BIG IDEA 1: This enterprise is possible.

We can control and improve our happiness a lot more than we think.

  • Happiness may be somewhat herritable, but it is still mostly in our control and it’s our decisions that dictate our happiness.
  • If our genes control 50% of our happiness, then it stands to reason that we have control over the other 50%.

BIG IDEA 2: We think life’s circumstances matter a ton, but they don’t matter nearly as much as we think

Rent, work, and School may be important, but are they more important to us than happiness?

  • Lottery winners are happy on the day they win the lottery
    • But months later, lottery winners have the same happiness as they did before winning
  • The opposite applies to bad scenarios
    • Unfortunate events may cause frustration and sadness in the instant they happen, but they will dissipate quickly over time too
    • We as humans get used to it
  • Individuals who experience catastrophic events are more likely to view life with a positive attitude, viewing their life as more precious

BIG IDEA 3: Taking control of it, is kind of hard

Just how hard is it to be happy?

  • We can control our happiness through our behaviors
  • It takes daily work and effort to be happy
    • Unhappy people can do happy things everyday and persevere that way to feel happy
  • Any big event in life requires effort, happiness is the same
  • A change in happiness requires permenant changes that persist every day of our life
  • training happiness is similar to exercising
  • The GI Joe fallacy: Knowing is half the battle. Just listening to something isn’t enough, you must apply it.

BIG IDEA 4: One of the hard you have to do when you begin this enterprise, is recognizing your intuition don’t work

Our mind is lying to us

  • Our mind forcasts things that makes us happy, but in reality it does not
  • People correlate salary (money) with happiness
    • People at different salary levels have different expectations, 30k -> 50k -> 100k … etc
    • expectations aren’t linear, it grows exponentially
  • Salary vs happiness levels off quickly
  • People who seek out material posessions are more likely to have lesser wellbeing,

BIG IDEA 5: Make time for social connection

Very happy people prioritize social connections

  • Very happy people spend more time with others and less time alone
    • Prioritize the stuff that works
    • Spend time with friends and families
  • Unhappy people spend more time alone than happy people
  • Experiments that spend time with strangers also showed that connecting with others showed significantly greater positivity than staying alone