Everyday Happiness - Finding Harmony and Bliss

158-The Three Equations for a Happy Life According to Arthur Brooks and the Science of Happiness (part-3-of-3)


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This 3-part series on the how of happiness inspired by Arthur Brooks gives us insights into what we can do to boost our happiness, even when we don’t always feel like being happy.  

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and Arthur Brooks is an accomplished scientist and professor at the Harvard Business School and also writes a column for The Atlantic.  He says there are 3 equations for well-being to manage your own happiness.  The third equation is how we feel satisfied.  SATISFACTION = WHAT YOU HAVE ÷ WHAT YOU WANT.

 

This is so true.  It’s what we tell our kids all the time.  Be happy with what you have.  Brooks opines that so many of us desperately go about life trying to gather up more “wants” trying to achieve higher levels of satisfaction by increasing our wants (the numerator in this division equation).  He says the cycle of work-spend-work-spend is like being on a treadmill.  It’s never enough.  

 

What he says the secret is, is to focus on what you have (the denominator in this division equation).  We talked about this in Episode 23 about the reverse bucket list. So, decreasing the wants in our lives and focusing on the haves, gives our brain a chance to see happiness and satisfaction because there are fewer wants taking our attention away from what we already have.  Start by making a list of what you have, if that seems too daunting, perhaps start with a simple gratitude list.  We know that gratitude is a great boost for happiness and then work your way into a haves list.  I think you’ll be surprised what shows up for you. 

 

And, if you are enjoying this podcast, smash the subscribe button and leave a 5-star review.  It helps us spread more kindness into the world and we invite you to be a part of that.  If you want the audio and transcript delivered to your inbox, you can subscribe at www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

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Everyday Happiness - Finding Harmony and BlissBy Katie Jefcoat

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