Happiness Habits That Will Change Your Mood

Welcome back to Proof It’s Possible! In this episode, we’re diving deep into what it really means to be happy—beyond the surface-level advice and curated Instagram quotes. We explore the multifaceted nature of happiness, touching on everything from mindset shifts to movement, and the power of real human connection. Tune in to hear:

• How small mindset shifts can create big waves in your daily happiness.
• Why gratitude and self-care aren’t just buzzwords—they’re non-negotiables.
• The connection between nutrition, movement, and emotional well-being.
• Why community might be the most underrated happiness hack.
• Simple, practical tips to cultivate joy—starting today.

What daily habit makes you feel your best? Share your thoughts with us—we’d love to hear!  DM us on Instagram @dayle_sheehan_designs & @jamiedfrancis! See you next time!

This episode is sponsored by our Ultimate Girls Trip! Be sure to go to www.proofitspossible.com for more info

For More Information:
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Dayle:
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Jamie:
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Transcript

Dayle (00:01)
Welcome back. We are so excited you're with us again. Thank you. I today we were talking about my very favorite topic, which is happiness. It is my thing. It is what I care about. I wrote a book about it. I just love happiness and the habits that I believe in that we believe are critical to having a happy life. So, Jay, do want me to start or do you want to start?

Jamie (00:04)
Bye guys.

Why don't we just go back and forth? I'll start though. ⁓ I think the number one thing that brings me happiness is sunlight. So, like I like to sip my coffee in the room where I can see the sunlight the best. Like it has the most natural light because sunlight literally brings me joy. So that's like a huge thing for me.

⁓ That's like right when I first wake up, but if I'm having like kind of a bad day and I need to like shift the tide I will go outside to the sunshine and like go on a walk or do something that's like in the like in the sunlight Yeah

Dayle (01:08)
interesting.

And for me, if I need like a happiness boost, I need to spend time with people I love. I go to, I need like your kids. I even will FaceTime. I'll call you. I'll, you know, plan something fun to do with Darren that like gets us out of our routine. I desperately need like connection with the people that I love because that's my like basic happiness habit. You know, like it's really, really super.

Jamie (01:27)
Mm-hmm.

Anyway.

Dayle (01:38)
⁓ And it can turn me around like my friends if I go like on a fun lunch and I laugh and laugh and laugh the whole time I come home from that lunch and I'm like that was great. Everything in life's fine. I'm

Jamie (01:48)
Yeah,

yes, I've totally value connection as well. Lots of the times when I'm feeling like stressed or like I need a dose of happiness. I'm at home alone. Like my kids are at school, you know, so it's like there isn't I could call you, which I do call you. But like I wasn't counting. I wasn't counting that. Okay.

Dayle (01:53)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Well, that's why I call you. That's why I call you. Yeah. Hello.

Well, but don't underestimate the dopamine hit when the other person has time to answer.

Jamie (02:13)
But some people,

some people don't have a sister. I'm giving tips for other people that don't have a sister, okay.

Dayle (02:17)
Yes. Bye.

like that's a tip. Find your person find your best friend like find your adult best friend that you make like a pact with that you say like, Listen, sometimes I just like to call someone and talk and tell everything to do you like that? And like your friend will say no, I hate that. Like we have a friend that she basically feels completely violated if we just cold call her to talk about anything. Yeah, same. And like fair enough, know your audience know who the right friend is but

Jamie (02:23)
True.

Mm-hmm.

yeah, no I have more than one friend like that.

Dayle (02:49)
you know, go searching for that person that like, can he immediately like reframe, give you a mindset shift, help you chat, help you talk through the problem, whatever it looks like, you know, and

Jamie (03:00)
Totally,

Other things that I like to do is like at the end of the day is do like a win. ⁓ Like what are some of the like small wins I had today? No, just like a little bit of a reflection to be like your day wasn't all that, you know? And that's more of like if I have a bad day, how to like go to bed on a positive note is like, what wins did you have today and what? ⁓

Dayle (03:18)
Exactly.

Mm-hmm.

for sure.

