Our Values Are Killing Our Happiness in Life

We are driven by the wrong things and they are making us more depressed

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Materialistic values and being fuelled by the wrong motives have links with mental health issues and the inability to feel joy.

In Yohan Hari’s book Lost Connections, he studies how many of us in current society are driven by ‘Junk Values’. He believes that this is a trap, that leads only to greater anxiety and depression.

What are Junk Values?

Junk Values are those external drivers that we hold so dearly but aren’t worthy of being valued at all. They are desires that aren’t deeply connected to anything we find important internally.

As Explained by Johann Hari, “I kept getting signals that the way to be happy is simple. Buy stuff. Show it off. Display your status. Acquire things”.

This is the problem in today's world.

“Junk Values that were once a meaningful source of intrinsic happiness are now being replaced by more superficial means of enjoyment”.

What are intrinsic & extrinsic motivations and how do they affect our happiness?