I dislike Happiness Research because it sets the dangerous precedent of thinking you know better than other people what is best for them. Happiness study results reflect averages, not perfect happiness equations. I see this type of thing leading to a BNW scenario. I find BNW scarier than 1984 because 1984 is obviously bad while BNW doesn't really bother a lot of people, happiness researchers probably included.
I haven't read through many of these here yet, but surely its advice wouldn't hurt. Doesn't look too much like your ordinary fluffy-self-help from my initial glances.
In some respects, hacking more happiness out of life might be one of the most worthwhile kinds of self-help things one can do. If you can be happy despite economic, social, or personal tribulations, you've got something right.
I started out as a lawyer. At Yale Law School, I was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal and won a writing prize. I went on to clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court.
I had a great experience in law, but I realized that what I really wanted to do was to write. Since making the switch, I’ve published four books. I’m currently working on The Happiness Project. It will hit the shelves in January 2010 (Harper).
But it's certainly possible to increase your average level of happiness. I wasn't happy at all in junior high, for example, and my life has gotten monotonically happier since then.
Going to the library or bookstore to read makes me happy. I just finished reading "Peaks and Valleys" (by the author of "Who Moved My Cheese").
peaksandvalleysthebook.com
sats v maxs is a good point, but shallowly addressed in the blog post. i didn't like how the research intoned one thing, while the author wrote the mother was a maxs just for fun, and that she herself felt guilty about being a sats. that emotional reversal doesn't make sense.
I do martial arts and taking out my aggression or anger on a punching bag makes me feel better, is it me or does a list of what should make me happy or to be happy really getting tiring. I am all for trying to understand the nature of happiness but please don't tell me what should make me happy.
