Levels Health Review: My One-Month Experiment + Learnings

I never thought I’d find myself racing home to pick up a package and punch its contents my skin. But there I was, tearing open the sleek black box from Levels and eagerly pulling up Youtube videos on how to staple this device into my arm. 

Said device, a continuous blood glucose monitor (or CGM), was something I’d been waiting to try for almost a year. I am by no means diabetic, but there is a history of abnormally high blood sugar levels in my family. After a relatively high A1c reading in college, my interest in blood glucose was piqued. 

I’d discovered Levels, a health tech company trying to consumerize metabolic health maintenance through CGMs, sometime in 2020. I’d been sitting on their public beta waitlist ever since. Once I was finally admitted, it is not an exaggeration to say that everything I thought I knew about nutrition and health was turned upside down. This is my personal review of Levels Health. 

What is Levels Health? 

Levels is a relatively new company, founded in 2019, on a mission to improve the world’s metabolic health. They hold that the US is experiencing a “metabolic health crisis,” based on a few key metrics:  

• Over 10% of Americans have diabetes

• 1/3 have prediabetes (and more than 84% don’t realize it)

• ¾ of Americans are overweight or obese, which is a major risk factor for diabetes

Levels produces a proprietary app that provides a real-time data stream from a CGM. The app adds a layers of visualization and gamification to your day, registering your blood sugar levels on both a line and circle graph, as shown below. Green indicates stable blood sugar, red indicates spikes-to-be-avoided. The app integrates behaviors like sleep and exercise from popular wearables, like Apple Watch, but all meals must be logged manually. Each inflection point for your blood sugar is indicated by a white icon on the line graph.

The main interface of the Levels Health app

Levels has produced a ton of content on what they believe to be acceptable blood glucose levels for various circumstances, like when you wake up in a fasted state or when you’ve just had a meal. Importantly, their guidance is much more conservative than the CDC’s. 

What is continuous glucose monitoring? 

CGMs are small, wearable devices that track glucose levels in the interstitial fluid just beneath your skin (why they must be “stapled” in). Traditionally used by people with diabetes to manage their blood sugar levels, CGMs provide a continuous stream of data about how much sugar is in your bloodstream at any one moment, giving you better insight into how different foods, exercises, stressors, and sleep patterns affect your blood sugar levels. 

The continuous nature of glucose monitoring is relatively new; the first ones weren’t available until 1999, so the technology is only about 20 years old. Its introduction marked a huge leap forward in the glucose management world. Rather than diabetics having to prick their skin multiple times a day to understand their sugar levels, CGMs can send a constant stream of data to a phone or computer, even sending alerts when there’s a concerning drop or spike. 

Despite the relatively new technology and notably little evidence that CGMs can help manage anything outside of diabetes, CGMs have gained traction among health enthusiasts, biohackers, and wellness seekers who are eager to optimize their health. Sound familiar? 

Why use a CGM if you aren’t diabetic? 

One reason, mentioned above, is that you may have no idea that you’re on the road to diabetes. Using a CGM to measure your fasting, pre-meal, and post-meal blood sugar can help detect whether you’re at risk for developing metabolic syndrome. One benefit of this deep dive is my now expert-level awareness of the perils of diabetes: among them are heart disease, kidney disease, vision loss, and foot/hand amputation. It is - seriously - not uncommon to go blind or lose a foot from diabetes.

Another reason to track is that fluctuations in blood sugar can affect energy levels, mental clarity, and mood. Blood sugar crashes are real and visceral, the result of an influx of sugar to the blood that your insulin system quickly mobilizes around and brings crashing down. This one is a bit more in line with the Blue Sky Mind mission. When I experience one of these crashes, I feel a deep sense of fatigue, clamminess, and crankiness. Notably, not very positive at all.

Personally, I wanted to learn what I could about my own body’s relationship to blood sugar. Read on for insights gained from my one-month experiment.

How I approached my Levels test

Due to the high price tag of this new technology, I decided to try it for just one month. I paid $400 upfront ($200 for the hardware, $200 for the app subscription), but was able to cancel the subscription after and get a $200 refund. In my opinion, $200 to get a month’s worth of unique, personalized biodata was worth it.

