Where are People’ Smiles?
Sixty years ago, the book Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? was published.
The title took inspiration from someone visiting New York and, after admiring yachts owned by Wall Street financial advisors, asked:
Where are the Customers’ Yachts?
There were none.
Providing financial advice, for a guaranteed fee, is way more rewarding than letting someone else manage your money for you.
The book was about finance and investments.
Today, I want to talk about people. Us. And our happiness, or lack thereof.
And ask a similar question:
Where are People’s Smiles?
My wife is having some health and work issues. I try to provide my view and help, and yet, despite the amount of information available everywhere and despite my best efforts, she is currently not able to solve her problems by herself.
Where are People’s Smiles?
There are tons of self-help books, podcasts, shows. With such an abundance of material, people should be happier, more productive, richer than ever, right? My wife should be able to solve her health and work problems, right? Just read this book, listen to this podcast, apply this technique, and… Right?
WRONG.
Let’s pick Tim Ferriss. When “the 4-hour workweek” came out ten years ago, I read it and I was intrigued, but dubious about the author, mostly because of several negative comments regarding his “nutrion business”.
However, I had the opportunity to meet him once (at a startup hackathon hosted at the AirBnB headquarters in San Francisco), and to study, or read, or listen to, quite a lot of the material he has published since.
I like the guy.
I am now reading “Tools of Titans”, his latest creation. It’s a great summary of the tools, techniques, tips, that great people use in their lives to be successful. In a way, it’s the ultimate self-help guide.
And yet, people don’t seem to be happy, DESPITE the existence of this and other otherwise great self-help books and guides. Simply knowing what to do doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s a paradox.
Sometimes I look at people staring at their mobile phones, ignoring what’s going on around them.
I stare at people caged in their cars, stuck in traffic on their long way back home. Or how everything in our lives is becoming more and more organized, sterile, uniform.
Our routines seem to engulf our real lives. Nobody seem to smile.
Everything is amazing, and nobody’s happy. (quote by Louis CK)
What to do?
Do I have a solution? No.
But I think that, as a society, we have to realize that this is an issue. That despite progress, we seem to be less happy, less engaged with other people.
I don’t want to simply draw a pessimistic view of our present, and our future. But all this self-help stuff helps a few make a ton of money, and perhaps doesn’t help many others.
I think the “wolves” of Wall Street were a much worse bunch, and I think that most self-help “gurus” genuinely think that what they are doing is helping people. They shouldn’t stop doing that.
But maybe, just maybe… Something else is missing. And I hope that someone will figure it out some day.
What do you think?
Update January 10th, 2017: Watch the below, by Simon Sinek. It is incredibly relevant to what I was talking about above. Summary: let’s create the “Help others” industry.
