Why We Need Skills for Happiness – and Why 30×30 Is the Time to Learn Them

We spend years in school learning math, biology, and history, but very few of us are ever taught the actual skills of happiness. And yet, just like math, happiness has skills. Skills we can practice, strengthen, and improve over time.

Without them, many of us settle for how to be less miserable. We know how to manage symptoms, avoid triggers, or patch ourselves together when life gets overwhelming. And if this is you, it makes sense. It’s what “mental health” is all about. I know, I worked in it for many years. But feeling “less bad” is not enough: surviving life isn’t the same as thriving in it.

Without the tools to actively build happiness, we risk finding ourselves in a state of languishing, that blah feeling when you’re stuck in the grey zone between happiness and depression. You’re not doing bad, and you might not be sad, but you’re not very glad either.

The irony is that we spend so much time trying not to feel bad, that we end up often feeling nothing. And that state of nothingness, left unchecked, increases the odds of becoming depressed. It’s a risk factor in itself.

Let me say that again: not being as happy as you could be is a risk factor for being unhappy.

That’s why happiness skills matter. They don’t just boost mood in the moment, they help buffer against mental health challenges and, in many cases, prevent them altogether. And there are many empirically validated studies to support that claim.

I’ve worked across the full mental health spectrum, supporting people with depression, anxiety, even suicidal ideation using everything from antidepressants to cognitive and behavioral therapy. And you know what? Positive Psychology skills, or positive psychology interventions (PPIs), work and they are as effective as CBT and antidepressant medication. In fact, they were first tested in clinical populations and it’s where they work best, despite everyone using them today.

Which brings us to the Dubai 30x30 Challenge. You already know it as 30 minutes of daily movement for your body, but this year, why not pair it with movement for your mind?

That’s what the 30x30 Happiness Challenge is all about. It’s 30 scientifically validated happiness practices, one for each day. Think of them as small experiments in wellbeing: easy, fun, and surprisingly effective. On the surface, they might look light-hearted and playful, but each one is backed by research in psychology (and has the accompanying study marked as a reference below it for you sciency folks). They’re designed to boost your subjective wellbeing, life satisfaction, and everyday experience of joy.

From simple acts of kindness, spending time in nature, to building social capital and savouring daily moments, these practices make happiness practical. They don’t ask you to ignore the bad; life is hard, and sometimes overwhelmingly so. Instead, they give you concrete skills to manage the bad while still growing the good.

So, do the fitness and do the happiness. Together, they create a more complete foundation for living well. Because life isn’t just about running from misery; it’s about building a life worth running toward.

Don’t just aim for a less miserable life.
Aim for a better one.

Join us in the 30x30 Happiness Challenge and start practicing the skills of happiness, skills that can help you today, and protect you for tomorrow. For more, see 30x30, or if you’re ready to get the Playbook and follow along with me, go straight to Amazon and get ready to start your journey November 1^st!