The Happiness Project

In this episode, I am in conversation with Pawel Zoneff who has worn many professional hats, from producing local branding and ad campaigns for companies like Google, Microsoft, Uber. Tinder, WeWork and among others! Last year was very different for all of us .. with the entire world turning upside down, job being taken away, everybody was slammed with emotional and mental distractions - thanks to the pandemic. Pavel takes us through his journey about adjusting his perspective, about how 2020 was particularly different for him both personally and professional, about how he found inspiration and managed to stay in his positive light. He also makes the conversation fun by answering the question around ' a toxic advice he has heard/received/seen around the internet that he would like us all to debunk'.. Do tune in and listen to the episode till the end to get inspired and find a different perspective as we move forward in the new year of 2021! You can find Pawel Zoneff below -

Personal: @gazebook on Instagram

Podcast: @affectedbypod on IG and Twitter.

Email: [email protected]

So guys, set an Intention. Plant seeds. With whatever limits in place. This is your time – the beginning of the new year.. A very powerful and important time for envisioning and co-creating your reality for the whole of the new year! So start now by simply shifting your perspective!

So this year I thought of making my podcast even more specific and structured. What I am going to bring on The Happiness Project is a theme, every month – and all of my episodes are going to revolve around that theme! The theme for January is ‘Getting things into Perspective’

So, with the beginning of a new year, most of us expected immediate improvement. But as we flipped the calendar to 2021 many things remain unchanged. The weariness of the old year clings to us. A year-long pandemic still rages. Overwhelming grief is an unwanted companion to many. Uncertainty is still present. Exactly why, I wanted the theme for the first month of 2021 to be all about gaining perspective by simply not over-expecting, by focusing on thing which are in our control, by adjusting our vision to see all the good and hopeful, by blocking out the negativity that constantly bombards us. Just before 2020 ended, I spent an entire day journaling with my best friend, why? Why not huh? Nothing can be more therapeutic than journaling with your best friend. I have also shared a small clip of my best friend Nikita Vamanjur who has shared her experience of Journaling. I am currently reading a book – Atomic Habits by James Clear, he says, it’s all about creating a system – that will shift your belief system and your identity into who you really want to be! And Journaling certainly seems like a huge part of the kind of person I am becoming! Your journaling does not need to produce Nobel Prize-worthy prose. You don’t need to commit to a life practice right now. Start with one line—about how you are feeling, something you did yesterday, something you are excited about, someone you are thinking about. Start by doing it for one week. Start by writing a few things you are grateful for. Start with a sentence about the mindset you are going to attack the day with, about something interesting you learned in your reading yesterday, about your plans for the day. Whatever it is, start ridiculously small. You’ll know when you’re ready to build on it and write in more depth. Don’t journal out of duty or obligation, do it because you enjoy doing it! Journaling isn’t for everyone, so if you don’t resonate with it, that’s OK. There’s probably something else out there equally as beneficial. But if you do enjoy and benefit from this practice, pay attention to the benefits! Don’t just make journaling into something else to check off your “to-do” list. I like to notice how much mental and emotional clarity I have after journaling, and it is those feelings and discoveries that keep me going. I hope journaling can benefit you just as much as it has benefitted me.

As we enter into the new year, I want to share with you some great news. My podcast THP has completed one year and 59 episodes. You are now tuned into the 60th  episode today! Whoa! What a year has it been – 2020! How many of you feel the sigh of relief that I feel right now hun?! Well this year has forced us to do things differently and reimagine our way of living. At the end of a normal year, you might look back over the previous 12 months and use the memory of what you’ve achieved to guide how you plan for the following year. And though it’s definitely worth celebrating any wins you’ve had in the chaos of 2020, it’d be wise to resist the temptation to apply the same expectations to this one as we would a normal one. But let’s be honest - Reflecting on 2020 isn’t just a way to think about the year ahead but it’s also about sorting through everything that’s happened this year (and it’s been a lot). It can help us process the emotional rollercoaster of the last 12 months, and better prepare us for the uncertainty we continue to face. So before I move on to giving you a recap on the last year, I want you to take a moment and ask yourself these questions just to understand the things that really matter and the things that don’t - How did this year challenge your beliefs about yourself?  And about others around you? What kind of behaviours did you unlearn in order to break your unhealthy pattern? What did you need to change within yourself and your immediate surroundings that enabled you to persevere and even thrive this year? Going forward, what priorities do you want to commit to? Now let’s dig right in! I have been reflecting on the entire year in the past couple of days and it has got me to realise so many lessons that I learnt, things that I want to carry with me in the coming year and things that I need to let go off however challenging it seems. When the year started, I was pretty excited for what this year had in store for me. And surprisingly, there’s a lot of things that I am immensely grateful for and happy about. My year started with an unexpected travel so change was kind of a constant in my life this year! So guys, where you are right now will be very different than where you will be next year in 2021 – with new moments to live, new experiences to share, new challenges to overcome, new relationships to experience, new people to meet, new places to travel, new projects to accomplish – It will all happen with just one act – By putting yourself out there! Wishing you a very happy new year!

