9 days to feel fantastic

Rachel Borrill ponders if by following a “map for life”, it is really possible to feel truly happy every single day.

WHEN was the last time you felt truly happy? Or appreciated living in the moment, enjoying your life — especially as you grow older? Can you remember how good that felt? Would you like to wake up and feel that fantastic every day?

According to John Whiteman, author of 9 Days to Feel Fantastic and an inspirational speaker, if you follow his simple “map for life’’ then you can and will feel happy every single day.

“Anybody can become happy, it is not down to genetics, it is down to the nine simple elements I have devised. It is a map for life,’’ he explains.

“Life is about how you feel. If you feel good, then life is good. Your enthusiasm is actually contagious and the people around you will feel the effects too.’’

Whiteman’s step-by-step guide is easy to follow. Over nine days you are introduced to a new element which he suggests you incorporate into your life to achieve balance and happiness.

“As you become older, you are becoming more sedentary and more set in your ways. You become resistant to change. But anyone can follow this, and to do it as a couple will enhance the experience. If you do it together you will be buzzing at the same time,’’ he says.

So on Day One you exercise, to get some energy into your body and the endorphins working. Day Two you learn about personal space, the importance of learning to breathe properly, to feel calm and clear your mind.

On Day Three, you will focus on sleeping well, creating a bed time routine that ensures you have a restful night. Day Four is about nutrition, so improve your diet by eating fresh good quality food and drink lots of water.

By Day Five, you concentrate on your environment and how it makes you feel. According to Whiteman these five elements alone will give you emotional balance.

“The feedback is great, over 6,000 people have filled in my online survey and said that just by doing these five elements 87% of them feel good or fantastic,’’ he says.

“The key is that this is a map for life, I want people to know intuitively these elements, so if they aren’t feeling good, they can say; ‘Oh, that’s because I didn’t exercise today, or I had no personal space,’ and then ensure they include that element the following day.’’

Whitemen says the next three elements — Day Six achieve and complete, Day Seven learn, and Day Eight social connection — are designed to give momentum to your life, to follow your dreams and enjoy.

“I always ask people: ‘What are your dreams?’ And I am surprised by how many, especially middle-age women, say they would love to dance. I tell them; ‘That’s great, go and do it, the feeling you will get is amazing.’ And it is, because by dancing they will get at least five or six elements in their day. The social connection, the breathing, exercising, living your dreams, and being in the present. This feeling, this experience is what life is about,’’ he says.

The last element — Day Nine — is being present, to appreciate and enjoy life at that moment. “For me life is about the simple things. We are conditioned to think we want more, to look to the future. But aren’t the special things in life a smile from your partner, watching the autumn leaves fall to the ground, just living in the present?’’ he asks.

To date, Whiteman says, the feedback has been “amazing,’’ with 100% of people who followed his nine-day plan saying they now felt “good or fantastic.’’

“Each one of these elements individually does not change your life. The synergy of all nine coming together changes your life and you will feel good,’’ he explains.

¦ 9 Days to Feel Fantastic by John Whiteman is published by Hay House £10.99. www.johnwhiteman.com