The Happiness Challenge artwork

The Happiness Challenge

197 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago -

Hello happiness seekers! I’m Klaudia Mitura and I’m on a mission to explore the best
happiness habits that science has to offer.

Like so many others, the pandemic cut me off from family and work – so I decided to use my training as a Psychologist to discover what science can tell us about the art of happiness.

What I found set me on a path to joy – and now I’m ready to share my journey with you! Each month I’ll be publishing three linked episodes where I’ll be speaking to a leading expert, putting their tips to the test and sharing my findings (and feelings).

From mindfulness to exercise and random acts of kindness, I’ll be shining a light on the
simple happiness habits that can bring more joy to our lives.

So join me as I embark on my challenge and together we can become more successful,
resilient – and happy!

Klaudia Mitura is the Learning and Development Manager at the Science Museum Group.

Arts happiness mindfulness happy good mood pep talk inspiration psychology philosophy learning and development learning & development
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Episodes

Time & Happiness

December 01, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 19 MB

Statistics show us that we have more free time than we appreciate we do, in this episode, Kitty and Klaudia go on a quest of finding the lost time.  Through their dare of completing 3 things that they procrastinated to do before, they experience the time paradox and the different mindsets they unconsciously adopt towards time. They also explore the premise of STORIES which help them to spend their free time more wisely to boost their happiness.  This episode is packed with practical gems t...

#20 Time & Happiness: How to spend time wisely

December 01, 2020 08:00 - 27 minutes - 19 MB

Statistics show us that we have more free time than we appreciate we do, in this episode, Kitty and Klaudia go on a quest of finding the lost time.  Through their dare of completing 3 things that they procrastinated to do before, they experience the time paradox and the different mindsets they unconsciously adopt towards time. They also explore the premise of STORIES which help them to spend their free time more wisely to boost their happiness.  This episode is packed with practical gems t...

Social Media & Happiness

November 24, 2020 07:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MB

Everyone's talking about social media and ho it affects our mood and mental health. This week Kitty and Klaudia dared each other to watch the Netflix Documentary  The Social Dilema' a feature length film discussing the effects of social media from the people that invented it.  There are ways to use social media as a tool and be active within it and stay happy and thank goodness, because it doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.  Kitty is an expert in social media as she has wo...

#19 Social Media & Happiness: How to be happy on social media

November 24, 2020 06:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MB

Everyone's talking about social media and ho it affects our mood and mental health. This week Kitty and Klaudia dared each other to watch the Netflix Documentary  The Social Dilema' a feature length film discussing the effects of social media from the people that invented it.  There are ways to use social media as a tool and be active within it and stay happy and thank goodness, because it doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.  Kitty is an expert in social media as she has wo...

Resilience & Happiness

November 17, 2020 07:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

Resilience, the ability to keep moving despite challenges, is an elephant sized topic that needs to be eaten piece by piece. That is why, in this episode Kitty and Klaudia are joined by Sarah Metcalf, Chief Happiness Officer at Happy Coffee Consulting who shares her knowledge and experience on strengthening our resilience.  Join us to explore how to build up your own resilience, introduce this topic across your organization and create a safe space to learn resilience for your kids. It seems...

#18 Resilience & Happiness: How to stay resilient in the face of challenges

November 17, 2020 06:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

Resilience, the ability to keep moving despite challenges, is an elephant sized topic that needs to be eaten piece by piece. That is why, in this episode Kitty and Klaudia are joined by Sarah Metcalf, Chief Happiness Officer at Happy Coffee Consulting who shares her knowledge and experience on strengthening our resilience.  Join us to explore how to build up your own resilience, introduce this topic across your organization and create a safe space to learn resilience for your kids. It seems...

Questions & Happiness

November 10, 2020 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MB

Sometimes it is not that easy to connect with others and actually get into a good conversation. As much as we may believe that these happen by chance, this week Klaudia and Kitty tested the power of a good question to start interesting conversations. What a joy!  Listen to discover how to ask the powerful questions to self-reflect effectively, change your own mindset to a more powerful one, connect with others or even fall in love…. Support the show

#17 Questions & Happiness: How to ask questions to connect with others

November 10, 2020 06:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MB

Sometimes it is not that easy to connect with others and actually get into a good conversation. As much as we may believe that these happen by chance, this week Klaudia and Kitty tested the power of a good question to start interesting conversations. What a joy!  Listen to discover how to ask the powerful questions to self-reflect effectively, change your own mindset to a more powerful one, connect with others or even fall in love…. Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge...

