Arthur C. Brooks describes his happiness 401(k), a framework of seven investments for cultivating happiness and purpose. The first four are basic self-care: quitting smoking, moderating alcohol, exercising regularly, and eating well. Brooks quit smoking at 26 and regrets not doing it sooner.
26 years old.
This idea of a happiness 401k and you really boil it down for people, Arthur, to say. Here are seven things to invest in your 401k if you want to be happy and feel a sense of meaning and purpose at all of these junctures, but particularly in your second half of life. Can you walk us through the seven?
Sure. The first four are pretty obvious. They're taking care of yourself in a meaningful way. A lot of the mistakes that people make is they think, look, I'm young, I'm really resilient. But the truth of the matter is that the sooner you take care of yourself in very fundamental ways. If you're smoking, you should quit. Be very careful about your alcohol use. For example, you need moderate exercise, you need to eat right. These are the basics, and as often as we've heard them, we need to hear them and rehear them again. When I was 25 years old, I wish I had paid a little bit more attention. Fortunately, I did stop smoking when I was 26 years old. It was a mistake to do it until then, but I did, thank goodness. And people need to be reminded of these.
