Recently, Howard began asking Ari a wonderful question every time we picked him up from daycare.

“So, Ari, what did you learn today?” Howard began asking.

I love this question because it immediately re-directs Ari to think about all the good stuff he learned—and thereby engrave the insights and education further into his memory. Plus, what Ari shares helps us to feel connected to his growth, makes us laugh, and, on occasion, Ari winds up teaching us something.

For example, the other night, we learned via Ari that the word “watermelon” in Chinese is “Xigua.”

“You didn’t know that?” Ari asked surprised, when we thanked him for sharing his new vocab word.

“No, we didn’t. You were our teacher right now,” we told him.

This made Ari smile. “I can be a teacher?” Ari asked.

“Yes, we can all be teachers to one another,” I said. “You have a lot to teach us. We can learn from you—and we do—a lot. Each of us has something different we can teach and learn from one another. And it’s good to always be learning something new each day.”

“Sooooo…what did YOU learn today?” Ari asked us.

Howard and I laughed. Geez! What did we learn? We took some thoughtful time to contemplate the answer.

“I know!” I announced. “We learned that the word ‘watermelon’ is ‘xigua’ in Chinese.” (Yep, I was trying to take the easy answer out.)

Ari laughed. “Noooooo! What did YOU learn?” He was not accepting my lazy response.

Howard and I each agreed that this was a great question for us grown ups to think about at the end of each day—not just kids. We grown ups need to always be learning and growing, too.

In fact, I’ve joked that I don’t want to be called a “grown up.” I want to be called a “growing up.” I always want to be growing.

I also love thinking about trying to answer this “What did you learn today?” question at the beginning of the day—to keep it as a wonderful lens to view one’s day through, to always be thinking as you go through your day: “Hmmm…What am I learning today?”

With this in mind, I’ve now started to ask this “What did you learn today?” question to Howard and friends at the end of each day. I’ve been loving the responses!

Indeed, I now personally love to end the day with a range of thought-provoking, inspiring questions—so as to lovingly train the ol’ brain to focus on what’s happy and good, so we can be what I call a “positive evidence seeker”—seeking out proof that life is full of bright insights, thriving growth, loving kindness, and spirited joy!

With this in mind, I’ve created a list of 10 happiness-boosting questions to share at the end of the day (with family or friends) to increase both happiness and connectedness!

1. What did you learn today?

2. What made you laugh today?

3. What surprised you today?

4. What made you proud today?

5. What loving action did you do for someone today?

6. What loving action did someone do for you?

7. What do you feel especially grateful about today?

8. What did you do today to move a little closer to a goal/dream?

9. How did you stretch yourself further today?

10. What made you feel excited/inspired today?


Karen Salmansohn is a bestselling author and award winning designer with over one million books sold known for creating self help for people who wouldn’t be caught dead doing self help, like with her bestselling e-book like Prince Harming Syndrome. Her new app INSTANT PEPTALK has been hovering in iTunes top 5 apps on happiness! Check it out!

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