Play & Happiness

November 03, 2020 07:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MB

Through the dare of trying out playful activities, this week Kitty and Klaudia challenge the notion that when we are at work, play is a frivolous activity and a waste of time.    From storytelling with cups to blindfolding colleagues, this episode explores the relationship between play, work and happiness. Listen to discover what type of play personality you may have and how to bring it to work to play more and avoid forced fun. Support the show

#16 Play & Happiness: How to embrace the power of play

November 03, 2020 06:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MB

Through the dare of trying out playful activities, this week Kitty and Klaudia challenge the notion that when we are at work, play is a frivolous activity and a waste of time.    From storytelling with cups to blindfolding colleagues, this episode explores the relationship between play, work and happiness. Listen to discover what type of play personality you may have and how to bring it to work to play more and avoid forced fun. Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge.co....

Ordinary & Happiness

October 27, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MB

How to enjoy Ordinary moments to have a happy life… In many cultures, there are entire philosophies around the celebration of ordinary moments.   Think of tea ceremonies of Japan - it is an ordinary chore to make cup of tea, yet in Japan it has been taken to the level of an art.    Join Kitty & Klaudia as they look at the ordinary moments in their own lives and discuss how much happiness they get from them.  Support the show

#15 Ordinary & Happiness: How to appreciate the simple things in life

October 27, 2020 06:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MB

How to enjoy Ordinary moments to have a happy life… In many cultures, there are entire philosophies around the celebration of ordinary moments.   Think of tea ceremonies of Japan - it is an ordinary chore to make cup of tea, yet in Japan it has been taken to the level of an art.    Join Kitty & Klaudia as they look at the ordinary moments in their own lives and discuss how much happiness they get from them.  Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/ Sign up to the n...

#14 Numbers & Happiness: How to measure your wellbeing

October 20, 2020 06:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MB

Through the dare, Kitty and Klaudia measured their happiness daily with a simple scale of one (very unhappy) to five (very happy).  As much as Kitty was skeptical that we can put a number on happiness, we were delighted to be joined by Nic Marks, the founder of FridayPulse and one of the UK leading experts and statisticians on happiness.  Join us on a journey of discovery where we find out how to measure our own happiness, why it is important for our  development and what are the key driver...

Numbers & Happiness

October 20, 2020 06:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MB

Through the dare, Kitty and Klaudia measured their happiness daily with a simple scale of one (very unhappy) to five (very happy).  As much as Kitty was skeptical that we can put a number on happiness, we were delighted to be joined by Nic Marks, the founder of FridayPulse and one of the UK leading experts and statisticians on happiness.  Join us on a journey of discovery where we find out how to measure our own happiness, why it is important for our  development and what are the key driver...

Meaning & Happiness

October 13, 2020 06:00 - 31 minutes - 21.9 MB

This is a very ambitious episode in which Kitty and Klaudia try to tackle the hairy, scary topic of finding meaning in life! Through their dare of identifying 3 alternative lives they could lead, they discover that meaning is more practical than we think.   Tune in and join them on the journey of finding meaning and happiness in relationships and work, with psychological tools and Monty Python’s advice. Whichever suits you! Support the show

#13 Meaning & Happiness: How to find internal drive and purpose

October 13, 2020 06:00 - 31 minutes - 21.9 MB

This is a very ambitious episode in which Kitty and Klaudia try to tackle the hairy, scary topic of finding meaning in life! Through their dare of identifying 3 alternative lives they could lead, they discover that meaning is more practical than we think.   Tune in and join them on the journey of finding meaning and happiness in relationships and work, with psychological tools and Monty Python’s advice. Whichever suits you! Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/ ...

Luck & Happiness

October 06, 2020 08:00 - 36 minutes - 25.5 MB

Imagine this scenario: You are walking into a bank on Friday morning. Whilst you are queueing for the cashier, suddenly there is a robbery and you get shot in your right arm. Are you lucky or unlucky? Kitty and Klaudia discuss Luck and Happiness after a week of daring each other to consider just how lucky they have been in their lives. Tune in to learn how the answer to this simple scenario can you help you to understand the key principles behind a lucky and unlucky mind to build a happy a...