Jamie (03:29)
you know, like what can, where can you find the like small slivers of joy throughout the day? Cause life is like a combination of like good and bad moments, you know, like you can't define an entire day by like one bad thing that happened to you. So it's like just reminding yourself, reminding myself that there was lots of good that happened in the day. Like you woke up in a safe place, you have a home, you have food on the table, you have a family that loves you. Like your kids are healthy, you know, all the ways in which like you should also be grateful.

Dayle (03:34)
Totally.

Of course.

Your kids are healthy, your husband's healthy. Yeah.

Totally.

For sure. And I think gratitude is obviously on the list of any happiness practice, which we've talked about in this podcast millions of times. And that's where like journaling and those kinds of things really help. ⁓ Something you kind of touched on, it's for me, what that does is it's a reframe, right? Like I like to do a mindset reframe every time and I almost like...

Jamie (04:02)
Yeah.

Okay.

Dayle (04:21)
I've gotten into a practice where I stop myself when I'm having a bit of a pity party or something's not going my way. And someone wrote to us in the DMs actually, recently. And you know, we were talking about like what our fears are and they said theirs was failure, which like just universal nervous thing. If you are going into a new business or you're starting something new, the nerves of failing, the scariness of failing is what stops everybody, I think.

to some degree, however you wrap that package is just failure. So what I kind of like, and one of the ways that I saw myself as a failure when I was a new designer in my first like maybe five years, I realized like during the summer months, I didn't make as much money as the rest of the year. And I felt very uncomfortable with it. was like, these months are loser months.

Jamie (04:51)
I would say if you were to interview... yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Dayle (05:19)
I'm being a loser, I am a loser, my soul's a loser. And I just, loser months. And because I didn't really know business yet, I didn't manage my money across the year to make very little for two full months. You you're just young, right? So what I did was, is I turned the summer almost into the villain of my story. And I'm like, what I realized though, was I was like, if I managed my money differently throughout the year,

Jamie (05:21)
Loser months. I said loser months.

Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Dayle (05:49)
and just counted on that people don't care about their house as much in the summer. And we all want to be outside, including me, including me. So guess what I'm.

Jamie (05:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's what I was just going

to say. Don't talk shit about summer. It's the best.

Dayle (06:02)
Yeah, well,

so I got to re I got to reset my mindset once the financial piece was sorted out on how to deal with that. I got to reset and be like, guess what? I get to slow down for the summer. I get to enjoy my family in the summer. I get to be at the beach in the summer. I get to go swimming in the summer. You know, like I got to do all the fun things that summer brought because I wasn't as busy and I could just start anticipating that. And that was maybe actually the perk of my job. Not like

Jamie (06:20)
Yeah.

You know, I love similar.

Totally. Yeah.

Dayle (06:31)
Why

was I villainizing that I wasn't as busy in the summer? That's ideal. Be busy all year. ⁓ Totally. So, but, isn't that like how we, how our minds work is to look at like, I'm down this much money because of no projects or only one project or two projects. And it's like, that's not the way to look at it. It be, be financially more, ⁓ conservative throughout the year. And

Jamie (06:35)
Yeah, like thank you universe for clearing my schedule so that I could have the best summer ever.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dayle (07:01)
then soak up the summer. So I think happiness really relies on being able to see every what feels like a negative situation for the good parts that it does bring. Because even hard things, do want, like when somebody like, for instance, let's say you broke up with your boyfriend. And so you're like, my God, there's nothing positive about this. But once you step away from that and you start having some healthy conversations with friends and family and people that love you,

Jamie (07:05)
you

Dayle (07:31)
You might find out, you know what, there's lots of good about it. They showed me who I was, who they were, so I didn't have to like spend five more years to find out. ⁓ They showed me that I don't necessarily want to marry them. They showed me that I could get back out into the world and like maybe have a break from dating, maybe start dating immediately and like have a whole bunch of fun in a new relationship.

Jamie (07:35)
then

Mm-hmm.

Maybe it's clearing

your schedule for the right person to come in.

Dayle (07:55)
Exactly.

Making space. So, and that is a gift. And like, yes, it feels sad. Yes, it's hard to start over. Yes, you don't want to break up with the boyfriend that you thought might go to marriage or be the guy, but he isn't the guy. So he's telling you who he is and you have to trust that. Right?

