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#234 5 Ideas for Your Mid-Year Reset for a Happier Second Half of the Year

Episode 233 • 6th August 2026 • The Happiness Challenge • Klaudia Mitura

Hello happiness seekers. Welcome to the Happiness Challenge Podcast. I'm Claudia Mitura and I'm on a mission to explore the best happiness hacks that science has on offer.

Like so many others, the pandemic cut me off from my 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 the path to joy, and now I'm ready to share my journey with you.

Each month I'm publishing three linked episodes where I'm 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 sharing a light on the simple happiness habits that can bring more joy to our lives.

What's very exciting, you can Also now find 26 science backed principles on how to create create more happiness at work in relationships and in your own skin in my new book, the Alphabet of Happiness. So join me as I embark on my challenge and together we can become more successful, resilient and happy. Hello happiness seekers.

My name is Claudia and welcome back to the Happiness Challenge. I'm sure you have already noticed that this summer I'm taking a little break from interviewing guests and overall podcasting. But.

But because summer marks the halfway point of the year, I thought it would be a perfect moment to pause and reflect on what we have learned so far from the incredible guests who so kindly contributed to the show since January. And most importantly, how these insights can support our media reset. Because yes, I don't believe it either, but we are halfway through the year. So.

So today is a quick practical episode. Five ideas for action from our last five episodes with guests.

Tiny science back experiments you can try this week to boost your happiness and well being. And as already mentioned, think of this as a media reset when you can take a moment to pause to reflect before the second half of the year.

So let's go straight into into it. So my first idea for action is to run a ten day tiny experiment with one well being habit.

nn Lore laconf on the episode: 2007

You might be proud because you very much stuck with your New Year's resolutions. Congratulations. You might be a bit deflated because you've abandoned them or never really started happens as well.

Or you might be somewhere in the middle some habits and goals worked out Others got forgotten. But either way, Unlor's new big message is a relief for anyone who has ever fallen into this all or nothing thinking.

Because instead of seeing setting goals like a contract, we must do this forever, she says we can approach this change with curiosity. So as a media reset you can ask yourself, what if I try this new small well being practice for next 10 days and observe what happens?

And in my book the Alphabet of Happiness, I very much talk about the premise that around 40% of our happiness is influenced by our habits, the repeated everyday choices that shape how we feel over time.

So if you are enjoying developing habits, setting goals, having a bit of structure, a media reset is absolutely a perfect opportunity to revisit these intentions you set earlier this year or simply start refresh. And rather than committing to a lifelong habit, we are choosing one small practice and and treat it as a 10 day experiment.

And again, it is very about small steps. So it might be 10 minute daily walk outside, ideally in daylight. It might be two minute briefing practice before you check your phone.

It might be fun free first 15 minutes.

In the morning it might be writing down three things that went well at the end of the day it might be a short stretch routine after you brush your teeth, whatever you need in this point in time. But starting now is better than starting never. And this could be a great way to kick off your media reset.

The second idea for action is to journal to create headspace.

So it might be that you had a very hectic first half of the year with lots of unexpected changes and what you need from your mid year reset is actually gaining some clarity.

And in the episode 219 I was joined by Madeleine McQueen, Executive Coach speaker and really much an advocate for personal growth who very much reminded us that journaling doesn't need to be pretty, doesn't need to be structured or perfect to be powerful. And the real value of journaling is that it creates space.

Space to slow down the swirl of our thoughts, process some emotions and heal ourselves for more clarity. So if your mind feels busy, noisy, emotionally cluttered, the simple experiment is to write your way to headspace.

Choose one type of journaling and stick to it for one week. So we have three types that we could try. 1. Release journaling.

So you set the timer for five minutes and you write everything that's bothering you unfiltered. And the goal is to get it out of your head onto a page. 2. Clarity journaling. When you answer one question, you can decide on that question.

But the very simple one is what's the next right step. Okay, then you can write a short list of what you can do today. Not everything, just the next step and the third type, encouragement journaling.

So this is writing to yourself like you would write to your friends. And that could be this is what I want you to remember or I'm very proud of you because.

So I'm starting my new journaling notebook and I definitely feel that my media reset is all about more clarity and more headspace. So again, if you had a quite challenging year, if you need to have a bit of reflection, journaling is a fantastic way to do that.

My third idea for action is to set yourself a tiny rebellion over summer. So this one is inspired by Gavin Oates.