However, a month isn't a long time if you’re not being intentional about data collection and testing. I conduct a lot of research at work, so I decided to treat my one month of Levels as a mini research study, with goals, hypotheses, key metrics, and a readout on the learnings. 

Test details 

• Timeframe: Friday, Feb. 24 - Friday, Mar. 24

• Goal: Validate whether my “healthy” eating efforts are actually keeping my blood glucose stable & understand how bad my various indulgences are for my blood glucose 

• Metrics: 

• Primary: Glucose stability / levels score (higher = better)

• My research questions & hypotheses:

• Question: Do my most common “healthy” meals actually keep my blood glucose stable?

• Hypothesis: Yes, for the most part, as long as I pair protein, fat, and carbs.  

• Question: How badly do my most common indulgences affect my blood glucose? 

• Hypothesis: Some are worse than others; baked goods will be the worst, ice cream in the middle, and alcohol relatively low 

What does “glucose stability” mean to Levels? 

As soon as Levels detects a steady rise in your glucose levels, usually post-meal, it starts to track whether or not it rises over 30 mg/dl. If it goes over this amount in a short time frame, you get a notification that your blood sugar is “spiking.” The higher and longer the spike, the lower of a score Levels gives you on that particular meal. As part of this experiment, I was seeking high scores on my meals. 

Did you test any common hacks for managing blood sugar?

During this test, I ended up picking up Tim Ferriss’s book “The Four Hour Body,” which contained a number of hacks for stable blood sugar. I decided to incorporate a few into my test. 

This is where Levels recommends you apply your CGM while using their product.

My Levels test results 

Overall, I was edging up against most of Levels’ conservative benchmarks for metabolic health. I was spiking 2x more often than recommended, leading to much more overall spike time than Levels would want to see. Despite that, my average glucose came in right under their recommended threshold…but by just 1 mg/dl. Factoring in some margin of error, and I think, at best, Levels would call me moderately on target, if not a bit concerning. Yikes.

My own data from the Levels Health test

Levels Health’s guidance on optimal metabolic health ranges

Lessons learned from my Levels test 

• Surprisingly, the majority of my “healthy” lunches & dinners cause high blood sugar spikes. Quinoa or rice bowls, takeout salads, Amy’s frozen meals, chickpea pasta, legume-based soups, and Thai or Indian food with rice cause significant spikes to my blood sugar. It did not matter that I always paired the carbs in these meals with fats and proteins. I learned that, almost without fail, if I eat quinoa, rice, sugary dressings, fruit, and/or refined legumes, I’m likely to have a high spike. 

• The majority of my “healthy” breakfasts & snacks are good for glucose. Choosing either eggs, bacon and beans or a smoothie for breakfast keeps my blood sugar very stable. Having fruit, like oranges or pears, with my eggs does not. Oatmeal sends my blood sugar soaring and avocado toast is borderline. Snacks like fruit with nut butter and popcorn cause a moderate response, but cottage cheese and low-carb protein bars cause almost none.

• As expected, the majority of my indulgent meals lead to high blood sugar spikes. The only exception is dry wine and cheese/charcuterie, which produce very stable responses in me. Dumplings, baked goods, pasta, and sandwiches all lead to meaningful spikes. Ice cream produces a moderate effect, likely due to the balance of fat and sugar. 

• I could meaningfully mitigate my blood sugar spikes in a few ways. I found that, 20-30 minutes before a high-carb meal, if I did a strenuous workout, had a high-fat snack like charcuterie or a tbsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon in water, I could sometimes reduce a blood sugar spike from high-carb meals. The most reliable way to reduce a spike was through strenuous exercise or high fat consumption. The least was using acids, though I didn’t rigorously test using two vs. one tbsp pre-meal. 

