East Sussex-Based Barrister, Beverly Cripps, Becomes Global Bestseller With The Lazy Guide To Happy, Sharing Psychological Insights To Fast-Tracking Happiness

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, barrister Beverly Cripps has become a global best-selling author with her new self help book, The Lazy Guide to Happy: Effortless Joy for the Time-Crunched and Nearly Burned Out.

The Lazy Guide to Happy: Effortless Joy for the Time-Crunched and Nearly Burned Out

Barrister of 35 years Beverly Cripps, from Hove, East Sussex, is celebrating becoming a global best-selling author, as her debut book ‘The Lazy Guide to Happy: Effortless Joy for the Time-Crunched and Nearly Burned Out’ stormed the Amazon charts, to become a No.1 in three categories, knocking famous hypnotist and behavioural scientist, Paul McKenna off the top spot. 

Marking Bev’s 35th anniversary of being ‘called to the bar’, the book is dedicated to her late parents, who always encouraged her to thrive and pursue happiness. 

My book provides some low effort tools that fit seamlessly into your busy life to help you feel well…. and happier.

-Beverly Cripps

Beverly Cripps

Alongside her career as a Barrister, Bev has built a business as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, and Evidence-Based Positive Psychology and Resilience Coach, working with people to share her knowledge and techniques on how to manage the intricacies of stress and relentless schedules – something she has been immersed in for several decades.

With Health and Safety Executive Statistics – here showing that almost 1 million people are currently suffering with work related stress, depression or anxiety, Bev is on a mission to help people to be happy and let them know that whatever their backgrounds or whatever their circumstances have been, there is an opportunity for them to learn the tools that will help them to thrive and be happy. 

Bev’s career as a barrister ran alongside her former partner serving as a soldier in the Afghan conflict. Bev experienced a pivotal winter when she felt surrounded by death – after she had prosecuted three murder trials in succession, and her partner was away in Afghanistan. It was her desire to do something positive during this dark time and that led her on the path to her new skill set and hope for a new side-hustle and career.

Re-Evaluating Her Life

During covid, Bev lost her mum and had to remain in Wales after spending time there with her during her mum’s dying days. Isolated and unsure of the future, Bev started to re-evaluate her life and reflect on the impact she wanted to make. During this time she connected with the fact she wanted to help more people who are struggling through life.

Having always been interested in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming ), which Bev had used in her coaching and mentoring, she went on to explore Hypnosis – both for herself, then undertaking training in it so she could also help others. She went on to become a qualified Positive Psychology Coach and a Licentiate Resilience Trainer for the Complementary Medical Association.

Over the years during my work in the courts as a Barrister, I‘ve pondered how through no fault of their own, people have had to live with significant trauma and how their lives have been blighted by it. I have also seen how people self destruct their perfectly good lives, through pushing themselves to the peak of stress. In my lonely evenings in Wales, when I was awake all hours, I started scrolling to explore what was out there. As a Barrister I was looking for evidence based modalities and this led me to the science of Positive Psychology and resilience.

Science tells us we have a massive 40% influence on how we feel – no matter what your genetics and what the world has given you. We have a huge amount of power over our own happiness and can take control of lifting up our positive emotions – but, so many of us don’t take this control. By adding small, almost effortless, practices into our daily routines, however busy we are, we can bring in more happiness, and balance to our lives. This is something that has made a huge difference in my life and this is what I am here to share in my book.

Since Covid, I’ve felt that collectively we’ve become more anxious and have lost any sense of security we may once have had. It seems compounded by what has happened since with the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. I investigated modalities that would help us to “ground ourselves when the ground around us is moving“ to give us a sense of inner confidence and enhance our levels of happiness  – and by doing so have a positive effect on those around us.

I come from a profession which demands a great deal of time and effort often to the detriment of ourselves and our relationships and I have also supported many others through coaching from across; the armed forces, police, fire service, nurses, carers and medics… Time is precious for all of us. I know that many of us feel that happiness is aspirational – a sense of calm and ‘inner peace’ is a ‘ nice to have’ but out of reach of reality, as who has time to meditate and do all the things that we know are good for us?…..

