Ashish Kothari shares three lessons from a decade studying happiness: it comes from meaning, health, and relationships, not direct pursuit. Money helps up to about $120,000, then chasing more costs you time and relationships. Reducing wants and practicing gratitude rewires your brain toward abundance.
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Hi dear friends, here are three hard learned lessons from 10 plus years of my life researching happiness number one happiness can't be pursued. It ensues. The sages of the east to the Stoic philosophers of the west all agree on this point that happiness can only be built by pursuing a virtuous life built on the foundations of meaning, health, relationships and cultivating a sense of equanimity, walking the middle path between craving and aversion. Point Number two Money can't buy you happiness, even though that's what we are taught from an early age. Beyond a certain level of wealth in the west, it's calculated around $120,000. The incremental gains from happiness often pales compared to the suffering that ensues from lives that grow increasingly complex. As a result, many people sacrifice time and health to accumulate wealth and then spend their later years spending wealth and lamenting the lost in time with their loved ones in accumulating the wealth that they did. Last but not least, if you want to be happy, reduce your wants and start to appreciate what you have. You see, our brain keeps us wired for what we don't have. But by through the practice of gratitude, we can truly cultivate an appreciation for what we have and rewire our brain away from scarcity to abundance. Take care and have a great day.
