Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Happiness Equation

I just finished reading - The Happiness Equation; Want Nothing+Do Anything=Have Everything by Neil Pasricha.  It is a great book.

I like that the book started saying something like take what parts you like and it is ok to not agree with everything because I do not agree with everything.

Some of the ideas I liked:

1 - He believes in exercise.

2 - He has a concept of the 20 min replay.  When something goes well - replay it in your mind.  That act is like living it again.  It locks it into memory.  Of course the converse might also be true - do not keep replaying the things you want to minimize or forget.

3 - He like random acts of kindness.

4 - He talks about flow - concept I believe in and try to get to (although find it hard to achieve)

5 - He advocates 2 minute meditations.

6 - And he believes in Gratitude.  One success habit I believe is to have a gratitude journal.

7 - There is a section on the people who live in Okinawa.  They are known for longevity.  They have ikigai - a purpose to live -  a reason to get up in the morning.  He attributes their long lives to that, combines with their very tight social groups.

8 - One section on decision making suggests efficiency can be had by removing choice.  EG - have only black socks.

Concepts I am more on the fence on.  "do it for you".  He seems to advocate selfishness.  It seems to me the greatest pleasure is doing it for others.

Some Quotes from the book:

"I don't stand back and judge - I do"
"You can't have everything - where would you put it all?"
"Wealth consists not of having great possessions but in having few wants"  Epictetus
"Start doing something - you will continue"  (The power of momentum)
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Tea time





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