In this book I have trialled and curated low effort, zero cost highly effective tools that come from positive psychology that will fit into the busiest of days. The aim is to establish a baseline which elevates the mood and leads to a desire to do more –  and it needn’t take hours.

-Beverly Cripps

Reset, Rewire Resilient ®

The book explores first how we can engage the subconscious mind to work for us and is based on Bev’s trademarked Positive Psychology coaching programme Reset, Rewire Resilient ®, which follows the Positive Psychology PERMAH pillars, which are said to be the foundation of a happy life and good wellbeing – positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment and health. Each chapter is an explanation of why they are useful and provides low effort tools that can be used to increase wellbeing in those areas. 

At the beginning of the book there is an opportunity to take the PERMAH survey which has been called the equivalent of a psychological FIT BIT, to show you where you are and help then measure at the end how far you’ve come. With complementary audios linked to the chapters, Bev’s mission is to support the reader every step of the way.

Positive Psychology

I want these tools and those like them, to be as much a part of our consciousness as the idea of 10,000 steps per day. Like many others, I think Positive Psychology should be taught in schools, to embed these ways of thinking, and understanding ourselves from an early age.  I grew up with my family assuring me I could be or do anything I wanted, just as long as I was happy – but I know this isn’t everyone’s reality.

My dad had suffered from heart disease for his adult life, but despite heart attacks and major heart surgeries, it never stopped him living life to the fullest. His energetic zest for life and resilience has always been a source of inspiration to me. He always used to say that ‘this is not a rehearsal and you have to make it count’ – he certainly lived by that and I intend to too. I certainly had a “sliding doors” moment in my career, where I met lots of care leavers and young people from highly disadvantaged backgrounds both exploited as victims of crime and also as defendants. I realised but for sheer luck I could have been one of those.

As I progress in my new direction and side-hustle, it is my intention to set up a foundation for care leavers in memory of my mum and dad, to give and pass on at least a little of the support that I received.

-Beverly Cripps

Lazy Low Effort Steps to Happiness from Bev

Contrary to what you may have heard or read, you do not have to work very hard to build happiness in your day-to-day life. 

1. My all time favourite and empirically proved positive psychology intervention – three good things or the three blessings . At the end of every day  and preferably the last thing you do as part of your wind down before sleep, write down three good things that happened to you that day and why they had a positive effect on you . On a bad day it could be as simple as “it didn’t rain” or a stranger smiled at you in a queue . It primes your mind for a positive night and gratitude has been shown to have fantastic effects on well- being .

2. Take a mindful moment – I’m like a broken record when it comes to this simple step to take you out of the busiest days . Go somewhere quiet ( even the loo) and close your eyes and  quite simply concentrate on your breath for a minute or two . You can do more formal breathing exercises ( as set out in my book with accompanying  audios ) but just breaking up the day regularly with these little moments can help dial down the stress levels .

3. Acts of kindness -doing small things can make an immeasurable difference to people’s lives and add so much to your own well-being. Being selfishly unselfish, a smile to a stranger could turn out to be a lifesaver or simply send a thoughtful message to a friend . Try doing 5 small things everyday for a week

4. Do some flow activities- these are things that fully absorb you like reading, baking ,or a sport you love . Flow is where you are absorbed , the activity slightly challenges you, you have no sense of time passing and are completely unselfconscious . And because you love doing those things it will be effortless and elevates your mood.
   
5. Connect socially IRL ( in real life) . As our time becomes more pressured and we live   our lives increasingly online, seeing friends becomes a thing that drops down the priority list. Perhaps use social media as a prompt when memories pop up,  instead of simply liking a post contact that person and make a plan to meet; yes we have to be a little less spontaneous these days but putting something in the diary creates something to look forward to.In work, perhaps instead of zoom or teams, a coffee date or even a walking meeting will strengthen connections.

Find more from Beverly Cripps now:

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3N2jdiT

Paperback: https://amzn.to/47s7liq

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