The Joy Plan by Kaia Roman outlines a 30-day experiment where the author concentrates solely on joy, quitting complaining, and stopping worrying! She puts the results of the experiment into this book. It’s easy to read, fun, joyful—and super inspiring.

The book starts with the closing of the writer’s failed internet business into which she has put in all her money, time, and effort. Feeling despondent and at a loss at what to do with her life, The Joy Project is born.

Kaia concentrates mainly on what makes her feel good and brings joy to her life. The methods and outcomes are super inspiring. Life events test resolve. It’s a life changer! Kaia starts the book with the premise—sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

The 30-Day Plan

Kaia starts The Joy Plan, in desperation, and at the advice of her friend Niko. Niko tells Kaia that she has come across a concept that your life can be turned around if you focus on joy for 30 days. One of the first things Kaia thought was – What am I doing wrong? Why aren’t I focussing on joy already?!

Kaia feels foolish that her business has failed and that she is so off track with many of her life plans – but decides to give it a shot. Coincidentally she has enough funds to get her through 30 days before she returns to work. The joy plan can be undertaken without leaving your job though!

Exercise

Feeling like a fraud as she now has all day with nothing to do, Kai starts an early morning exercise regime. She drags herself to the gym where before long she starts producing feel-good endorphins that help spark joy.

Love

While focusing on joy, Kaia has more time with her family. Although there can still be differences of opinion Kaia finds she is able to lighten up. Kaia discovers she is actually an introvert and makes changes in her life to embrace this part of her personality type. The people she loves are happy that she is less stressed. Everything improves. It’s a win-win.

Quietening the Mind

Kaia talks about the incessant negative chatter that goes on in her mind and calls this voice “the Bitch in My Head.” There is a chapter on recognizing the ego and separating from it, so that we are in touch with the true self. And Kaia tells how she recognized and shushed that nagging voice!

Begin Your Joy Plan Here

The Joy Plan: How I Took 30 Days to Stop Worrying, Quit Complaining, and Find Ridiculous Happiness

Written by Kaia Roman

Sourcebooks (July 11, 2017), 322 pages

ASIN: B072N17F99

$9.99

“If you are in the midst of a joy drought, so to speak, this could be the book for you. Part memoir, part universally applicable joy-strategy, The Joy Plan tells the author’s story of suffering and lays out, step-by-step, the process that helped her experience much more happiness. Kaia Roman writes in an engaging way, so reading this book can feel like listening to a friend.”―Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness and Real Happiness

Being in the Moment

Being mindful allowed the author to appreciate the little things. The best things in life are free and she and the family spent more time at the beach, snorkeling, and watching beautiful sunsets. None of which she felt she had time for while she was working 18 hours a day, ironically on a health business. Her husband tweaks his schedule so that the family can do these things together.

Non-Complaining

Complaining is essentially focussing on the negative. As part of the joy plan, there is no complaining! And there are some challenging times when Kaia would normally complain–a lot!

This incidentally led me to another book: A Complaint-Free World by Will Bowen. The author started a program at his local church, which has spread to over 15 million members wearing purple bracelets as a reminder and complaint counter. But that’s another story.

Synchronicity

When relaxed and in flow opportunities happen. When Kaia thinks about the areas of her business that she really enjoys she found that writing, and not planning, was a big part of what lit her up. With one email she was able to start a writing gig. Opportunities branched out from there. She met up with old colleague in the supermarket and scored the perfect gig, all which fits in well with the volunteer work at her girls’ school that she has just taken up.

Resilience

Doubt can creep in at any time. Sometimes life happens, and things just don’t go to plan. With all the changes going on in the world we can all relate to this one. Kaia has to deal with the loss of the family’s much-loved dog, Lovey, and life just doesn’t seem fair. How was this in the joy plan? She also has moments where she does a reality check on her finances and other areas of life that just aren’t as good as they could be. By allowing herself to feel the not-so-nice emotions, grieve, and then have faith in joy she is able to process her emotions and come back to joy.

This book is happy, fun, real—and a delight to read. It is teaching me to reach for and expand my own joy. I highly recommend this.

Today, KAIA ROMAN wears many hats, including writer, producer, investor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.

Merging 20 years of brand experience work in Silicon Valley with her neuroscience and mindfulness research and training, Kaia is an intrepid entrepreneur and passionate advocate for people, projects, and products working toward a better world. For more than 20 years, Kaia had an illustrious and successful career in marketing and public relations. Based in Silicon Valley, Kaia helped many businesses and organizations launch, rise to brilliant success, and continue to thrive wildly. Specializing in the fields of health, technology, and sustainability, Kaia’s cutting-edge clients included Google, Twilio, Salesforce, Doctor On Demand, and The United Nations Foundation.

As an entrepreneur, Kaia has applied her personal passion for health and wellness with a steady stream of successful startups, ranging from epigenetics software to psychedelic medicine. In 2023, Kaia received the psychedelic industry Entheo Award for Psychedelic CEO of the Year.  Kaia is a regular presenter, panel member, and moderator at conferences and events, providing attendees with practical tools and exercises they can use right away.

Kaia believes in the healing power of words and stories. She is the bestselling author of The Joy Plan, which was featured on the TODAY Show as the inspiration for the hosts’ week-long “complaint cleanse.” Kaia’s popular wellness blogs on mindbodygreen, The Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Wake Up World, Medium, and Scary Mommy explore how humans connect, heal, and flourish, offering science-backed tips for biohacking joy. Kaia also tells stories that change lives through documentary films. She was a producer of Lamar Odom: Reborn, which chronicles the basketball superstar / former Kardashian family member’s life-changing transformation using psychedelic medicine. She’s currently working on the upcoming documentary, Frequency: The Future of Everything, which features scientific pioneers Dr. Joe Dispenza, Bruce H. Lipton, Gregg Braden, Nassim Haramein, and more.