#12 Luck & Happiness: How have more luck and create own opportunities

October 06, 2020 08:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MB

Imagine this scenario: You are walking into a bank on Friday morning. Whilst you are queueing for the cashier, suddenly there is a robbery and you get shot in your right arm. Are you lucky or unlucky? Kitty and Klaudia discuss Luck and Happiness after a week of daring each other to consider just how lucky they have been in their lives. Tune in to learn how the answer to this simple scenario can you help you to understand the key principles behind a lucky and unlucky mind to build a happy a...

#11 Kindness & Happiness: being compassionate to others and yourself

September 29, 2020 06:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MB

After a quick break Kitty and Klaudia are back for the letter K, Kindness & Happiness.  Their dare this week was to engage in three random acts of kindness.  Initially they were in two minds about whether or not kindness packed enough of a punch but there's a dark side to kindness too don't you know! Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/ Sign up to the newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7080235316728492032 Connect on ...

Kindness & Happiness

September 29, 2020 06:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MB

After a quick break Kitty and Klaudia are back for the letter K, Kindness & Happiness.  Their dare this week was to engage in three random acts of kindness.  Initially they were in two minds about whether or not kindness packed enough of a punch but there's a dark side to kindness too don't you know! Support the show

Jokes & Happiness

September 08, 2020 06:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MB

Kitty and Klaudia are joined by star of Ted Lasso; James Lance to talk about Jokes & Happiness.  Together they explore the elements of a good joke, what are the different types of humour and how do they each impact your happiness.  Their dare was to make as many people laugh as they could, a really fun week.  Support the show

#10 Jokes & Happiness: How to laugh more often and put others at ease

September 08, 2020 06:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MB

Kitty and Klaudia are joined by star of Ted Lasso; James Lance to talk about Jokes & Happiness.  Together they explore the elements of a good joke, what are the different types of humour and how do they each impact your happiness.  Their dare was to make as many people laugh as they could, a really fun week.  Support the show Learn more: https://thehappinesschallenge.co.uk/ Sign up to the newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7080235316728492032 Co...

Innovation & Happiness

September 01, 2020 06:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MB

Every Week Kitty and Klaudia explore a topic through a dare and discuss how it impacted their happiness. This week they look at 'Innovation & Happiness' and tried to innovate something in their day to day life. Tune in to find out what it really means to innovate, when innovative ideas might be more likely to come to you and do we innovate because we're happy, or are we happy because we're innovating?  Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how to boost your happiness @AndHappinessOfficia...

#9 Innovation & Happiness: How to innovate and be creative

September 01, 2020 06:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MB

Every Week Kitty and Klaudia explore a topic through a dare and discuss how it impacted their happiness. This week they look at 'Innovation & Happiness' and tried to innovate something in their day to day life. Tune in to find out what it really means to innovate, when innovative ideas might be more likely to come to you and do we innovate because we're happy, or are we happy because we're innovating? Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how to boost your happiness @AndHappinessOfficia...

#8 Habits & Happiness: How to build wellbeing habits that stick

August 25, 2020 06:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MB

Every Week Kitty and Klaudia explore a topic through a dare and discuss how it impacted their happiness. This week they had to try and form a new habit. Either writing morning pages every day or reading.  Tune in to discover how to build new habits and how to kick the bad habit in the teeth. Be aware that willpower won’t save you this time but removing your batteries from the remote control might be just the thing we all need to form happy habits necessary for happier living.  Follow on In...

Habits & Happiness

August 25, 2020 06:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MB

Every Week Kitty and Klaudia explore a topic through a dare and discuss how it impacted their happiness. This week they had to try and form a new habit. Either writing morning pages every day or reading.  Tune in to discover how to build new habits and how to kick the bad habit in the teeth. Be aware that willpower won’t save you this time but removing your batteries from the remote control might be just the thing we all need to form happy habits necessary for happier living.  Follow on In...

Gratitude & Happiness

August 18, 2020 06:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

This week Kitty & Klaudia discuss Gratitude and how it affects our happiness. They were on an absolute HYPE and you can hear it throughout the episode.  "The dare of sending each other gratitude messages was by far our favourite. Simply because gratitude is this super-powerful emotion that unlocks the door to happiness. However, don’t be fooled, as with everything in life there were obstacles on the way." Tune in to discover how to play Tetris with gratitude to build more happiness in your...

Gratitude

August 18, 2020 06:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MB

This week Kitty & Klaudia discuss Gratitude and how it affects our happiness. They were on an absolute HYPE and you can hear it throughout the episode.  "The dare of sending each other gratitude messages was by far our favourite. Simply because gratitude is this super-powerful emotion that unlocks the door to happiness. However, don’t be fooled, as with everything in life there were obstacles on the way." Tune in to discover how to play Tetris with gratitude to build more happiness in your...

#7 Gratitude & Happiness: How to look on the bright side

August 18, 2020 06:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

This week Kitty & Klaudia discuss Gratitude and how it affects our happiness. They were on an absolute HYPE and you can hear it throughout the episode.  "The dare of sending each other gratitude messages was by far our favourite. Simply because gratitude is this super-powerful emotion that unlocks the door to happiness. However, don’t be fooled, as with everything in life there were obstacles on the way." Tune in to discover how to play Tetris with gratitude to build more happiness in your...

Freedom

August 11, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

Tune in to discover how freedom of choice and attitude can help us to concentrate on our happiness more often but be aware that if freedom and happiness had a Facebook profile, their relationship status will be “it’s complicated”. The topic of freedom was a very ambitious subject with a grand question of how much freedom do we need to be truly happy? Through the dare of doing one thing that we have freedom to do but we take it for granted, we have discovered different types of freedom in ou...

Freedom & Happiness

August 11, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

Tune in to discover how freedom of choice and attitude can help us to concentrate on our happiness more often but be aware that if freedom and happiness had a Facebook profile, their relationship status will be “it’s complicated”. The topic of freedom was a very ambitious subject with a grand question of how much freedom do we need to be truly happy? Through the dare of doing one thing that we have freedom to do but we take it for granted, we have discovered different types of freedom in ou...

#6 Freedom & Happiness: How to feel empowered and focused

August 11, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

Tune in to discover how freedom of choice and attitude can help us to concentrate on our happiness more often but be aware that if freedom and happiness had a Facebook profile, their relationship status will be “it’s complicated”. The topic of freedom was a very ambitious subject with a grand question of how much freedom do we need to be truly happy? Through the dare of doing one thing that we have freedom to do but we take it for granted, we have discovered different types of freedom in ou...

Empathy & Happiness

August 04, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MB

If we wish to improve the happiness in our relationships with others, empathy seems to be a key. Our busy life gave us plenty of opportunities to practice our dare of being more empathetic from an argument with a stranger to receiving bad news.   Listen to our discussion circling around psychological studies and French Renaissance philosophy to arrive at the discovery of what does it mean to be truly empathetic in real life and how that can build more happiness in your relationships.  Fol...

#5 Empathy & Happiness: How to be empathetic and forgive others

August 04, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MB

If we wish to improve the happiness in our relationships with others, empathy seems to be a key. Our busy life gave us plenty of opportunities to practice our dare of being more empathetic from an argument with a stranger to receiving bad news.   Listen to our discussion circling around psychological studies and French Renaissance philosophy to arrive at the discovery of what does it mean to be truly empathetic in real life and how that can build more happiness in your relationships.  Fol...

Empathy

August 04, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MB

If we wish to improve the happiness in our relationships with others, empathy seems to be a key. Our busy life gave us plenty of opportunities to practice our dare of being more empathetic from an argument with a stranger to receiving bad news.   Listen to our discussion circling around psychological studies and French Renaissance philosophy to arrive at the discovery of what does it mean to be truly empathetic in real life and how that can build more happiness in your relationships.   Sup...

Dreams

July 28, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.3 MB

Feeling good about the future is important for our happiness. We have assumed that setting a bold dream that will make us happy will be easy but instead as part of our dare we run into a challenge of setting dreams that actually could harm our happiness.   Tune in to learn more about our windy road of business targets, dreamlines and daily progress to finally arrive at the destination of appreciating a dream of “being” a better person rather than “doing” or “having” more.  Deep stuff inclu...

Dreams & Happiness

July 28, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.3 MB

Feeling good about the future is important for our happiness. We have assumed that setting a bold dream that will make us happy will be easy but instead as part of our dare we run into a challenge of setting dreams that actually could harm our happiness.   Tune in to learn more about our windy road of business targets, dreamlines and daily progress to finally arrive at the destination of appreciating a dream of “being” a better person rather than “doing” or “having” more.  Deep stuff inclu...

#4 Dreams & Happiness: How to set bold dreams and be excited about the future

July 28, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.3 MB

Feeling good about the future is important for our happiness. We have assumed that setting a bold dream that will make us happy will be easy but instead as part of our dare we run into a challenge of setting dreams that actually could harm our happiness.   Tune in to learn more about our windy road of business targets, dreamlines and daily progress to finally arrive at the destination of appreciating a dream of “being” a better person rather than “doing” or “having” more.  Deep stuff inclu...

Courage & Happiness

July 16, 2020 20:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MB

The dare in this episode made us so anxious that we both tried to avoid it! In the end (10 minutes before the recording for one of us) we persevered and managed to share some of our private, creative pieces of writing with other people. After all that agony, our happiness and excitement went through the roof!  Listen to this episode to find out how we found courage, what helped us to face our fears and what we can learn from the heroes around us. Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how ...

#3 Courage & Happiness: How to have more courage to get the happiness you want

July 16, 2020 20:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MB

The dare in this episode made us so anxious that we both tried to avoid it! In the end (10 minutes before the recording for one of us) we persevered and managed to share some of our private, creative pieces of writing with other people. After all that agony, our happiness and excitement went through the roof!  Listen to this episode to find out how we found courage, what helped us to face our fears and what we can learn from the heroes around us. Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how ...

Courage

July 16, 2020 20:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MB

The dare in this episode made us so anxious that we both tried to avoid it! In the end (10 minutes before the recording for one of us) we persevered and managed to share some of our private, creative pieces of writing with other people. After all that agony, our happiness and excitement went through the roof!  Listen to this episode to find out how we found courage, what helped us to face our fears and what we can learn from the heroes around us. Support the show (http://www.andhappiness.c...

#2 Boundaries & Happiness: How to set healthy boundaries and be assertive

July 16, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

The dare to set boundaries in our relationships was tough! Our primary need to belong is very strong, especially when social relationships are so crucial to our happiness. But we are now grown up and we know that we need to belong, smartly!  Join us in this episode to see what helped us to set healthy boundaries in our relationships and what traps we managed to avoid. From the ‘belonging bubble’ to ‘dilemmas of conforming’, it feels like we have seen it all this week! Follow on Instagram ...

Boundaries

July 16, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

The dare to set boundaries in our relationships was tough! Our primary need to belong is very strong, especially when social relationships are so crucial to our happiness. But we are now grown up and we know that we need to belong, smartly!  Join us in this episode to see what helped us to set healthy boundaries in our relationships and what traps we managed to avoid. From the ‘belonging bubble’ to ‘dilemmas of conforming’, it feels like we have seen it all this week!  Support the show (ht...

Boundaries & Happiness

July 16, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MB

The dare to set boundaries in our relationships was tough! Our primary need to belong is very strong, especially when social relationships are so crucial to our happiness. But we are now grown up and we know that we need to belong, smartly!  Join us in this episode to see what helped us to set healthy boundaries in our relationships and what traps we managed to avoid. From the ‘belonging bubble’ to ‘dilemmas of conforming’, it feels like we have seen it all this week! Follow on Instagram ...

#1 Acceptance & Happiness: How to radically accept emotions

July 16, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MB

We know from experience that change is an inseparable part of our lives and yet we often struggle to accept it. In this episode, we are embarking on the journey of radical acceptance - the daily practice of putting a pause between our emotions and the next action we take.  Tune in to find out how our dare to 'radically accept our daily lives' impacted our happiness and how we stumbled upon the ‘happiness paradox’.  Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how to boost your happiness @AndHap...

Acceptance & Happiness

July 16, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MB

We know from experience that change is an inseparable part of our lives and yet we often struggle to accept it. In this episode, we are embarking on the journey of radical acceptance - the daily practice of putting a pause between our emotions and the next action we take.  Tune in to find out how our dare to 'radically accept our daily lives' impacted our happiness and how we stumbled upon the ‘happiness paradox’.  Follow on Instagram for more ideas son how to boost your happiness @AndHap...

Acceptance

July 16, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MB

We know from experience that change is an inseparable part of our lives and yet we often struggle to accept it. In this episode, we are embarking on the journey of radical acceptance - the daily practice of putting a pause between our emotions and the next action we take.  Tune in to find out how our dare to 'radically accept our daily lives' impacted our happiness and how we stumbled upon the ‘happiness paradox’.   Support the show (http://www.andhappiness.co.uk)