The Joy Audit: 5 Minutes to Rediscover What Actually Makes You Happy
Because somewhere between your first promotion and your fourth performance review, you forgot what happiness actually feels like.
Hi Dreamers!
Today
from Mitten Dad Minute is taking over the Newsletter. Make sure to check out Matt’s Publication!Joy Audit
It’s 9:47 PM on a Sunday
You’re scrolling LinkedIn in bed, watching former colleagues announce their “exciting new ventures” while you calculate how many years until retirement.
Your spouse is asleep. Your laptop is still warm from another 12-hour day of building someone else’s empire. And deep down, in that quiet place you rarely visit anymore, you’re wondering: When did I become this person?
When did Sunday nights start feeling like a slow march to the execution chamber?
When did “What do you want to be when you grow up?” become “What’s your five-year plan for advancing within your current trajectory?”
Here’s the brutal truth: Most corporate professionals can’t even remember what genuine joy feels like anymore.
We’ve become happiness amnesiacs—so conditioned to chase external validation that we’ve completely lost touch with our internal compass.
Studies show that most professionals spend less than 20% of their work day on tasks that align with their core strengths and interests.
Twenty percent.
That’s less time than you spend in meetings talking about meetings.
But here’s what nobody tells you:
Rediscovering what actually makes you happy isn’t a luxury. It’s survival strategy.
Because the people building meaningful careers, creating portfolio income streams, and becoming CEOs of their own lives? They didn’t start with a business plan.
They started by remembering who they were underneath their job title.
Today, you’re getting a 5-minute system that cuts through decades of corporate conditioning to reconnect you with your authentic sources of happiness.
No vision boards. No life coaching fees. Just a practical audit that works whether you’re in a corner office or a cubicle farm.
Because happiness isn’t a reward for hard work. It’s the fuel for meaningful work.
Why Your Current “Happiness Strategy” is Broken
The lie we’ve all been sold: Happiness is a promotion away.
Get the raise. Make VP. Hit your targets. Then—and only then—you’ll finally feel fulfilled.
It’s corporate gaslighting at its finest.
The corner office you've dreamed about for years—with its floor-to-ceiling windows and mahogany desk? It felt like a prettier prison.
The real problem isn’t that you’re ungrateful. The real problem is that you’re chasing someone else’s definition of success.
Think about it: When was the last time you asked yourself what you actually want—not what you’re supposed to want, not what looks good on social media, not what makes your parents proud at family dinners—but what genuinely lights you up?
Most of us can’t answer that question anymore.
We’ve confused achievement with fulfillment. Productivity with purpose. Being needed with being valued.
Here’s the pattern I see everywhere: Smart professionals spend 20 years optimizing for metrics that don’t actually matter to them.
Revenue growth when they crave creative expression. Management responsibilities when they prefer deep, focused work. Networking events when they’re energized by meaningful one-on-one connections.
It’s like training for marathons when you actually love rock climbing.
The corporate world teaches us to manage our weaknesses.
What if we optimized for our strengths instead? What if we built careers around what brings us joy rather than what we’re merely competent at?
This is what I call the Joy Audit Method—a systematic approach to identifying your authentic happiness triggers, the stuff that makes time disappear and energy multiply.
It’s not about quitting your job tomorrow. It’s about remembering who you are underneath your job title. So you can start making decisions from that place of authentic knowing rather than external expectation.
Here’s how to break free from this cycle and reconnect with your authentic sources of happiness.
The 5-Minute Joy Audit System
“Most people have been corporate zombies so long they’ve forgotten what lights them up. They know what they’re good at, what pays well, what looks impressive—but they have no idea what brings them joy.” —Gay Hendricks, The Big Leap
You’re about to change that.
This isn’t therapy. This isn’t a journey of self-discovery that takes months. This is a practical diagnostic tool that works in less time than it takes to read through your morning emails.
Step 1: The Energy Mapping Exercise
The Big Idea: Your energy never lies.
Your brain can rationalize anything, but your body keeps the score. Energy is the most honest metric you have.
