If you’re like the rest of us (or at least many of us), you likely struggle with some unrealistic expectations. Whether it’s related to your job, parenting, school, church, or even fitness, we all sometimes put ourselves at the mercy of expectations that aren’t founded in reality. Surprisingly (or maybe not so much), this doesn’t help us to be happy! One of the most common unrealistic expectations is the belief that if we’re not happy, there must be something wrong with us. This is such a lie we tell ourselves. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that life just sucks sometimes, and that’s totally ok! We’re not meant to be ecstatically happy all the time. The sad thing is, because we believe we should always be happy, we do things to make ourselves happy that actually make us miserable. Worse yet, these coping mechanisms feed depression, anxiety, and stress.
That’s where The Happiness Trap comes in. Written by Dr. Russ Harris, this book focuses on how we can free ourselves from our own false expectations using principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which focuses on mindfulness and purpose-driven living. If you’ve tuned into the podcast before, you know I am a huge proponent of ACT! I hope you’ll join me this week as I review this excellent book. I’ll take you through Dr. Harris’s research, and provide you with solutions to help you apply the principles of The Happiness Trap and ACT into your own life. It’s time to free yourself of those unrealistic expectations!
Subscribe on iTunes Have you subscribed to my podcast yet? If not, I’d highly encourage you to so today. I have some really great podcast episodes coming up and I would hate for you to miss them. Click here to subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode! And while you’re subscribing and feeling extra loving, please leave me a review as well! Just click here to review, and select “Ratings & Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you so much! I’m also on Spotify! Click the button below to listen!
Links Mentioned in this episode: