The colours on your walls, the quality of your light, whether your bedroom feels like a sanctuary or a storage unit, these things are doing something to you, all the time. This episode, we're exploring Category 5 of the Joy First Audit: Environment.

I scored reasonably high on this one (as I guess you'd probably expect) but then.... we found a leak in our downstairs closet, so all the floors have come up, and we've been living with industrial-sized dehumidifiers and fans running at full volume for weeks. We've just been told they will have to remain another two weeks. Once again, perfect timing to be having this conversation.

In this episode, I'm exploring what happens to your sense of self when your environment is in chaos, some quick fixes to create more of the feelings you want in your spaces, and why 'aesthetic' isn't just superficial.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The five environmental factors that most consistently affect mood and nervous system regulation (according to research)

• Why the colour of your walls, your light quality, and even the clutter level in your space matter more than we give them credit for

• The 'What should I pick' dilemma, and the one question to answer first to get what you want in the spaces you get to choose

• What the Joy First Audit's 'Environment' category is really asking, and how to use your score as a starting point for adding more joy to your spaces

TAKE THE AUDIT

Take the full Joy First Audit on Substack: https://joyfirstworld.substack.com/p/the-joy-first-audit

EXPLORE MORE:

Take the Colour Personality Quiz: https://go.jnicholesmith.com/quiz

Learn about Colour Joy (free when you become a founding member on Substack): https://joyfirstworld.substack.com/p/getting-started-with-colour-joy-1

CTA

If this episode resonated, please share it with someone who you know will love it too 🧡 This is how together, we'll spark the #joyfirstrevolution

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I'm recording this episode from my bed, at 6:30pm, surrounded by laundry, with a partially sedated dog, and with maybe 15 minutes before my kids come home. I cannot think of a more perfect setting for a conversation about joy.

Because joy usually isn't the Instagram version. Sometimes it's survival. Sometimes it's taking 20 minutes out to nip to the garden centre to get covered in manure to make a place for happy plants before the dentist appointment and the school run, and attempting to figure out dinner for everyone in a kitchen with no floors and industrial fans and dehumidifiers making you mysteriously nauseous.

Sometimes it's putting the kids' clothes away with love and intention, instead of racing through it.

This is the Joy category of the Joy First Audit: welcome to the real face of joy in the messy middle.

• The four versions of joy (and why most of us only count one of them)
• What the big battleground that feels really present this week
• My score: what it means and what it doesn't
• Why the gap between "laughter and play" joy and "survival" joy matters
• Some BIG BIG news I've been dying to share with you: a milestone that feels very connected to everything this season has been about

Take the Joy First Audit: https://joyfirstworld.substack.com/p/the-joy-first-audit

The 'Joy Codes' episode: https://joyfirstworld.com/blogs/joy-first-podcast/finding-your-joy-codes

Find us on Substack: joyfirstworld.substack.com https://substack.com/@joyfirstworld

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoyFirstWorld/videos

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know the longest-running happiness study in history (Harvard) found that the number one predictor of a long, healthy, joyful life wasn't money or success, it was the quality of your relationships?

So why does connection feel like the first thing we sacrifice when life gets full?

In this episode of the Joy First Audit series, I'm sharing my score for Category 3: Connection... and even though I came in at 14/15, there's a lot more going on beneath the surface.

We go into:

• The difference between not being alone and actually feeling seen

• What's happening in marriages and intimate relationships as we enter our forties (and why so many women are quietly renegotiating everything)

• Real vs superficial friendships: and how I've been looking locally to find something that feels nourishing

• The people-pleasing and guilt thread that runs through almost every connection question in the audit

• Why self-connection is the bank account that funds all the rest

This one gets honest about perimenopause, neurodivergence, the IDGAF era, and what it actually takes to feel genuinely connected when your nervous system is running on empty.

If you want to take the Joy First Audit for yourself, you can find it on our Substack @joyfirstworld.

Free members get the analog version. Paid members get access to a custom AI co-pilot that walks you through the audit and helps you take your next steps.

Next week: The Joy Audit

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