How to Build a Personal ‘Joy List’ and Actually Use It

What’s a Joy List anyway? Think of a Joy List as your emotional first-aid kit. It’s not about big life goals or bucket list adventures. It’s about the tiny, everyday things that make your soul exhale. That smell of rain on concrete. That one indie song that feels like a hug. The chai stall around the corner. Your Joy List is your personal compass for feeling better, grounded, or just a little more alive.

Step One: Collect the Sparks

Don’t overthink it. Start noticing the micro-moments that make you smile. Jot them down in your notes app, a journal, or even voice notes. Try this. For three days, write down every time you feel even a bit happier. Your first sip of morning coffee? Add it. The dog you see on your way back home? Add it. Keep it raw, messy, and real.

Step Two: Make It Visual

Turn your list into something you see, not just store. Make it a corkboard collage, a phone wallpaper, a sticky note trail on your fridge. Whatever works. The idea is to make your Joy List tangible so it doesn’t vanish into your digital graveyard.

Step Three: Use It With Intention

Feeling blah? Don’t scroll, go to your Joy List. Treat it like a menu. Pick one or two items and do them. If “listening to 90s Bollywood music” made it to your list, hit play. If “making chilli chicken” is on there, order the ingredients and enter the kitchen. Make it a ritual, not a rescue.

Step Four: Refresh It Monthly

Joy evolves. What worked last month might not spark anything now. Set a monthly reminder to update your list - remove, add, repeat. You’re not the same person you were even two weeks ago, and that’s the point.

You Deserve Accessible Joy

Your Joy List is proof that happiness doesn’t always require a passport or a promotion. It lives in moments we often skip past. By building and using your Joy List, you’re not chasing joy, you’re choosing it every single day.