When In Search for a Happier Life, This is Your Best Shot
During the holiday season, people are genuinely happier when they share their time and resources with others. So, if you’re in search for a happier life, learn this lesson and apply it all year. Stanford University professor and author William Damon in his book The Path to Purpose, highlights why this is your best shot when in search for a happier life.
Damon writes:
The emerging discipline of positive psychology, which studies the key motivators of human happiness, and is often referred to as “happiness studies,” has shown that a sense of purpose is prominent among the list of character traits that lead to happiness. Foundational in this new area of science were a set of findings that combined the insights of psychology and economics and uncovered a number of counterintuitive truths about happiness. One of these findings is the intriguing paradox that the happiest people are rarely those who expend a lot of effort trying to attain pleasure for themselves.
Unquestionably, the next time you are pondering a moment of unhappiness you should reflect on Damon’s words. If you want to be happy, it’s unlikely to come from doing something just for yourself. Instead, your best shot at a happier life is to do something that you both enjoy and is in service of others.
In other words, living a happier life is less about you and more about who you can help. If you have a passion for wrestling, yoga, gardening, movies, stock trading, art, cooking, entrepreneurship, golf, chess, shopping, or even something most people never think of like sleeping, start with that. Figure out what you most enjoy about that activity, and then figure out how you can bring that joy to others. That joy doesn’t have to change the world. It just has to go beyond serving only your self-interest.
Simply stated, the secret to living a happier life is to be generous with your time, resources, and passions.