How To Find Joy In 90 Seconds

Nina Obier, Joy Kuel Category Expert

Where does your JOY come from in the midst of chaos, uncertainty, pain, and suffering?

Do you find joy on social media? Do you find it on TV? Or, do you find it in conversation with family or friends? What about comfort food? 

What Does Joy Mean?

Let’s start with what does Joy means? The definition, according to Google, is a feeling of great pleasure or happiness. To be honest this is not the joy I am referring to. I am referring to the inner joy you have no matter what is going on outside, in your life, your circumstances, especially those things you can not control. 

“I think it is safe to say the past two years have been filled with chaos and uncertainty” 

Moreover, I think it is safe to say the past two years have been filled with chaos and uncertainty. I imagine many of you have felt pain and suffering, either personally or for others you know and meet. I believe no one has avoided this reality. 

Speak It Out:

What has been interesting to observe in myself and others is noticing who has just been surviving and who has been thriving. Then asking myself what is different about their experiences? I will not go into all my theories at this moment, instead, I will focus on one. 

What’s going right? This simple yet powerful concept to literally stop yourself when you are spinning out of control and ask yourself what’s going right, then making the time to answer that question and speak it out or better yet write it out is a game-changer. 

Here are two reasons why this is so powerful and will help you find joy.

First, You can Change Your Outlook In 90 Seconds.

The 90-second rule is a term used by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist who specialized in the anatomy of the brain. 

90-Second Chemical Process:

“When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop. Something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert.

“after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop. “

For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds. This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away.

After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again.” -My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.

Second, There Is Incredible Power Putting Pen To Paper.

It helps you focus. Imagine asking yourself, what’s going right? Then proceeding to write it down, for 90 seconds (let’s just say). Boom! You now are focusing on the good, on the gratitude. Allowing yourself to change the trajectory of that moment. 

I can promise you, this simple yet powerful little trick has served me well over the years and especially since the start of this chaotic time in March 2020. It is one way I have been able to confidently say I can find joy in the journey. I promise you I am not joyful because I have my life all figured out and I have no pain or suffering, I am joyful because I know there is always something going right. 

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About the Author:

Nina is the acclaimed author of “Listen.Learn.Love.Lead” and “My Daily Clarity” In her keynotes, seminars, and workshops she brings her positive energy and a unique ability to make the complex simple. As Founder of Success Simplified, Nina’s mission is to provide action-oriented tools and strategies so that her audiences and clients gain the ability to remove doubt, discouragement, and distraction to replace it with clarity, confidence, and commitment. 

Nina is passionate about personal development and is known for having the wisdom of a 90-year-old with the energy of a 9 year old.