In this episode, I discuss my thoughts on happiness and why we should drop our obsession with it. I cover: why you should be careful who you admire and listen to, how well we are placed to make rational judgments in our life, the different types of happiness, hedonic adaption, Natural vs Synthetic Happiness, whether we want to be happy all the time, the illusion of control of our minds and life, perfectionism, self-esteem, Stoic and Buddhist views on happiness and what to do when sadness eventually strikes. 

If you have any questions please feel free to email me, or message me on Instagram 

If you would like to, you can buy me a coffee

Further reading

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris

The Sweet Spot by Paul Bloom

Selfie By Will Storr

Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright

Letters From A Stoic by Seneca

Stumbling On Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman

A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathon Haidt

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (Novel set around the time of the Buddha, highlights the troubles of a life dedicated to extremes of spirituality/debauchery)

Support

Please help me by sharing this podcast with a friend, or by signing up for my new weekly newsletter.

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

Wendy Syfret is a Melbourne-based writer and editor, and author of The Sunny Nihilist. She has spent time working for VICE and has contributed to The Guardian, British Vogue, and ABC.

She is the current editor at RIISE and her work can be found at www.Wendysyfret.com 

Support

Please help me by sharing this podcast with a friend, or by signing up for my new weekly newsletter.

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Symeon Brown is a journalist and reporter for Channel 4, his long-read 'The Wolves Of Instagram' was nominated for an Orwell prize. His new book Get Rich Or Lie Tryin' is an in-depth look at some of the perils of the influencer economy. We discuss who it's hurting, an influencer's nipple falling off, how we're being lied to, some of the pyramid schemes disguised as get-rich-quick schemes, and much more. 

The book is out now if you want to get a copy from your local book store. 

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly insightful emails from me head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

This is a review, and summary of some key ideas, of Rutger Bregman's Human Kind. The bold idea this book tries to convert you to is: Humans are actually pretty decent. I sat on the other side of this debate for a long time and have been convinced to change my mind. This outlook on life seems to have made a really positive change. Hopefully, it'll do the same for some others!

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly insightful emails from me head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5 minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

I spoke with award-winning journalist and best-selling author, James Nestor about his extremely popular book: Breath, The New Science Of A Lost Art.

We discuss; freediving, common breathing mistakes, how bad breathing is impacting society as a whole, who breathwork is NOT for, Wim Hoff, breathwork, and various other themes presented in his book.

Find more from James at www.mrjamesnestor.com 

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly insightful emails from me head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5 minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

The psychology of personality is a complicated topic. This book argues that the idea of the authentic self is a lie. There are far more contributing factors to personality than we're led to believe, and in this episode, I chat about; the 3 factors that determine who you are, how you can make changes to the fundamental 'you', and how we can finally cut ourselves some slack when we change as people.

You can watch the Ted Talk that inspired the book: https://www.ted.com/talks/brian_little_who_are_you_really_the_puzzle_of_personality 

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly insightful emails from me head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Green subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

I'm joined by one of my favourite authors, Oliver Burkeman. He's the author of the sensational new book: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals. We discuss; what we get wrong about time, a meaningful approach to goals, why we need problems, accepting your limitations, Olivers top 3 Philosophers, not letting Nazi’s get in the way of your intellectual growth, the efficiency trap, the key to effective decision making, and one of my favorite new ideas, cosmic insignificance therapy.

I've been enjoying Oliver's blog and email list which you can find here:  https://www.oliverburkeman.com/the-imperfectionist

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly insightful emails from me head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get an additional 5 free travel packs, and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected]

We live in a very me-centric society. In the West, our philosophical influences have been focused on the 'I' for the last few thousand years and now, with the age of social media, we are paying the price. This is a review/summary of Will Storr's Selfie- a book that explores the concept of the 'self' and how we can navigate life without becoming totally self-obsessed. 

This is one of my favorite books of all time and has completely changed the way I look at my 'self'.

Support

The best way to support the show is to share it with a friend. Or you can share it with a not-a-friend, I’m not fussy.

To get weekly, insightful, emails from me. head to this link: https://aneedtoread.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0334e9242982fc3b7d0ab8bac&id=e2e171e387 

To get 10% off your first month of therapy head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Get 5 free travel packs and a years supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Green subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread 

I am reachable here: [email protected] 

Adam Ashton is one half of the What You Will Learn podcast, Australia's best book podcast. He joined me to chat about their new book 'The Shit They Never Taught You', which covers the best lessons from hundreds of non-fiction books. We discuss; note-taking methods, career mastery, podcasting mistakes, picking your next book, whether or not you need to finish your books, the best books for investing and much more. 

For the first 8 minutes, one of us (The one whose name rhymes with Shmadam) was using the wrong mic, but sound quality comes back at 10 mins into this podcast.

Find out more about the boys on their website: https://www.whatyouwilllearn.com/

Books discussed

The Shit They Never Taught You

How to take smart notes 

The Sweet Spot 

Little History of Philosophy 

Four-hour chef 

The Inner Game of Tennis 

Steppenwolf 

Four Thousand Weeks 

Support

The best way to support the podcast is to share it with someone, anyone, like really I don't mind who, I'm not fussy.

For 10% off your first month on online therapy head to: www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread

For all else, including the mailing list head to: https://linktr.ee/Aneedtoread