• I’m likely more “gluco-sensitive” than the average person. I was disappointed to find out that foods like oatmeal, quinoa, oranges, sweet potatoes, chickpea pasta and certain soups and salads had a significant effect on my blood sugar (and not in a good way). These foods would regularly produce not just a 30 mg/dl spike (Levels’ threshold for “high”), but >60 mg/dl. Despite their high nutrient content, they could produce the same glucose response as a croissant, slice of cake, or bowl of pasta. 

How I felt about the learnings

If I’m being honest, I spiraled a little after my one-month Levels test. I was so confused and bummed to learn that things like oranges, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes - foods I’d been led to believe my whole life were near-perfect nutritional specimens - were dramatically spiking my blood sugar in ways Levels said was unhealthy. It’s tough to know what to make of this, because ​​Levels argues for much lower “safe” ranges than the CDC.

Over the course of 2023, I discussed my results with two primary care doctors (PCPs) and three registered dietitians (RDs), trying to arrive at the “so what?” I tried consulting my doctor about it (Dr. Tom and I, we go down rabbit holes like this), but rather than solving the complexity, he added to it by having me read books on opposing viewpoints in the medical literature on the topics of diet and longevity (peep “How Not to Diet” by Michael Gregor, if interested). 

The second PCP sent me to an RD, who said I was doing all of the right things and that I must have a system relatively sensitive to glucose. Another RD asked if I ever feel crappy after these so-called “spikes” in my glucose, and truth be told, I don't. Not from sweet potatoes or quinoa. She advised me to listen to my body over the CGM. The final RD cautioned me against cutting out nutritious foods like oranges and oatmeal, just because they produced a spike. She worried aloud that companies like Levels have started to demonize nutrient-dense and generally-advisable healthy foods, like whole grains, fruits, and legumes. 

Notably, not one doctor advised that I cut out the nutritious foods that were causing me to “spike.” There was a general consensus here that the CGM data is so new, and the best science we have tells us that the benefit of eating oranges and sweet potatoes outweighs the risk they pose to gluco-sensitive individuals. 

Levels Health review: pros & cons 

Phew. Ok, getting back to the tech itself. Below are my top pro’s and con’s for Levels Health:

Pros

• Data. I, like most modern humans, am a sucker for personalized data. I do appreciate knowing what foods and/or behaviors I’m more sensitive to.

• Education. Levels helped me become much more aware and informed about metabolic health as a key pillar of longevity.

Cons

• Application. I hated punching that CGM into my skin; if you get it wrong, you can be in a lot of discomfort and even bleed through your clothes.

• Interpretation. It’s definitely a little dangerous to try to interpret Levels data by yourself. I had to speak with five health care professionals before feeling confident in my interpretation. 

• Stress. Continuous monitoring can make you obsessive about checking your data and what you’re eating. An article by Fast Co dubbed it the “pathological stress of glucose readings.” 

That one time I put the sensor on slightly wrong & bled through my white shirt.

Why did I cancel after one month? 

Despite getting some fascinating results from my Levels test, the experience doesn't quite justify the recurring $200/month hardware cost. Here’s why: 

• Invasive monitor: I’m looking forward to the day when this is a topical skin monitor vs. something you have to punch into your skin, as I had one very poor insertion experience. Eagerly waiting for Apple to come out with their non-invasive CGM!

• Expensive: Obviously, it’s extremely costly. I might try this 1x/year for the cost until prices and invasiveness come down. 

• Limited/beta UX: The user experience still feels pretty beta (which was fine, because in this case, I was an early adopter). 

• Weak analytics: I feel that the Levels analytics are a bit hard to parse and draw strong conclusions from. For example, I strongly believe that after entering a few meals, the app should start to draw correlations and inferences about which foods help or hurt your blood sugar. 

• Lack of integrations: I also believe there should be integrations with popular food logging apps like Noom or MyFitnessPal, so that people who track their food intake don’t have to do it more than 1x/meal. 

In conclusion

I’ve studied health and wellness since I was in high school, always seeking some sort of understanding that will allow me to finally master my body and mind. I came to this product for the same reason, but left feeling more confused than confident about nutrition.

