Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy

by Mo Gawdat

When you remove the timestamps from your thoughts, there will be nothing unhappy left to think about.

If you want to be happy, live in the

here an...

Take away that thought of what might happen in the future, and it

In this very moment there is absolutely nothing wrong at all.

Life is now and now is amazing.

Life is bound to deal you a few bad hands now and then. You don’t need to make a big deal out of every unexpected turn of events.

“It is all going to be fine in the end. If it is not yet fine, then it is not yet the end.”

When life gets tough, some of us feel that we’ve lost the game and life has won. But life isn’t trying to defeat you. Life isn’t even a participant—the game is yours.

“There’s no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.” This is how the game of life is won. This is all I can control.

It’s normal to be afraid. What’s wrong is to behave as if you’re not, because that leads to wrong decisions.

Yoda, the wise Jedi master of Star Wars, sums it all up in one statement: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.” I love Yoda.

No! There are none. What keeps us alive and propels us forward are our actions, not our fears. Fear, if anything, paralyzes us. It blurs our judgment and blocks us from making the best possible decisions.

Life keeps trying to capture your attention while you try as hard as you can to shut it out.

Right now, you’re okay.

Once you know what your fear is, commit yourself to facing it.

Put yourself beyond the point of no return. Don’t think. Just do it. It will be fine. I promise.

Learn to die before you die. It is time to face your fears.

When you filter out the truth, your inputs into your Happiness Equation become distorted. You suffer, not because life did not give you what you expected but because you failed to notice what life had actually given you.

Predicting something will happen often lays the path to make it happen.

Your predictions are nothing more than brain-generated future possibilities. They have not happened. They’re not the truth!

We’re not as rational as we think. Our perception of the truth is often distracted by our irrational emotions.

Teach your brain to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

Choose to believe in the side that makes you happy. That side is more likely closer to the truth.

When nothing is certain—and nothing ever is—choose to be happy.

This is awareness—when you’re fully immersed in the moment, fully aware of what’s happening. For me, this is the stage where I start to feel alive.

The black belt of presence is to notice when you’re not aware.

It’s time for an awareness break.

You will be fully present once you remove the connection with time.

aware of the journey. This is where all of life happens.

Whatever you do, give it your undivided attention.

Live your life in the here and now, not inside your head.

No effort is needed to keep any system at its equilibrium. When everything you do feels effortless, you’ll have found your path.

Live on the line where the yin meets the yang.

It’s now your turn to reflect on your own hardships. As you do so, be fair and realize that while you might not be the luckiest person alive, you surely aren’t the unluckiest. If you ever forget, then please: Look down!

Unconditional love is real. It’s the only emotion that’s not generated by a thought in your head.

True love cuts through the Illusion of Knowledge. We love the ocean, the stars, the birds, and the beasts; we feel a connection to them despite not understanding their ever-changing nature.

Love yourself for doing your best.

What you just said made me feel bad about myself, and I don’t like being around people who make me feel bad, so, don’t do it again.

Respect your elders. Introduce a friend who needs a contact. Pass on a CV to your HR Department. Call those going through a tough time and just listen. Help if you can. Make them feel that someone cares. Treat everyone as you would like to be treated.

If you give, life always gives back to you. Think of it as if you were giving to the whole universe when you give. It owes you and will pay you back with interest! Nothing goes to waste.

Life thrives when it flows.

Let life flow. Keep what you use and give the rest away.

When we give selflessly, life itself assumes the debt and pays back generously with its unlimited resources.

money can indeed buy you happiness—if you give it away.

At some point, you will be in his shoes. Forgive and you will be forgiven. It always comes around.

Choose to be kind instead of right!

We die a little every day.

We go through life with all of its ups and downs until someone tells us that at a point in time we will have to go through the pain of a process called dying and get kicked out of this home. Not surprisingly, we would react exactly the same way: “I will not sign up for this. I like it here. This is as good as it’ll ever get.”