Here’s what you’ll do:
For the next three days, set a phone alarm for every two hours. When it goes off, quickly note:
What you just finished doing
Energy level (1-10)
One word describing how you feel
Example entry: “Client presentation / 8 / alive” or “Budget review meeting / 3 / drained”
What you’ll discover: Energy patterns reveal your authentic preferences better than any personality test. The activities that consistently spike your energy? Those are clues to your joy triggers.
Pain point this solves: No more wondering why you feel exhausted doing work you’re technically good at.
Step 2: The Time Travel Test
The Big Idea: Your 12-year-old self knew things your adult self has forgotten.
Before corporate conditioning. Before “realistic expectations.” Before you learned to want what you’re supposed to want.
Here’s what you’ll do:
Set a timer for 90 seconds. Write down everything you remember loving between ages 8-16. Don’t filter. Don’t judge. Just brain-dump.
Building forts. Solving puzzles. Making people laugh. Teaching your little sister card tricks. Whatever made time disappear.
What you’ll discover: Core themes that transcend specific activities. The kid who loved building forts might crave creating systems. The class clown might need creative expression.
Pain point this solves: Reconnects you with intrinsic motivations before they got buried under external expectations.
Step 3: The Envy Detector
The Big Idea: Jealousy is a compass pointing toward hidden desires.
Your envy is data. Use it.
Here’s what you’ll do:
Think of three people whose lives or careers make you feel that sharp pang of “Why them and not me?” Write down specifically what you envy about each person.
Is it their freedom? Their creativity? Their impact? Their autonomy? The specificity matters.
Example: “I envy how Amanda runs her own consulting firm” breaks down to → autonomy + expertise + direct client relationships.
What you’ll discover: Your jealousy reveals your unexpressed desires more clearly than your vision board ever will.
Pain point this solves: Transforms negative emotions into actionable insight about what you actually want.
Step 4: The Sunday Night Scanner
The Big Idea: Dread is as informative as desire.
What you resist reveals what you value.
Here’s what you’ll do:
Every Sunday at 6 PM for two weeks, ask yourself:
What am I dreading about this week?
What am I genuinely looking forward to?
What would I do if I had zero obligations?
What you’ll discover: The contrast between obligation and anticipation reveals misalignment. The stuff you consistently dread? That’s data about what doesn’t belong in your ideal future.
Pain point this solves: Identifies energy drains you’ve normalized so you can start designing them out of your life.
Step 5: The Values Validation Check
The Big Idea: Joy without values is just pleasure. Values without joy is just duty. You need both.
Here’s what you’ll do:
Look at your energy spikes from Step 1. Ask: “What values am I honoring when I feel most alive?”
Examples:
High energy during mentoring → Value: helping others grow
Alive during problem-solving sessions → Value: intellectual challenge
Energized by team collaboration → Value: meaningful connection
What you’ll discover: Your sustainable happiness lives at the intersection of what energizes you and what matters to you.
Pain point this solves: Ensures your joy audit leads to meaningful action rather than just feel-good moments.
Making Sense of Your Results
You know that feeling when you finish a project and think “That wasn’t work”? That’s your joy compass pointing north.
Now you have data. But data without interpretation is just noise. Here’s how to identify the patterns that matter:
Look for themes, not tasks. If your energy spiked during “teaching new hire,” “explaining project to client,” and “training session,” the theme isn’t education—it’s knowledge transfer. The underlying joy trigger might be seeing others understand complex concepts.
Pay attention to environment patterns. Are your high-energy moments in collaborative settings or solo work? Small teams or large groups? Structured meetings or casual conversations? This tells you about your optimal working conditions.
Notice timing patterns. Do you consistently feel alive during morning strategy sessions but drained by afternoon administrative work? Your natural rhythms are giving you intel about when to schedule your most important work.
Common pitfall: Dismissing results because they seem “too simple” or “not professional enough.” If organizing information makes you feel genuinely energized, that’s not silly—it’s strategic. Your authentic preferences are the foundation for sustainable career decisions.
Real-World Scenario: Mark’s Story
Before the audit: Mark, a finance director at a Fortune 500 company, was successful by every external measure. Corner office, six-figure salary, respect from colleagues. But Sunday nights felt like preparing for battle, and he found himself Googling “early retirement calculator” more than he cared to admit.
