Craig Melvin is a busy guy. In the morning, you can find him on TODAY, as the daily news anchor. Then Craig, who recently made the list of People's "Sexiest Man Alive", spends his afternoons as an anchor for MSNBC. He doesn't have much free time as a dad to young kids, but he tries to find a few minutes every day to take a little breather.
"I find that if I can find just five to ten minutes every day of just quiet, I can be alone with my thoughts ... That really helps calm me down. And that calmness leads to happiness," he said.
Craig tries to find these precious minutes before the TODAY Show starts in the morning, and he uses an app to help him meditate. He also uses an app to help him track how much he's checking his phone — and it really helps to put things into perspective.
"When I put (the phone) down when I'm around my kids, I can really enjoy them more, which makes me happy. I love spending times with my kids," he said.
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Like most parents, Craig struggles with finding balance.
"I realize this is something that everyone struggles with ... Balancing work, play, kids, work and wife. It's hard," he noted. "I'm generally a happy person, but when I have found myself to be unhappy, it's because my balance is off. I'm spending too much time doing this, and not enough time doing this."
If he's having a bad day, there's one solution that always makes him feel better: flipping through photos and videos of his kids.
"If you surround yourself with happy and positive people, you're typically happy and positive," Craig said.
And if you're not happy? Smile.
"If you just smile, you can psych yourself into being just a little bit happier than you were," he said.
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