Nuggets On
happiness
Happiness is arguably what a lot of us are after. We share multiple perspectives on how to think about this seemingly simple yet often elusive phenomenon.
Defining happiness
Raj defines happiness and speaks about the common misconceptions people end up having around happiness. He speaks about the nuances around prioritizing (rather than pursuing) happiness and how one could walk that tight rope.
TAGS
HappinessAchievement and happiness
Raj speaks about the link between levels of success and happiness. He goes on to speak about the relationship between happiness and education levels. He mentions that happiness rises till the undergraduate level but not necessarily post that, suggesting that the commercial threshold for us to be really happy is much lower than what we might think it is.
Time scarcity and generosity burnout
Raj speaks about the link between time affluence and an abundance mindset, two seemingly uncorrelated concepts. He also goes onto talk about the link between how much we load our plates and the link between that and happiness. He also shares some insights around how we can bring in some time affluence in our lives.
Why we lose the plot with happiness
Raj speaks about the habit of medium maximization (we forget the goals but start focusing on the means instead). He speaks about the paradox here and talks about how it shows up in the suboptimality in the way we make choices including critical ones such as choosing between jobs/career pathways.
What matters in the end
Marshall speaks about how we should think about what matters in the end and use that to guide our actions and choices today. He says that old people don’t regret the risks they took and failed. They regret the risks that they never took.
Understanding the notion of time poverty
Ashley speaks about the notion of Time Poverty and how it is structural and psychological. She goes on to say that while have more time for leisure now than in 1950s, we still “feel” time poor. She speaks about the role of technology in exacerbating this further.
When money stops moving the needle
Ashley speaks about research that suggests that above USD 60,000 money does not necessarily buy more happiness. She goes on to say that above USD 100,000, people might start to feel worse off because they start comparing themselves with a different economic stratum. She speaks about how the pursuit of wealth for the sake of it being a happiness trap.
Low Centre of Gravity
Lloyd refers to the metaphor of Speedcar racing and suggests that the cars are able to be agile and nimble because of their low centre of gravity. He suggests that we take a leaf from that to reduce our wants and declutter our life so that we are able to reduce our centre of gravity that might give us the ability to navigate the twists and turns life throws at us.
TAGS
HappinessCultivating an abundance mindset
Ravi speaks about how we can create a mindset of abundance even if we are in a situation where we might face material scarcity. He speaks about the link with Philanthropy and makes the distinction between having resources and being resourceful.
Regrets and Choice
Dan speaks about the work of Barry Schwartz around regret and teases out the distinction between regret and FOMO (Fear of missing out). He also speaks about how we call can undertake “time travel” to ensure that the “me of 10 years from now” would minimize regret.
Rifts and Drifts
Dan speaks about two types of Connection regrets – rifts (an event happens and people separate) and drifts (where people move away from each other slowly). He speaks about having a bias for action when it comes to these kinds of regrets as over the long term people regret omissions much more than commissions.
Inner voice vs Inner chatter
Ethan speaks about the line between having negative thoughts (which can help us move forward) and Negative Chatter that get us into an unproductive never-ending loop that can prevent us from making progress.
Markers of an "exceptional" relationship
David shares 6 markers of what he calls as “Exceptional Relationship”. 1) You can be more fully yourself and so can the other person. 2) Both of you are willing to be vulnerable 3) You trust that self-disclosures will not be used against you 4) You can be honest with each other 5) You deal with conflict productively 6) Both of you are committed to each other’s growth and development.
Helping kids learn interpersonal skills
David speaks about the few things we need to bear in mind as we help build the Interpersonal muscle with the kids. He underscores a couple of themes. Firstly, he suggests that we should avoid labeling a child. Instead, he suggests that we should provide feedback on a certain element of behavior. Secondly, he urges us to legitimize the feeling of a child rather than brushing it aside with a positive pep talk.