Welcome to The Happier Newsletter, a weekly newsletter where I provide actionable ideas to help you build a happier, healthier, and more meaningful life.
What’s on today
- Article: The 3 Equations For A Happy Life.
- Question: What Am I working On And Why?
- Happy Fact: A Bizarre Way To Burn Calories.
- Quote: It Was Always About You.
- Post: Growth Is Not Always Visible.
The 3 Equations for a Happy Life
This article by Harvard Professor Arthur C. Brooks, was written at the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020, but its lessons are truly evergreen.
The article presents three equations for happiness:
- Subjective Well-being = Genes + Circumstances + Habits: This equation reflects the happiness formula by Sonja Lyubomirsky that I mentioned in one of my previous newsletter. The summarizing equation suggests happiness (called “subjective well-being” here) is a combination of genetic baseline (scientifically proven at this point), circumstances that occur in your life, and controllable habits (general controllable lifestyle factors expanded upon below).
- Habits = Faith + Family + Friends + Work: This is the part of the happiness equation that you have control over. Arthur C. Brooks refers to these four as the happiness portfolio. Faith isn’t necessarily about religion—it simply refers to a broader ability to think about life beyond yourself; like a life philosophy if you will. Family and friends refer to deep, meaningful relationships with others in your life. Work refers to finding productive activities that provide contentment and meaning, as well as that serves others.
- Satisfaction = What you have ÷ What you want: The natural human tendency is to focus on the numerator in this equation—to continuously increase what we have in order to increase satisfaction. However, the secret to a happier life is to focus on the denominator instead—to manage and maintain our wants.
I’d encourage you to reflect on these three equations and ask yourself: What changes to my habits do I need to make to increase my daily happiness?
What Am I working On And Why?
If you want to discover what truly matters and contributes most to your happiness, answer these three questions posed by Mark Manson:
Once you deconstruct the WHAT and WHY, you can make improvements to the WHO and HOW.
Three questions determine 99% of the happiness in your life:
— Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) July 30, 2023
1. What am I working on and why?
2. Who am I spending time with and why?
3. How well am I treating my body and why?
Everything else is noise.
A Bizarre Way To Burn Calories
Source: FactSite
If you needed another good reason to have a laugh: Laughing for about 10 minutes can make you burn between 20 and 40 Calories.
Not only does laughter offer a delightful way to relieve stress and boost mood, but it also provides a modest but measurable calorie-burning benefit.
So, go ahead, indulge in a good chuckle—it's not only good for your spirit but also for your metabolism!”
It Was Always About You
“You’re going to realize it one day — that happiness was never about your job, or your degree, or being in a relationship. Happiness was never about following in the footsteps of all of those who came before you, it was never about being like the others.
One day, you’re going to see it — that happiness was always about the discovery, the hope, the listening to your heart and following it wherever it chose to go. Happiness was always about being kinder to yourself, it was always about embracing the person you were becoming.
One day, you will understand. That happiness was always about learning how to live with yourself, that happiness was never in the hands of other people. It was always about you. It was always about you.”
- Bianca Sparacino
Watch the video version here.
Growth Is Not Always Visible