Truth be told, I’ve never looked at food the same since trying Levels. I’m constantly conscious of what high-carb or sugary foods are doing to my body. It makes me think twice about every cookie, cracker, dinner roll and piece of candy. But I’m not sure it’s actually resulted in behavior change…just more hand-wringing. It’s not yet clear to me how much I need to be worrying about these blood sugar spikes, and therefore, I’m not motivated enough to avoid them completely. And yet, I have a nagging feeling that Levels is the one on the cutting edge of health science, and my doctors are not. I fret more about what I’m eating than ever.

If you’re someone who has metabolic syndrome or diabetes in the family, a one-month test can arm you with a lot more awareness on the topic. But for someone without diabetes or prediabetes, the benefits of Levels do not yet outweigh the costs (for me).

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Up Next:

• Sleep Optimization: Understanding Factors that Hurt & Help with WHOOP

• Products that Help You Sleep: Blue Sky Mind Picks

How To Meditate: My Personal Practice

I get this question a lot from friends: what exactly do you do when you meditate? Although my roommates have had the strange experience of walking in as I lay sprawled on the floor with my eyes closed, this remains a very private practice for most. In order to demystify the mechanics of meditation and help others feel comfortable getting started, I wanted to lay out the basics of my routine.

What is meditation? 

Per Yale's "Science of Happiness" course that I took via Coursera, meditation is defined as the practice of turning your attention away from distracting thoughts to one focal point, like the breath, body, sensations, or compassion. I meditate anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes a day, generally about 4 to 5 times a week. Most often, my practice is 5-20 minutes.

Where do you meditate? 

My bedroom, on the floor or using a cushion (which at this point is either a pillow or stuffed animal). It's starting to make more sense for me to invest in an actual meditation cushion though. I'm eyeing this one on Amazon. 

A sample of some of the episodes on Tara Brach's Podcast.

Calm App, one of my favorite meditation aids. 

When do you meditate? 

1. In the morning before work: I find this to be the most beneficial, mostly because I notice that I am happier, calmer, more aware, and generally more in control of my impulses (including appetite!) throughout the day. 
2. After working out: It’s pretty easy to meditate after a tough workout, because your heart is beating through your chest and calling all of your attention to that focal point. Since all you want to do is breath, it’s easy to sink into that and really relax into the practice. Plus, endorphins are already flowing, so the act of breathing is even more enjoyable. 
3. Before bed: Sometimes, this is the only time of the day that works. Sometimes, I fall asleep while doing it. Sometimes, I intend to fall asleep while doing it. But taking even 5 minutes for your mind at the end of the day is better than no time for your mind at all. 
4. At a yoga class: This is an easy one if you’re just getting into the practice. Most yoga classes include an element of breath work and meditation, so stop by a local class at your gym or sign up for a free week at a local studio to start dipping your toes in the water. 
5. With friends: Meditation doesn't have to be a private affair. I’ve flat out asked my roommates if they wanted to meditate with me before and we all laid on the living room floor and did it together. I also make my boyfriend do it with me every so often. It feels a little silly to initiate and even do, but its a worthy habit to normalize.

Why meditate? 

I’ve now practiced for over three years and seen my life improve dramatically, along with my health, relationships, self-esteem, presence, and experience of daily happiness. For more on how meditation has helped me, check out the following posts: 

• Origin Story: Blue Sky Mind
• Using Mindfulness to Cope with Anxiety
• How to Cope with Setbacks While Traveling

How do you meditate pose-wise? 

