Happiness Hypothesis
Johnathan Haidt
Summary
A very well researched book on how to be happy using teachings from every religion
Rating: 5/5
Notes
‘There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so’ - Shakespeare
The whole universe is change and life itself is what you dream it - Marcus Aurelius
Nothing is miserable unless you think it’s so and on the other had, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it - Aurelius
Your ability to experience happiness and sadness is partially dictated by your genes
CBT was created by Beck in the 60s where he postulated that all events/problems in someone’s life come from decisions/experiences of when they were kids
Reciprocity is the basic currency of all social life
Success is largely a matter of playing the social game well due to our species being ultrasocial
Understand when reciprocity is being used against you and call it out
Mirroring and using reciprocity helps others like you
The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they are realities and are often more influenced by the things seen rather than those that are - Nicola Machiavelli
We tend to be good at judging others but always think of ourselves more highly than we should
People are open to info that predicts the behaviour of others but refuse to adjust their self-assessment
Naive realism: each of us thinks we see the world directly as it really is and don’t acknowledge other people’s opinions
‘Our life is a creation of our mind’ - Budda
Find faults within yourself and acknowledge them when in conflict
Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to but instead want them to happen as they do happen and your life will go well - Epictetus
Happiness can only be found within, by breaking attachments to external things and cultivating an attitude of acceptance
Progress principle: pleasure comes from making progress towards goals rather than achieving them
H=S+C+V
- S: biological set point
- C: conditions of your life
- H: happiness
- V: voluntary activities
Avoid noise, long commutes, lack of control and shame
You can increase your happiness by strengthening relationships
Experiences give more happiness because they have greater social value
Attachment theory for children: safety and exploration (both in balance)
True love is strong: compassionate love with some passion
People need obligations and constraints to provide structure and meaning in life
Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope
In the face of trauma, always write about it, unedited, for 15 minutes for 4 days straight. Let it off your chest
6 broad virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, transcendence and temperance
Elevation is the feeling when you feel happy and inspired after something happens
One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one’s work - Leo Tolstory
Vital engagement is the key: when your work lines up with what you love to do
Happiness is not something that you can find, acquire or achieve directly. You have to get the conditions right and then wait
A good place to look for wisdom is in the mind of your opponents
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
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