He's a best selling author, speaker and a standup comedian and he joined me on episode 225 to talk about being confidently lost when life goes off script. And we know that happens quite a lot.

And very much my favorite insight from Gavin is this idea of celebrating just the big events, the big milestones, but what he calls tiny rebellions. Saying no setting boundary, doing less, resting without guilt.

So if you are feeling tired or simply noticing that you have spent the first half of the year looking after everyone else, perhaps your media reset is really about a self care. So ask yourself, what tiny rebellion could I set myself over summer that would make me feel more like me?

It might be leaving a group chat for a month, saying no to one plan a week, taking a lunch break outside instead of at your desk, wearing something that feels bold or joyful, turning off notifications over weekends, going for a solo coffee date, or protecting one evening a week when you have no plans time and you just whatever kind of feels right at that moment.

So again, these rebellions are not to be dramatic and it's very much reminding ourselves that maybe a media reset is about stopping and slowing down and about that self care. My fourth idea for action for you is about doing a bit of overthinking reset.

So this will be valuable if you are in a moment of life when you might be overthinking a lot. It might be that the first half of the year was very challenging.

It might be lots of significant events has happened and you are in the moment where things are spiraling. You might be replaying the past, you might be catastrophizing the future. You just may be thinking about something over and over again.

And this tool comes from Dr. Claire Heiss, who is a clinical psychologist, author of one of my favorite books, how to Cope. And on episode 228 Claire was talking about these implications of overthinking.

And one thing that I love about Claire's approach is her pushback on false positivity because she says positive isn't the same as helpful and managing our emotions is not putting ourselves under pressure of I should feel this or I must do that.

So for the next few days, if overthinking is challenging for you, try to catch those moments when you say well I should or I must and then try to replace those with words like I said choose.

So for example, rather than saying I should go for a walk, you say I choose to go for a walk because it helps my mood or I must reply to everyone becomes I choose to reply to what matters most today or I should eat better becomes I choose food that supports my energy today. So it's a small reframe but it brings us back into ownership and help us to settle that overthinking and that feeling being under pressure.

And if you're not choosing specific action like you really cannot say I choose this, then maybe is back to that tiny rebellion and saying no to it. And idea number five. So our final idea is a 15 second vocal reset before you speak.

So so this idea comes from Judith Quinn who is a voice coach and vocal confidence specialist. And this one is for you. If your media reset is about taking new challenges, you are taking on some new challenges.

Maybe you are venturing into unknown, maybe you starting something afresh and actually what you need is to show up with a strong presence. So on episode 231 Judith very much dismantles a myth that I think a lot of us carry which says that presence equals volume.

Instead she very much talks about spacious presence, more grounded pacing, more resonance and a voice that lands with a full stop rather than a question mark. So before your next call presentation, difficult conversation, whatever your mid year challenge is, do this 15 second vocal reset.

Exhale slowly through your mouth like inhale slowly through your nose and then hum one low note for three breaths and then simply notice what changes in your chest, your pace and how your words land. So that's your media reset. Five ideas for action from our last five episodes with guests.

So number one run a ten day tiny experiment with one well being habit. Number two is to journal to create headspace for some release, clarity or encouragement.

Number three is set yourself a tiny rebellion over summer to boost your self care. Fourth is swap should and I must for I choose to tame your overthinking. And number five is try a 15 second vocal reset to speak with present.

So I really do hope that you choose one of these ideas and try it for the next few days.

If you interested in any of those topics and you want to find out more, please refer to the full interviews with those guests because there's just so much to learn from those people that re listening. It might be a nice good start before you go into a journey of a media reset. And I really want to stress that Fresh Starts don't belong to January.

Okay. It's often we feel like that that kind of this is a moment to do something differently. But we can start at any point.

We don't need a perfect life sweet spot to start. So if you're listening today, you can start today.

And I'm also very excited because my book, the Alphabet of Happiness is being featured this month in Best Magazine and I speak about the science of fresh starts. So if you want to learn more, you can grab a copy and read the article. Hope you will enjoy it.

It's always exciting to share the Science of Happiness with wide audiences. So yeah, if you would like to check it out, do that. And as always, thank you so much for being here. I always appreciate that.

You can catch more via my Substack newsletter. Just head to my website, thehappinesschallenge.co.uk and most importantly again, massive thank you to all my wonderful guests so far this year.

I'll be back soon, but until then, take care of yourself and as always, I dare you to be happy. Bye.

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233. #234 5 Ideas for Your Mid-Year Reset for a Happier Second Half of the Year