1. Laying Down: This is how I started meditating, so it’s the most familiar posture for me. It’s also the most comfortable! I really struggle with simply sitting upright in lotus or cross-legged. I end up getting a sharp pain in my upper back. Instead, I lay flat on my back in a Shivasana-like pose, which made it very easy to get started. I still find this to be the most relaxing pose, so tend to favor it when I’ve just worked out or when I’m falling asleep.
2. Kneeling: As I’ve grown in my meditation practice, I’ve adopted a kneeling pose. For me, this looks like shins on the ground, sitting on the back of my calves, butt on my heels, hands on my thighs, and back straight up & down. It’s much easier on my back then sitting in lotus, and allows me to stay more alert throughout my meditation. The only downside is that its hard to sit very long in this pose at first, and my feet still fall asleep after about 20 minutes. 
3. However, Bored: Sometimes, I’m so grateful for moments of boredom. I feel like there are very few in our daily lives, now that cell phones and digital media are so ubiquitous. But there are still times when I find myself in a meeting or standing in line where I cant reach for my phone. Instead of despairing the boredom, I take a deep breath, let it go, and use the moment to relax every muscle in my body. I often pay special attention to my face, back and shoulders and of course my breath. It doesn't often last for more than a few seconds, but it’s a great trick for turning a boring moment into a present one. 

One of my favorite episodes from the Meditation Oasis Podcast.

How do you meditate with aids? 

I use a few different apps and two different podcasts to aid my meditation practice. 

1. Insight Timer: My latest preferred meditation app! This is such a gem if you like guided meditation (especially good for beginners). There are thousands of free guided meditations. There's more of a community built into this app than either Calm or Headspace, so guided meditations are rated, reviewed, and shared across millions of meditators. 
2. Calm App: My former preferred meditation app, mostly because I like the sound of the narrater’s voice. I would recommend the “7 Days of Calm” starter pack to anyone new to the app. I use the free version, so mostly stick to the Timed and Guiding Light options. I love how this app records my monthly progress. Usually, I find that my life satisfaction levels are correlated with the number of times I clock in over a month, so it's useful to keep track of that information.
3. Headspace App: I use Headspace to switch things up. They also have a helpful free tutorial that I used when I was just getting started. However, I find that most of their good stuff is stuck behind a paywall. 
4. Tara Brach Podcast: Tara Brach puts out multiple free dharma talks and meditation podcasts each week. Her meditations are different than the above apps, in that they are generally longer (15-30 minutes) and involve more spoken word. I turn to these when I'm needing some spiritual guidance for my practice.
5. Meditation Oasis Podcast: Probably my favorite meditation resource of all time, which is why most of these free podcasts have moved behind an app paywall. Mary Maddox, who narrates each meditation, has an incredibly soothing voice and extremely relevant/helpful themes. For someone serious about getting into meditation, I would consider buying into her platform. For beginners, her free podcasts are a dream. 
6. 10% Happier Podcast: If you're interested in learning more about meditation from a self-proclaimed "fidgety skeptic," then this podcast is awesome. Dan Harris approaches meditation from a light hearted and dry humored sort of way that makes the whole practice a lot more accessible. 

All of these aids are linked in my Resources page! 

If you want more info on meditation...

Up Next: Read First Time @ Grace Cathedral Yoga, San Francisco: The 101

What I Learned from “The Science of Happiness,” Yale’s Most Popular Course of All Time (Part 1)

There was a class in college that everyone wanted to take called “The Science of Happiness,” and I always regretted not signing up for it. It's truly my one big regret from college. 

Thankfully, Yale has given me a chance to redeem myself. After the internet blew up over the fact that Yale students were flocking to a course on happiness, the school decided to make it free to the public on Coursera. I jumped at the chance to hear what the latest science has to say about how to live a better, more fulfilling life.

One of the first things I learned in the class: positive psychology is a legitimate scientific field! Social scientists are conducting sophisticated experiments (controlled, randomized, replicated, etc.) every day to reveal the human experiences that contribute to well-being.

I wont wade into the details here, but know that this post is backed entirely by the scientific findings revealed in this course. If you have any interest in sources, please don't hesitate to reach out -- I'd be more than happy to provide.

Now, to the fun stuff! What I learned in “The Science of Happiness,” and how you can benefit from it:

Your brain is a miswanting hooligan

Here’s the big LOL in terms of your brain and happiness: We believe so firmly in the things that we want, or more aptly, the things the brain wants. We believe, without a doubt, that once we get these things, we will finally be happy. You’re probably very familiar with some (or all) of these things the brain typically wants:

• Lots of money

• High-powered job

• Hot body

• Perfect partner

• Social status

I’m certainly guilty of wanting it all. But the crazy (and sad) thing is, the things the brain thinks it wants are usually not the things that end up making us happy. At least, not in any sort of lasting way.

