The Joy Audit

A quick reset for a more joyful life.

I’ve been reminded lately — within the chaos of life, within the bustle of all the crap that brings me down instead of makes me happy — to recalibrate for joy.

My dad had a stroke eight months ago. Despite him being thankfully healthy and well and still walking miles every day post-stroke, he’s lost his speech almost entirely.

A walk through the autumn woods with him (his fancy watch detecting a fall when he leapt over tree roots like a teenager — go Dad) made me realise: I think life is actually the business of making joyful memories.

It’s not to wait until you’ve got ‘enough’ money, or for when you’ve got ‘more’ time (you’ll probably never have enough, you’ll never have the time). It’s about working out what brings you joy now, and aligning your life so you can do more of it.

For me, that’s walks through the woods with my pops, thanking every fucking day for his health and continued daft jokes that somehow get around his lack of words. It’s spending more time with my partner, being in nature, by the sea, having adventures, eating cake…

How do I calibrate my life to include more of these things? What can I do about the necessary stuff that doesn’t bring me joy?

Introducing: The Joy Audit

Photo by Bree Anne on Unsplash

Instead of spiralling about what’s not working and what’s not enjoyable, I started asking: how do I build in more of the stuff that is?

Joy’s not just about what lights us up. It’s also about what helps us get there, and what we can soften when it doesn’t.

So I’ve made a way to help us map joy in real life. It’s called The Joy Audit.

It’s my simple method of recalibration to do any time you need to come back home to baseline, reset your goals and focus, and remind yourself of what matters. Grab a journal, open a new note on your phone, and take these three steps:

1. The Joy Generators

Write down the things that properly fill you up. The people, places, activities, and moments that make you feel joyful, alive, excited, grateful.

Ask yourself:

• What actually brings me joy (right now, not five years ago)?

• When do I feel most alive, present, or peaceful?

• Who or what makes me laugh, breathe deeper, or stop checking my phone?

• What am I truly excited about?

2. The Joy Facilitators

Next, write about the things that help you access your joy generators. The unsung heroes that facilitate and support the goodness in your life.

Ask:

• What makes it easier to do the things that bring me joy?

• What helps me be calm, easy-going, healthy, and well enough to enjoy the good stuff?

• What could I invest in, plan, or prioritise that gets me closer to them?

Facilitators don’t have to be shiny, they just have to make life flow a little smoother.

For example, the things that facilitate my own joy are having a tidy home, moving every day, meditation and mindfulness and nervous system care (which is, basically, what I’m here to help you find inside Joyful — this stuff makes your joy possible), and other more practical things (getting a car is my mission for 2026!).

3. The Necessities

These are the bits that really don’t spark joy (hi, paperwork), but are part of life right now.

Ask:

• What’s necessary in my life, but doesn’t bring much joy?

• For each of those things, what are the ways I can bring a sliver of joy to them?

• If not, can I do it differently, or make peace with it for now?

Joy isn’t always about changing everything, instead it might be about changing how we meet what’s already here.

I’ve written about it before: that my long-distance boyfriend lives in London, a city I’m not such a fan of, isn’t ideal, but making his flat more homely and finding little joys of my own in London is absolutely making it easier and more enjoyable.

Free readers of Joyful understand joy. Paid members start to live it.

The Joy Audit at a glance:

1. What are the things that bring you joy?

2. What are the things that help you access it?

3. What’s necessary but joyless, and how can you soften it?

That’s it. Simple, doable, and immediate.

Because this isn’t about building a ‘perfect’ life (whatever that is) — it’s about building a life where joy has space to show up.

This is a call to start following what feels good, and noticing the ease and the magic that show up when we do so.

Leave a comment and let me know what comes up for you. I’d love to hear!

If you’re ready to train your nervous system for a more joyful life, join the paid membership.

We start with a 6-week Regulation Foundations series — increasing your capacity, reducing your stress, opening life back up to the good stuff.