Surprising Lessons about Rich People, Happiness, and Death

Happiness 3x... 1 Quote + 1 News + 1 Idea

Hi there, take a few minutes out of your day to study happiness…

Quote on learning and growing…

"There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience." - Archibald McLeish

Good news - exciting insights from economics and psychology.

In this article from the NY Times Jennifer Senior writes about 2 new studies that tell us about who the rich really are and what happiness really is…

» The full article here.

Big idea - Death will teach you how to live (from my work in progress book)…

The great paradox of life is that you don't know how to live it until you realize it's ending.

Consider what you think matters. Look at the time and energy you put into things. Now imagine you're dying. Does that change things?

Well you don't have to imagine. You are dying. You didn't know that did you? This realization should terrify you.

You're literally dying right now. Every second, day, year is one step closer.

So why don't you start living like it? Live your life like it's coming to an end - because it is. That is how you live life fully.

Life has chapters. Each one has its arc. There’s middle school, high school, college. This year had several chapters for me – last semester of senior year, my last summer before adulthood, my four months as a Zen monk.

Honestly, the last month of college I cried like every other day (tears of 70% appreciation and 30% sadness). The last fleeting weeks of summer were magical. The last morning in the meditation hall tears of gratitude streamed down my cheeks as I bowed to my seat one last time.

What all these end of chapters have in common is that my fundamental priority was enjoying life instead of working towards an enjoyable life. I was working on happiness TOMORROW without sacrificing happiness TODAY.

When my priority is enjoying life – being here fully – I end up being about 80% as productive. But infinitely happier.

So remember that every day, every week, and every month are the ending of a chapter. Your youth is slipping away, your 20s are slipping away, your 30s, 40s, 50s... your whole life is slipping away.

Life itself is but one continuous act of life coming to an end. So remember to live it while you can.

Reply back if you want to talk shop or need anything.

Your happiness experimenter,

JK