It’s first helpful to understand why this is. There are all of these ways that the brain tricks you into thinking you want or need something. Professor Laurie Santos breaks it down into what she calls the “annoying features of the mind:”

1. Your strongest intuitions are often wrong

This one is perhaps the most baffling to me, because I consider myself to have a higher-than-average amount of self-awareness. It’s something I actively cultivate. But this is an idea I’ve never even considered. What if the things my brain wants are not the things that it needs?

Try a quick exercise on yourself: What wants and desires occupy your thoughts most? How many of your actions and decisions are guided by those desires?

I can honestly say that a lot of my actions are dictated by the desire to achieve a body closer to the beautiful women on social media and fashion blogs. I’ve certainly been seduced by the siren song of social status and “achieving” more of it through buying cool stuff or going on sweet vacations.

The Takeaway: This class taught me that getting the perfect body, landing the perfect job, and/or having a bunch of people jealous of your life will not make you happy.

To myself, I say: The first step to recovery is knowing you have a problem :) 

2. Your brain operates on reference points

This one is a little more intuitive, but so critical to remain aware of.

Our minds absolutely suck at picking relevant reference points. Like yes, it might make sense for you to compare your salary with someone in your exact position, in the same city, who has the same amount of experience and a similar skill set. It does not make sense to compare your salary to your friend working in a completely different profession. It makes even less sense to compare your salary to anyone you see on TV, “reality” or otherwise.

I’ll give you another, more personal, example. I went to college at a place many people have not-so-affectionately termed, “The University of Spoiled Children.” Truth be told, there were a lot of spoiled children running around. I was lucky to grow up in a lovely middle class family in a small town outside of a big city. Looking back on my college experience, it was surely psychologically detrimental for me to be surrounded by the children of millionaires and movie stars. I was surrounded by so much more wealth (and beauty, for that matter) than was appropriate to compare myself to. Even having this wherewithal now doesn't really stop my brain from feeling inadequate when re-confronted with such excess. 

The Takeaway:  Your brain absorbs the reference points it’s exposed to -- indiscriminately. So when you see models on Instagram or crazy rich people on TV, those become your reference points, no matter how ridiculous the comparison.

It’s worth noting that social media is the newest and most egregious perpetrator of this “annoying feature feature of the mind.” Various studies have found that the effect of social media in terms of social comparisons ranges from neutral to bad, but never positive. Definitely something to think about if you're a heavy user. 

3. Your brain adapts quickly & consistently to pleasurable things

This is the part where you’ve finally gotten the thing you wanted. Finally, that promotion or those 10 pounds down. You’re glowing! ...for one week. After that, your brain sets its sights on the things that you still don’t have, or could have, and now want (even if you didn't before).

It’s called the hedonic treadmill. Once you get more money, true love, the perfect body….you just adapt to it. No boost in long-term happiness.

Perhaps the worst part is, we don’t realize this is happening. We lack the inherent self-awareness, and thus wonder why the things that used to make us so happy no longer have the same effect.

You can see a microcosm of this when you’re eating a really delicious meal or dessert. The first few bites are mind-blowing, phenomenal. But by the tenth, a small party isn’t popping off in your brain each time. Yet we keep eating, expecting to get the same jolt of pleasure as we did from the first bite. We end the meal wondering why, if the food was so delicious, we now just feel sick.

There is an upside to this; while the mind is highly obstinate to positive outcomes, it’s also highly resilient to negative ones. Remember that when you don’t get the job (or boyfriend) you’re angling for, or fail to lose those five pounds before your vacation. You won’t be sad for long.

The Takeaway: Contentment in the present moment is key, because looking forward to happiness in the future is an ever shifting goal post.

There are ways to make your brain chill

So what if you do actually find true love or change your lifestyle and suddenly look bangin' in a bikini? These are healthy things to take pleasure in (to a degree, as with everything). So is landing an awesome job or finally making enough money to go on annual vacations.

