#48: The Happiness edition

This week, as we witnessed Spring-like weather inject a more positive energy, sense of optimism and the return of smiling faces amongst neighbours and colleagues, it seems appropriate to explore the concept of happiness.

What is Happiness? Is what gives us happiness what we think it is? And if not, where should we be looking instead? Should we be constantly pursuing happiness at all?

All of these questions and more are addressed in this week’s edition:

This week:

• Why it’s time to stop pursuing happiness
• Curiosity is one secret to a happy life
• Eat yourself happy: A nutritionist explains how eating right can reduce stress, improve mood and more
• There are two types of happiness — and we’re chasing the wrong one
• Avoiding the trap of more, more, more
• Pixar’s Soul, Purpose and finding our Spark

Plus loads of bonus content too…

As ever, I hope this week’s Power Up helps you understand yourself a little better, and that you learn something you didn’t know before

Enjoy…

And if you’d like to receive The Power Up delivered direct to your inbox every weekend, you can sign-up here.

Why it’s time to stop pursuing happiness

Contrary to popular wisdom, research is learning that positive thinking and visualising success can be counterproductive.

Happily, other strategies for fulfilment are available, as this piece from the Guardian explores.

Curiosity is one secret to a Happy life

There may be safety and security in the familiar, but there’s growing evidence that curiosity and the novel experiences that nourish it may pave the way toward a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

But how can we pump up and maintain our curiosity?

Eat yourself happy: A nutritionist explains how eating right can reduce stress, improve mood and more

Increasing evidence suggests that good nutrition can significantly support mental health — and therefore, our happiness too.

11 habits of the happiest people

The mistaken notion that major life events dictate our happiness is so prevalent that psychologists have a name for it: impact bias.

Happiness that lasts is actually earned through our habits. Read on to learn what those tried and tested habits are.

Avoiding the trap of more, more, more

By nearly every measure, we have more than even just a generation ago. Yet even before the pandemic, happiness levels in much of the Western world were lower than our recent ancestors.

This article explores the phenomenon of Hedonic adaptation and explains why having bigger, better, faster, more rarely equals happier.

BONUS CONTENT

• Free Guide: The Better Mental Health For Men Toolbox
• Pixar’s Soul, Purpose and finding our Spark
• The happiest people in the world think differently
• There are two core philosophies for a happy life. Which is yours?
• The complete, 17-reason checklist of reasons why you might be unhappy right now
• 10 skills you need to live a happy life
• In a World full of suffering and injustice, is it morally appropriate to seek to be happier?

THANKS FOR READING

I hope you found something valuable in this The Power Up.

If you did, and would like to receive this in your inbox each week, you can sign-up here.

See you next time, Adam