These are some key takeaways (stolen without permission from elsewhere...)
Appreciate
Be grateful and count your blessings (literally). Recycle happiness by reminiscing about good experiences.
Think of counterfactuals. (“If I didn’t have this positive thing, what do I lose?”)
Breathe deeply. Expand your time — by slowing down.
Actively want to be happier. Motivation and investment matter.
Stay in the present.
Be passionate, but don’t obsess.
Care
Socialize with close others.
Associate with happy people.
Give the people around you opportunities to be generous. Ask them for favors.
Be actively kind (and occasionally reminisce about your recent acts of kindness).
Plan
Go for ‘approach’ goals instead of ‘avoid’ goals.
Do work that you enjoy doing. Flow.
Keep your goals intrinsic.
Conclude negative experiences as soon as possible.
Make a point of avoiding experiences that make you feel bad.
Give
Don’t think too much about money. It will impair your savoring ability. It’s also bad for your family life.
Be time-aware, but don’t think of time in terms of money.
Prefer experiential purchases; avoid materialistic goals.
Don’t do ‘comparison shopping.’ And don’t place much stock in the happiness potential of any one positive change.
Follow the herd. “The best way to predict how much we will enjoy an experience is to see how much someone else enjoyed it.”
Savor anticipation. Delay consumption. Actively anticipate good experiences.
Don’t think too much about money… avoid materialistic goals… Savor anticipation. Delay consumption...
This is good advice when targeted at some people but the people most likely to hear it are probably the people who would be worst off listening to it.
Oh my bananas, that SSC article is astounding. What excellent ideas (still eternally frustrated that he, like EY take an eternity to get to their point, whereas you accurately summarised it in 1.5 lines like I prefer...)
These are some key takeaways (stolen without permission from elsewhere...)
Appreciate
Be grateful and count your blessings (literally). Recycle happiness by reminiscing about good experiences.
Think of counterfactuals. (“If I didn’t have this positive thing, what do I lose?”)
Breathe deeply. Expand your time — by slowing down.
Actively want to be happier. Motivation and investment matter.
Stay in the present.
Be passionate, but don’t obsess.
Care
Socialize with close others.
Associate with happy people.
Give the people around you opportunities to be generous. Ask them for favors.
Be actively kind (and occasionally reminisce about your recent acts of kindness).
Plan
Go for ‘approach’ goals instead of ‘avoid’ goals.
Do work that you enjoy doing. Flow.
Keep your goals intrinsic.
Conclude negative experiences as soon as possible.
Make a point of avoiding experiences that make you feel bad.
Give
Don’t think too much about money. It will impair your savoring ability. It’s also bad for your family life.
Be time-aware, but don’t think of time in terms of money.
Prefer experiential purchases; avoid materialistic goals.
Don’t do ‘comparison shopping.’ And don’t place much stock in the happiness potential of any one positive change.
Follow the herd. “The best way to predict how much we will enjoy an experience is to see how much someone else enjoyed it.”
Savor anticipation. Delay consumption. Actively anticipate good experiences.
This is good advice when targeted at some people but the people most likely to hear it are probably the people who would be worst off listening to it.
Oh my bananas, that SSC article is astounding. What excellent ideas (still eternally frustrated that he, like EY take an eternity to get to their point, whereas you accurately summarised it in 1.5 lines like I prefer...)