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1-Page Summary of Happier
Overview
Most people in the West have never had it so good. We’re better fed, better paid, and more informed than any previous generation. However, we lack something very important: happiness.
Across the Western world, many people are unhappy with their lives. Many of them search for a solution to this problem and never find one.
So, what exactly is happiness? The author discusses this and how we can all be happy. If you are unhappy with your life, read on to find out ways to change that.
The author discusses three key points in this passage. First, he says that we should study like we make love; second, an emotionless life would be boring; and third, meaning is essential for a happy life.
Big Idea #1: Happiness is the utmost human goal and a strong contributor to success.
Although most people have heard the mantra “don’t worry, be happy,” not everyone has considered why happiness is so important.
Happiness is a valid life goal. If someone asks you why you’re doing something, and you say it’s because it makes you happy, that answer doesn’t need to be backed up with anything else. All other answers—fame, money, power or respect—are secondary to happiness.
In other words, people who pursue money are really pursuing happiness. They’re just using money as a tool to get the things that will make them happy. This is nothing new because many philosophers have said that throughout history. David Hume, an eighteenth-century British philosopher, stated that all human pursuits from art to science to law exist solely for the purpose of achieving happiness.
Not only that, but happiness and success are also related. Research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ed Diener and Laura King has shown that happy people achieve more in their relationships, health and finances.
How could it be?
Some people believe that happiness is a state of mind. It might be because they have an optimistic outlook on life and see the world as a positive place, which makes them open to good things happening. Therefore, whether you think of happiness as an end in itself or something that leads to success, it’s important to pursue it.
Big Idea #2: Pleasure and meaning are central to living a happy and fulfilled life.
Happiness is essential. It stems from two things: letting in positive emotions and seeing life as having purpose, or pleasure and meaning. Emotions are what drive us to do anything at all. Without them, we would have no motivation to pursue happiness.
Emotions are powerful, as they can motivate us to act. For example, jealousy motivates people to do better than others and exhilaration makes them try new things that provide a rush. And pleasure is the most important emotion because without it we wouldn’t be motivated enough to achieve happiness.
Pleasure is an important component of a fulfilling life, but it’s not the only one. To be truly happy, we need to combine pleasure with meaning. For example, taking ecstasy might feel great at first, but it won’t make you happy unless there’s a deeper meaning behind your actions. So if you want to be truly happy in life, don’t just focus on pleasure; also consider how meaningful and personal your goals are. Consider a banker who feels fulfilled by her career and understands why she chose that field over others—she might have more spiritually fulfilling life than someone who joined the church because his parents wanted him to do so.
Big Idea #3: Happiness requires a balanced approach to the present and future.
There’s a lot to be said about happiness, but it’s not always easy to do. It requires an assessment of your present life and what you want out of the future.