Jamie (07:58)
Making space.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Mm hmm. Yeah.

No, I think the reframe is like super important. Other things that I I do to like promote happiness, though, ⁓ is often related to like what I'm putting into my body. my God. Yeah. Like, like I have said before, too much caffeine gives me like bad anxiety. And I immediately I'm like having a bad day because I'm anxious and I feel terrible. ⁓ Keep in mind, I also love my coffee. So like,

Dayle (08:27)
really? Like what?

Great.

Mm-hmm.

Jamie (08:43)
That's

a religious experience in the morning. So I'm not willing to give that up. So it's just like finding the fine line. It's it's also about like, what have you done good for your body? Like have you for me, I really struggle with like drinking enough water. So if I'm like in like a lull or like feeling kind of low for more than a few days, I'm like, maybe I should go get an IV. Like maybe I should just get back to like, you know, hydrated because

Dayle (08:53)
Yes.

Thanks

Okay.

Jamie (09:08)
Oftentimes my mood is very tied to the way my body feels. So like, I drank enough water? Have I been eating like shit? Have I been like grabbing things because we're busy and like on the go or have I had a salad? Oftentimes like a meal can shift my mood so drastically. Like if I like have something that I'm like really wanting and really craving or like feeling really good about, like if I have like a truly delicious salad.

Dayle (09:13)
⁓ yes.

Thank

me too.

Jamie (09:37)
with like a dressing that I know is the bomb. For me, it's a lot of the food in Phoenix. Like if I go to a restaurant in Phoenix and I get to have one of the salads that I absolutely love from there, I'm like, yeah, life's pretty damn good. And then when I come home and I recreate that salad at home, I feel those same feelings of happiness because it's like nourishing to my body. It's like good for me. It reminds me of all the things that were fun about my vacation.

Dayle (09:49)
Yeah, absolutely.

Jamie (10:05)
There's like just like all the things tied to it so like mind body and spirit are all tied to that like one one meal, you know, but

Dayle (10:14)
One other thing that I was going to

say about that is that like the other night, if you want to see me go just crabby for no reason, get to my house at 4 or 35 o'clock when I forgot to eat breakfast, I forgot to eat lunch and Darren didn't pretty much walk through the door with a meal in his hand because it's already ready to eat because I am like, it's not his fault. It's nobody's fault by my own. But I said to Darren the other day, we were

Jamie (10:32)
Mm-hmm.

Dayle (10:42)
going to run errands after work, but I had the busiest day. So I like drank a protein, had a coffee, and that was the last of it. I didn't eat food again. And he came home a little bit early, so we maybe like left at 3.45, kind of thing, to go do this. And he's, and I said, we have to go eat something. And he's like, right now? Like it's the middle of the afternoon. And I'm like, unless you want me to like lose my damn mind, I can't even think right now. I'm like,

gonna barf, I feel like, but there's nothing to barf. I was just a monster. I was just a monster. And the minute I got some food into my body, half an hour later, I'm like, okay, I'm energized, let's go to Costco, let's go to the mall, let's go everywhere. And he's like, tonight? my God, no. And before that, I'm like, I don't even know if I have time or energy to do any of this. And I'm being crazy. I'm just being, and I'm being hangry is what I'm being. So that's why food matters.

Jamie (11:12)
Thank you.

And then, I'm out.

And also like vitamin deficient. feel like vitamin deficiency is a big thing for me because I'm not a huge like I don't take a lot of vitamins. I don't I can't remember to do it. I don't like the process of doing it, but I like the way vitamins make me feel so often I'll have to do like a little self-check and be like when was the last time you took a vitamin like you know when was the last time you've had like yeah, yeah, exactly. And so

Dayle (11:41)
Yes.

or ⁓ lots of vegetables, one or the other, you know?

Jamie (12:05)
you know, and sometimes that means like I need to get out, break out the happy juice and like, and I don't mean like happy juices and like, you know, a bottle of wine or anything. I mean like the brand happy juice, which is basically just like a bunch of vitamins in a drink. Cause I prefer a drink over taking pills. I don't know, just weird, weird things about myself, but it's like, what have you done good for your body lately? So that's one of my like happiness hacks is that if I'm having a bad day, I'm like what?