You want to hang on to the genuine happiness these events bring. So here’s what science has to say about how you can thwart hedonic adaptation and continue to reap the happiness rewards:

1. Savor the good things

The act of savoring is defined by Professor Santos as “the act of stepping outside of an experience to review and appreciate it.” I love this one because it goes hand in hand with mindful eating, something I’m passionate about. There’s a couple of ways you can better savor the good things in life:

• Share the experience with another person

• Talk to someone about it

• Verbally or physically express your joy

• Be fully present in the moment

Here's some important reminders on how not to savor an experience. You'll quicken hedonic adaptation if you think... 

• About what’s next

• How it could be better

• How it will never get any better than this

• That you didn't deserve this

• That it wasn’t as good as you’d hoped

The Takeaway: When experiencing a good thing, try to be in the present moment and avoid social comparisons. 

2. Spend your money on experiences

You’ve probably heard this one a million times. What you didn't know is that there is an abundance of research to back it up. 

Experiences make us happier than things and for a longer amount of time. One study that I found super interesting cited that people actually find you more likable when you’re talking about your experiences versus your things.

I’ve definitely had this happen to me; I easily bond with folks over places I’ve traveled to or even just things I got up to over the weekend. But as soon as I start talking about the pair of shoes I just bought, I see people’s eyes glaze over. The findings are simple; people find you really superficial when you talk about your things, and that leads to a negative character judgement.

The Takeaway: You can avoid being perceived as vain and boost your long term happiness by simply spending your money on experiences. 

3. Practice gratitude

This one’s the easiest! There’s nothing more simple and available to you today, right now, than grabbing a piece of paper and starting to practice “Three Good Things.” All you have to do is write down three things that went well today and why they went well. 

To reinforce this habit on a daily basis, I recommend treating yourself to a special journal that is explicitly reserved for reflecting on all that went well in your day. I get absolutely giddy when I get to pick out a new journal -- I pick something that oozes “me,” something I know will make me happy every time I pull it out of the drawer. For an example of a regular gratitude practice, check out my first Thankful Journal on Blue Sky Mind. 

The Takeaway: Gratitude is one of the cheapest and easiest habits you can introduce to boost your everyday well-being.

4. Try some negative visualization

Employing negativity to increase well-being is something I'd never heard of, but the technique of negative visualization is another backed by science.

All you have to do here is think about what your life would be like if you’d never had certain parts of it: What if you’d never met your partner? What if they were suddenly gone? What if you’d never gotten your current job? Where would you be financially?

I find this useful when I'm headed to the gym for a workout I don't want to do. I think about what it would be like if I didn't have the option to go to the gym, like if I were paralyzed in an accident or bedridden with cancer. The simple act of reflecting on life without the option to do this hard thing makes me understand how lucky I am to get to do it at all. 

The Takeaway: Thinking about the absence of positive elements in our life can help us feel a deeper appreciation for the fact that they are, in fact, still around.

Put “The Science of Happiness” to Use

To do a quick recap, the first few weeks of "The Science of Happiness" focused on why we're so naturally unhappy in our modern lives. This is due to miswanting nature of the brain, egged on by it's various annoying features. 

Fortunately, we found out that there are strategies to overcome some of these annoying features, allowing us to reap the full happiness benefit of our blessing (even if they've come from a place of miswanting). 

If you've made it this far in the post, my challenge to you is this: 

Take note of your miswanting in a given day. Take note of your reference points and of the good things you take for granted in lieu of wanting more or better.

Perhaps start trying to incorporate more savoring, experiences, gratitude, and negative visualization into your week. Where are the moments in your schedule that these naturally fit?

For me, I try to savor every yummy meal and sunny day, with a little smile (even when no one is around) and a thank you to the universe. I practice gratitude every night before I drift off to sleep. I think about experiences when birthdays roll around and I’m looking for the perfect gift for someone. And I employ negative visualization when times are tough and I need a little boost of appreciation.

Read part 2 of this series, which covers the science of things that actually make us happy. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog, so you never miss a thing!