People seem to think that material affluence is a consistent predictor of wellbeing, but it’s not. Once you have enough money to satisfy your basic needs, additional money does not provide additional happiness. However, there is another type of affluence that predicts psychological wellbeing much more accurately: time affluence.
In the book Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar, the instructor […]
Our culture has a prejudice against work that dates back thousands of years. We view work as a troublesome sacrifice instead of an opportunity for joy and meaning.
This prejudice is so ingrained in Western culture that many of us have given up hope of ever finding a job that makes us happy. So let’s talk […]
If you’ve ever lived to regret a big decision (a marriage, a big purchase, a job), you know how hard it can be to predict ahead of time how happy an event will make you. Thankfully, all is not lost.
Recently, while reading a book called Stumbling on Happiness by psychologist Daniel Gilbert, it occurred to me that, despite our difficulty knowing […]
Everyone gets in a rut every now and then, a Doldrum where all our motivation is sucked out and we just don’t feel like working on anything.
A short-term dip into one of these emotional ruts is fine, but sometimes we need a boost so we can climb back into the sunshine and resume the pursuit of our […]
We all know that money can’t buy happiness; everybody says so. And as it so happens, everybody is right; tons of research proves it. But did you realize that a highly materialistic lifestyle could actually damage your mind and body?
Yes, I realize this sounds like a load of leftist propaganda (despite […]
As a culture, we have a lot of silly ideas about what it means to live a fabulous life.
How could a woman struggling with substance abuse, rehab, divorce, custody issues, allegations of parental neglect, career implosion, and other happiness-crushing problems have been featured on a show called The Fabulous Life? The woman I’m talking about […]
This post is just a quick notice to all my faithful readers that my life, and this blog, are going through some changes. As it so happens, I can no longer afford to blog full-time. And so it is with great sadness that my 5-month stint as a full-time blogger comes to a […]
First off, let me apologize for making two personal posts within two days — I like to keep my articles focused on you, the reader; not on me.
But I have to tell you a quick story. My wife popped into the office a few hours ago to read my last post […]
You, my readers, have been flooding my inbox with questions about money, happiness, and career satisfaction. Here’s a small sample of the questions you’ve sent me within the last 4 days:
–How much money does a person need to be happy?
–Should I concentrate on following my dreams or getting rich?
–Will I enjoy a job even […]
It wasn’t long ago that researchers believed that every human being was born with a set “happiness point,” a fixed and unavoidable baseline level of happiness. On its face, the idea appears to have merit: Tsunami victims, amputees, and lottery winners alike eventually return to their previous emotional baselines. In other words, no matter […]