Dayle (12:11)
Mm-hmm.

Jamie (12:32)
Have you had too much coffee? Have you had enough water? Have you eaten a meal today? Have you had any vitamins lately? You know, like just the things, the self checks I gotta do when I'm in a monster mode.

Dayle (12:42)
sure.

For sure. like when I feel stressed, I have to act, I have to physically act. So sometimes if I'm so stressed that like a project or a job or like work things, all it go do my bike quickly, because I just have to physically move or sometimes going and doing my bike and ignoring my work gives me worse feelings of like stress. So I just have to get something done. And like

Jamie (12:46)
And yes, I will.

Move. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dayle (13:10)
The power of completing something, accomplishing something can bring a ton of happiness to me. And I love to check something off my list. So that's a little dopamine hit. Like that's me being like, done, yay, amazing.

Jamie (13:25)
Well, and

I feel like if you want to feel overwhelmed, anxious, unhappy, stay still. It's literally how things rot, you know? Like, if you look at just like nature, if it just stays still and like nothing happens with it, it like dies, it starts to rot, it starts to do all of these things. You have to keep moving. just, what...

Dayle (13:32)
Yeah. Stay still and procrastinate.

Yep, it means it's dead already, potentially. Yeah.

Jamie (13:52)
And if that's not like doing the task that you're supposed to be doing, move in a different way. Move your body, go for a walk. Like Ray always says, he like rides the peloton for his like mental health. That's his like way of moving the energy through him.

Dayle (13:58)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, when he always says movement is medicine, like that's his like medicine, he doesn't want to take medicine. So for something or like, you know, in his life and it's preventative, right? The more you like walk and move your body when you're young, and capable, the later in your life, you're going to get to have all of that and the happier you're going to get to be. Right?

Jamie (14:09)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

But

for me, it's even like moving my body is really is great. But like when I have a laundry list of things that I need to get done in a day and it's causing me anxiety because I'm like, how am I ever going to get this done? Do one simple thing. Do one item off the list. Just get the ball rolling. Don't sit there and worry about how you're going to get it done. Just start. Just do the thing. Like move.

Dayle (14:36)
⁓ same.

Exactly. Yep.

Exactly. For sure. When like I'll even like

mark my things on how, how intensive they each are. So it's like, if I can get two quick wins, I'll do that. Just to say I did it and then write something off and get to say done, done, and then hit the heavier items. Once I'm feeling a little more motivated, a little more, you know, energized around it. And then and you you almost like build self belief because you're like, okay, I

Jamie (15:02)
Yeah.

Yes.

Dayle (15:20)
I've got two or three little things off my list. I'm on a roll here. Try the big thing. know, try this thing that's scary. Try the thing that you don't, you've been avoiding. So do you have any other like kind of happiness hacks other than like friendship, moving your body, eating healthy?

Jamie (15:31)
Mm-hmm.

That's all I can think of for now. mean, it's also doing the things that you love, like intentionally choosing things that bring you joy. And I know that sounds ridiculous, like, ⁓ everyone already knows that. But like, if you love playing soccer, join a soccer league. If you love painting, paint more often. you know, like find a thing that lights you up and do it more often, because we just don't. As adults, our lives get busy and we just stop doing the things that we love.

Dayle (15:42)
Yeah, me too. think those are...

Totally.

Hmm.

Exactly.

For sure, for sure. ⁓ And we even forget what we love. we forget who we even were before life got busy and stressful. You know, like, yeah, I agree. So if you are needing a little hit of happiness, we hope that you reach out to a friend, reach out to us, walk, move your body, do something on your to-do list, you know. Yeah, eat your vitamins, okay? And drink some water. You'll be fine.

Jamie (16:13)
100 %? Yeah. Exactly.

Mm-hmm.

Take your vitamins, get it out again. ⁓

Dayle (16:37)
Eat supper, that's what it's for. You're supposed to eat it. Same with lunch and breakfast. Have a great week, you guys.

Jamie (16:44)
Bye!