It’s one of the last sunny days of the summer when I spend a deliciously joyful hour with Lynn Hord. She’s just returned from Wales where she spent a week motorbiking with her dad.  Laughter, insights and shared experiences flow but one thing stands out, this sunny Australian lady emanates Joy.

I’ve been fortunate to know Lynn for a while and what I love about her is her practical but playful approach to joy and how she shares it with everyone she meets.  What an inspiring lady to spend an hour with, here’s her story…

Lynn, please introduce yourself and tell us how you became the Joy Coach.

Hi! I’m Lynn Hord, I’m The Joy Coach, founder of Joy School and creator of the blog Insider Tips to Everyday Joy.

I was a coach for 10 years working with people in different ways. I enjoyed it but it was when I was interviewed by Psychologies magazine for an article about happiness that I had a lightbulb moment. I was speaking about joy and I literally got tingles down my back and realised I had to do something with that. Within a month I rebranded and launched The Joy Coach, I’ve never looked back.

What inspires you to do the work that you do?

Where do I start?! It felt so important to let people know that they often focus on the wrong things. There are so many myths about happiness and joy – that you have to earn it, work hard for it, delay it – but really it’s so much simpler. Our culture and society tells us that cars, money, jobs and material things provide happiness, it certainly adds to our overall sense of happiness, but it doesn’t provide joy on a day to day basis.

I love to think of life like a beautiful carpet. There are thousands of tiny threads but together they create something magnificent. The fabric of your life is made of small moments in much the same way and they weave together to create something beautiful.

What was your journey to “joy” like?

Ha! I was the girl who always looked at what wasn’t working, what wasn’t right and I let that be my truth for so many years. I was serious, a perfectionist and a high achiever and honestly, I simply wasn’t happy. I wasn’t born with an innate joy, despite being an Australian and living by the sea (another myth buster there!)

Finding joy was a magical and beautiful journey for me. I always believed in the possibility of it, and I made it my mission to find it. I was a searcher – I read books, took courses, joined groups – constantly looking for it. Then one random day, I was sitting quietly and I had a moment of pure bliss. Nothing specifically caused or created it, it just happened. It was the first time my body knew pure joy and after that, I just had to learn how to recreate it.

And you’re here in the UK all the way from sunny Australia to bring us sunshine on dark grey days – the question everyone wants to know is why are you here rather than by the beach?!

I’ve always had a sense of where I needed to be. I’ve travelled a lot and I spent a few years here in my mid-twenties but then work pulled me back in later life and I never left. I know I’m meant to be here and I love London so it works!

What changes for people when they experience “joy”?

It’s beautiful. The world opens up in unexpected ways and one client recently called me to say that once she started looking for and embracing the joy already in her life, she wanted to look after herself, she wanted to eat healthily and exercise – it stopped being a chore for her, she wanted to do it. It’s amazing to witness life becoming easier, gently unfolding and becoming less stressful for people.

All of us have the ability to live like that. It’s not about being happy and joyful every moment of every day, that’s simply unrealistic because we’re human! It’s about choosing to find the joy in things, choosing to view life with a sense of fun and openness and when the tough times come, and they will, having the resilience and mindset to acknowledge the pain, the anger, the challenge, but work through it and find a way forward.

It’s so important in life to find what lights your fire. I always encourage my clients to think laterally about their joy. If they love to travel but don’t have the money to, perhaps going on local adventures or exploring areas close to home or cooking the cuisine from the country.

I love that tip! I play Latin American music in my car to remind me of South America, even in a traffic jam I don’t get frustrated as I get to listen to the music and be transported!

Exactly! It’s about injecting joy and giving yourself permission to experience it.

You recently travelled around Europe with your dad as a month-long joyful experiment – how was it?

I did – it was amazing. I spent a month with my Dad and we’d never had that time before. Being able to share my passion and my time with him was truly special and I realised how much adventure lights me up. I also learnt a valuable lesson when he left to go home – to be happy for the experience rather than be sad it’s over. It doubles the joy.

How can people spread more joy?

I love this question! Imagine a fire where you huddle around and feel warm, cosy and safe – that’s exactly like joy. When you choose to cultivate and focus on joy for yourself, you can’t help but have these little joy embers that constantly burn in you – and like the fire, they spread warmth, happiness and peace to others too. So just sitting in your joy and allowing it to shine spreads and shares it. So many people need it.

What’s your top joy tip for those wanting to inject joy but not knowing where to start?

Gratitude. Every time. If you can stop for just 5 minutes a day – or even 1 minute if that’s all you have – and list all the amazing things you’re grateful for in that moment or in your life, it can change everything. When you train yourself to look for the good, you can’t help but see even more to be grateful for.