“If there’s something I learnt from the entire Covid experience - it’s showing up! Showing up irrespective of how I felt - in my work, in my personal life, my interviews. I just showed up! It was difficult initially but I was amazed at how rewarding the experience of showing up was! So if there’s something that I want to tell you right now is that - Stop procrastinating. Stop putting so much of energy into only thinking/planning and start implementing! Trust me when you start showing up, wonderful things happen and you’ll be amazed at how far you would have come”

COVID-19 Stories #covidstories (Inspired by @vogueindia ). “It’s important to rest, and take a pause more often. If we take a mini vacation, our world is not going to come crashing down or we are not going to lose a fortune or lose out on opportunities” says Psychologist, Tritha Mukherjee ( @mindgeek10 )

COVID-19 Stories #covidstories (Inspired by @vogueindia). “What I would love to encourage is some of the goodness, some of the lessons we have learnt. And I would encourage you to listen. To listen more to each other. And as we head into 2021 - I would encourage you’ll to listen more” says Jane AdShead Grant, People Leadership and Listening Specialist. She has also developed an Acronym for us all:

L - Listen in the way that you love

I - Interested in the way others are thinking and expressing

S - Holding that Silence rather than rushing the S space

T - Give them trust to make responsible decisions for themselves

E - Encourage them to express their thinking

N - Nurture that sense of compassion ❤️

So ask yourself today - Are you listening for real?

COVID-19 Stories #covidstories (Inspired by @vogueindia ) Practicing Stillness and Telling your mind to ‘STOP’ and move on to the next one are two practices that have worked for me during times of Covid, says Anshika Arora, a graduate from London School of Economics, Change Maker, and a Certified Nutrition, Well-being and Leadership Coach!

COVID-19 Stories #covidstories (Inspired by @vogueindia )

“Sometimes we can get into this mindset where we think things need to go a certain way and if they don’t go that way it’s bad or if things change, it’s bad. But in reality, whether things happen or don’t happen or happen differently than we expected, it’s okay and really taking time to reflect, accept and let go and let things happen as they are and trusting the process is so important” says Kenny Harper, Speaker, Author and Marketing Advisor!

We are left with last 10 days of 2020! Are you ready to close the chapter of 2020, and welcome the new year with new possibilities and opportunities?The end of the year can be an emotional experience for us all. Whether it was your best year or not so great year, we definitely start to get the feels as we approach the end of the year. And you’d all agree – 2020 was no exception! Well, heart in heart, we will also agree that we are all anticipating things to go back to normal from the 1st of January 2021. But we also know that that would be false expectations. So whether making new year resolutions is your thing or not, this time of the year is a perfect time for reflection and inspiration. This time, especially in 2020, is the time to move forward from where we are to where we want to be in 2021 and taking the necessary action to make it happen. So today’s episode is more about introducing to what I am planning for you all on ‘The Happiness Project’ in the last few days of 2020! Stay tuned every other day, switch on your notifications, listen and share these stories of hope and inspiration, follow me for more inspiration on Instagram. You can find me on happiness_project1102 and make sure you don’t miss out on any other upcoming episodes in the last few days of 2020! The one’s who been following my work, know that my episode releases every Tuesday, but specially in these times, I want to share these incredible messages before the year end because I know 2 minute of inspiration would change how we look at our life! So in last seven days of 2020 I want you to wake up with a thought that something wonderful about to happen!!!

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