podcast I love called “Magic Lessons,” I heard a quote that I’ve been thinking about a lot by playwright/performer Sarah Jones:

“What if joy is my only metric for success?”

Pause for a moment. Think about this. Why does success often mean something different for us?

If we said this quote to little kids who haven’t yet felt consumed by competition, then they would say, ”Duh.” For them, the sign of a good day is a fun day. They would give huge extra bonus points to a day if it involved giggles with us.

But what do we consider to be a sign of success? I’m not asking about happiness, rather success. It’s complicated for each of us. But often it has to do with money, freedom, acclaim, fame, property, nice things and nice vacations.

That said, I have a feeling that every single one of you just read that quote above and thought to yourself, “Yeah. That sounds much more accurate than any other concept of success.”

So let’s go with this idea for a moment and follow through. If JOY is our metric of success than what brings us joy?

Here’s the good news: Joy is moment to moment. It’s more of a short-term plan than actualizing something in the long term. Because, the thing is, we can’t possibly know what will bring us joy in a year. We can only try to figure out what will bring us joy right now.

I’ve told you before that the Five-Minute Journal has made me hone in on what makes me happy. [Here’s my post on how to practice it.] Looking back at my journals, I realize that three things consistently keep coming up for me when I put down on paper what would make my day better.

My 3 Joyful Things:
1. Smiling.
2. Laughing.
3. Singing.

These are the things that I need to remind myself to do daily, especially when I am low, in order to make my day great. I want to smile more to strangers. I want to laugh more with my children and with those around me. I want to sing and play music either by myself or with others.

It doesn’t mean that those are the only things that have come up for me. I’ve had days when I remind myself to hug my kids or husband more. There are days when I remind myself to meditate, speak to a friend or family member, go dancing or read a book.

No matter what though, these are the three simple things that come up again and again for me on my list. Coming up with what these are for me has been helpful. I can give myself a daily reminder of what I need to put some effort into in order to feel more joy during my day.

I just asked my eldest what his three things are and he said:

My Son’s 3 Joyful Things:
1. Read
2. Have fun
3. Learn

So I ask you: What are your 3 Joyful Things? I would SO LOVE to hear what come up with in the comments below! Please share.

Is one of your joyful things being a support to friends? Then you’ll get joy from forwarding a fellow parent this newsletter!

Yes! Please send me more of the Tuesday Tune-In!