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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Meik Wiking
“What are we holding on to, Sam?” “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”
six factors: togetherness or sense of community, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness.
We have been saying that money equals happiness. And while money may matter—it is not the only thing that contributes to our happiness.
How happy are you in general? Think of the best possible life you could lead, and the worst possible. Where do you feel you stand right now?
What makes me proud to be part of the human race—with all our faults and failures—is our endless curiosity and imagination.
Our languages are reminders that sharing food nurtures more than our physical bodies. It feeds our friendships, bolsters our bonds, and nourishes our sense of community—and those factors are vital to our happiness.
That our wealth is not measured by the size of our bank accounts but by the strength of our bonds, the health of our loved ones, and the level of our gratitude.
That happiness does not come from owning a bigger car but from knowing that we are part of something bigger—part of a community—and that we are all in this together.
HAPPINESS TIP: EAT LIKE THE FRENCH—CREATE RITUALS OF FOOD AND FIRE
Make time to eat. Reclaim your lunchtime and sit with friends, family, and colleagues and enjoy eating your food slowly and with company.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
The more often people meet, the happier they are. However, one thing is quantity, another thing is quality.
We—human beings—are happier when we feel connected with others.
This challenge has become even bigger with the advance of technology. We are connecting like never before, yet we still feel alone.
We are drawn in by the illusion of connection without the demands of intimacy, and while there are positive aspects of social media (for example, keeping in touch when geographically apart), we find that people who reduce their consumption of social media are happier and connect more in the real world.
Encourage your friends and family to have tech-free periods during the week, avoid the temptation to check your phone, and detox digitally.
Like most things, the more we have of something, the less happiness we derive from it. The first slice of cake: awesome. The fifth slice: not so good. Economists call this the law of diminishing marginal utility.
That is one of the reasons why some countries and people get richer—but not happier.
But we all do it. Daydream. Fantasize. Have great expectations about a future where we move to Paris, learn French, and write a book.
the downside to being ambitious is a constant sense of dissatisfaction with our achievements.
Take time to enjoy the journey toward your goal while also being mindful that achieving your goal will not fulfill you completely.
whew 😮💨 that got me
Expect and understand that reaching your goal might make you happy—but only for a while. We continuously raise the bar for what we want or feel we need in order to be happy.
So perhaps we need to consider how to turn the idea of the pursuit of happiness into the happiness of the pursuit.
People on a quest for something they find meaningful—whether that is building a boat or growing the perfect tomato—tend to be happier; they know that happiness is the by-product of the process and not a pot of gold at the finish line.
In other words, we are spending money we don’t have to buy stuff we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.
THIS. THIS. THIS!!!
The point of it all is that, if we spend our money on stuff we don’t need to impress people, we are not getting closer to happiness, we are just getting involved in an arms race.
If a country doubles in wealth but 90 percent of that wealth goes to the richest 10 percent, that is not growth. That is greed.
wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.
