30 Days til Happiness Video Diary

How did I learn to love winter? That’s right winter which offers ZERO sun. The very sun that when I don’t get enough of it leads me to a milk form of depression called Seasonal Affected Disorder. Aptly abbreviated to S.A.D. it’s something that I would curse the countries where I’ve lived the most of my life in, England and Germany.

However turns out being S.A.D. is normal, adventurous even. Our bodies release hormones in relation to our environment, when it’s bright outside during the day, our bodies flood us with serotonin to tell us to get out of our cave and go out there and invent fire. Likewise when it’s night, our bodies help us fall asleep by releasing melatonin.

Perhaps the real issue is our modern lifestyles. Many modern jobs require staying indoors limiting sun exposure (and serotonin) and involve looking at screens (limiting melatonin). The result is we feel mostly shitty during winter. There’s a manual to how to use the body and I was not reading it.

This winter hadn’t even started, October and it was already too much for me. Add that to a new work commitment I started (this site), and me still feeling a little alien in Germany… the future didn’t look good.

I had to take action. One night while bitching to my girlfriend about how I hate not having any sun, I realised how annoying it must be for her to listen to this. I had to take action, if not for my sake, at least for hers.

Throughout my life, I have so far discovered three natural anti-depressants. Being outside in the nature, workouts and cold showers. What if I did all three, for 30 days. Necessity is the mother of invention. I had enough of leaving my mood to be dependent on things outside of my control. I was going to take control.

On the last day, I felt like I could cry. I was so happy that I had done this for myself. I had decided how I’m going to feel, and I carried out that plan and was now reaping the rewards. In the video above you will see my video diaries of the 30 days. I hope it inspires you to try this out yourself.

I have a resource available as a free gift for anyone joining my newsletter. A workbook of sorts with daily inspirations, workouts and a space for you to reflect and record your observations. This is important because the change is gradual, and subtle, but upon seeing your progress you are only then, able to judge how far you’ve come.