The Happiness Hypothesis
The what now?
The Wisdom of the Ages written as a school science report.
Yeah, exactly, but that’s what happens when you live inside my head. I’ve broken it up with lots of pictures because a) that’s what school kids do these days, and b) it’s kinda long and chock full of goodness, so you don’t want to skip too much text.
Hypothesis
I will be truly happy all the time if I shed my negative mental models.
Happiness
- freedom to act from my truest best intentions for myself and others
- freedom to enjoy others company, giving value & being still
- freedom to accept all of what is, including myself
Negative mental models
- fear
- limiting beliefs
- negative prejudice & assumptions
(Take a moment to think about that while you look at this picture.)
Proof
Happiness is subjective, no objective proof can be given. But if it is true for me then I can prove it to myself by trying it and testing the results.
Corollaries
- There is nothing one can receive to make one happy (wealth, love, respect)
- Happiness is not the result of an action
- Unhappiness is the result of certain thoughts
- There is nothing I can do to be happy except stop doing that which makes me unhappy
Methodology
The simple (but not necessarily easy) breakdown of steps to happiness.
- To be happy more often I need only change my thoughts.
- To change my thoughts I need only be aware of them and inquire about them.
- For the change to become lasting and effortless I need only do this repeatedly until I create a new pattern.
- To sustain this repetition I need only motivation and energy.
If I follow this reasoning in reverse I get the way to greater happiness:
- Motivation and energy, which supports
- Repetition of inquiry about thoughts
This leads to new mental models and if the hypothesis is subjectively correct, then I will be happier. If I am not happier, it is subjectively false.
Step 1: Motivation and energy
My motivation
If I can truly yearn for the freedoms I listed under happiness I will have my motivation. If I remember them, I yearn for them.
Energy
I need to balance the expenditure and replenishment of my mental, physical & emotional energies. As well as refuelling these energies, greater efficiency in their use can improve performance, as can the quality of the fuel.
Refuelling: Food, sleep and the support of friends*
Efficiency: (reduce losses) Warmth, safety & comfort.
(more effective burning) Fitness, mental agility & emotional intelligence.
Quality of fuel: Quality of food (diet), quality of sleep and quality of friends and your relationship with them.
*Friends can include family and partners
Step 2: Repetition of inquiry about thoughts
Bringing awareness to my thoughts
- Shiva Nata
- Conversations with myself
- Mindfulness & witnessing
Inquiring about my thoughts
- Byron Katie
- Conversations with myself
- Exploring alternative mental models (e.g. the benevolent Universe)
Example thoughts to inquire about
- There is something that will make me happier if I get more of it
- That was bad and shouldn’t have happened
- People will not like me because I am selfish
- I should do things for others to be happy
- I’m incomplete, unfinished or broken
Notes
It is a practice, not a goal
I do not complete tasks so that when I have finished them & completed 100% I will be happy, but until then I am not. Rather, the more I repeat these tasks the happier I will be overall. There is no end point, except possibly death, and, as the small print goes, my happiness may go down as well as up, so I must keep my investment working over the long term if I seek the best returns.
Photo credits:
- Student in Class by foundphotoslj
- freedom by Guille
- Where thoughts are legible in the eye… by carf
- Resurrection by Untitled blue
- Pebble Art by pshutterbug
- I’m thinking of… by gutter
- Minimal perfection by Yago1.com
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