During the audit: His energy mapping revealed something surprising. While budget reviews and board presentations consistently scored 3-4/10, his energy spiked to 8-9 during data visualization projects, process improvement initiatives, and training sessions where he helped others understand complex financial concepts.
His time travel test brought back memories of spending hours creating elaborate charts and graphs for school projects—not because they were required, but because making information visually clear felt like solving puzzles.
The envy detector revealed he was consistently jealous of colleagues who worked in business intelligence and analytics transformation roles.
The shift: Instead of accepting another promotion to VP of Finance (more of what drained him), Mark negotiated to lead the company’s financial analytics transformation. He spent 70% of his time on data visualization, process optimization, and training—his energy sweet spots.
The outcome: Not only did his job satisfaction increase dramatically, but his visibility in the organization skyrocketed. The CFO regularly showcased Mark’s dashboards in executive meetings. Within 18 months, he received both a 30% salary increase and an offer to head up the new Business Intelligence division.
The key insight: Mark didn’t change careers. He changed which parts of his existing skillset he optimized for.
The audit helped him see that he wasn’t in the wrong field—he was just focused on the wrong functions within that field.
What This Actually Changes
Before: Optimizing for what looks good on paper
After: Optimizing for what feels good in your body
Before: “I should want this promotion”
After: “Do I actually want this promotion, and why?”
Before: Making career decisions based on external metrics
After: Making career decisions based on authentic data
The real transformation isn’t about finding your passion—it’s about remembering your preferences. Because when you know what genuinely brings you joy, every other decision becomes clearer.
Should you take that lateral move? Does it align with your energy map? Should you start that side project? Does it involve your core joy triggers? Should you negotiate for more money or more flexibility? What matters more according to your audit?
This isn’t about becoming selfish. This is about becoming authentic. The people building meaningful careers, creating multiple income streams, and designing life on their terms? They started here. With 5 minutes of honest self-assessment.
Your joy isn’t a luxury. It’s your GPS.
How to Know You’ve Done This Right
Success indicators for your Joy Audit:
You have at least 3-5 clear energy spikes from your mapping exercise. If everything feels flat, extend the tracking period or pay closer attention to subtle differences.
You can identify 2-3 core themes from your childhood activities that connect to present-day preferences. These don’t need to be career-obvious—the kid who loved rearranging furniture might crave systems optimization.
Your envy list reveals specific, actionable insights about what you want more of in your work life. Vague envy (“I wish I had their success”) isn’t useful. Specific envy (“I wish I could work directly with clients instead of through account managers”) is gold.
You feel a mix of excitement and slight anxiety about what the audit reveals. If you feel nothing, you’re probably censoring yourself. If you feel overwhelmed, you’re trying to change everything at once instead of identifying patterns.
Most importantly: You can complete this sentence: “I feel most alive at work when I’m ___________.” If you can’t, go deeper. The answer is there.
The Permission You Didn’t Know You Needed
Permission to want what you want (not what you should want)
Permission to be energized by things that don’t look impressive on LinkedIn
Permission to design your career around joy rather than just competence
Permission to trust your own experience over external expectations
Permission to make changes gradually rather than dramatically
Permission to care about how work feels, not just how it pays
Your 5-minute Joy Audit isn’t going to solve your career overnight. But it will give you something valuable: direction.
Because you can’t build a meaningful life on someone else’s definition of success.
The corporate world will always have another promotion to chase, another metric to optimize, another expectation to meet. But underneath all that noise, your authentic preferences are waiting. They’ve been waiting this whole time.
What brings you joy? Take 5 minutes and find out.
Then take the next step. Not the one you think you should take. The one that makes your energy spike just by thinking about it.
Your future self—the one who remembers what happiness feels like—is counting on it.
One question for you: What’s one thing from your childhood that made time disappear that you haven’t done in years?
Hit reply and tell me. I read every single one, and sometimes the answers surprise even the person writing them.
If this helped you remember something important about yourself, forward it to someone else who might be ready to remember too.
Always look for the joy,
Matt & Noemi
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