Happier

Happier will improve your mental state and level of success by identifying what you get wrong about joy and how to discover what’s most important to you and how to make those things a more significant part of your life.

It’s obvious that we all want to be happy. But have you ever think about why we think of it with such high regard? If you’re playing a game and someone asks you why you’re doing it, for example, you’d likely say because you find it enjoyable. That’s a valid answer that the person asking will always accept.

Any other response to the question “why are you doing that?” is just a step toward your ultimate goal to be happy. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing something for money, power, respect, or fame. Someone could ask you why you want those things and the answer will always be happiness.

Consider every other answer to the “why” question as simply a step on the way to having more joy. Each of those action steps is just a tool to get to the ultimate goal.

In the mind of the 18th-century British philosopher David Hume, happiness was the sole purpose of everything humans do, from the arts to science and even law.

When we do things we enjoy and are generally happy, we’re also more likely to be successful at them and in life. Research from Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener shows that happier people have better relationships, health, and finances.

And if you want to learn more about why happiness leads to success, check out The Happiness Advantage.

There’s a famous quote by Lao Tzu that proclaims that depression is living in the past, anxiety is living in the future, and peace comes in the present. While I mostly agree with this, I’ve learned it’s vital to learn from the past and prepare for the future. We all look at the importance of the future and present in different ways. There are four outlooks we can have: The first is people that hedonistically center their lives on finding as much pleasure in the here and now as possible. They have little to no concern for the future. Next comes nihilists, who exhibit no interest in life at all, whether now or later. Third, there are those that get stuck in the rat race of living for the future. They work hard and suffer now and seek the pleasure that will come at a later date. Last, and best, is those who choose to find joy in the present and identify ways their actions now will benefit their future. Society teaches you to be in the third group. From a…