Recently I’ve stumbled across a few videos and articles on social media in regards to the “Happiness Equation.” As a mind and body hacker in my own right, the topic has intrigued me to do some digging and give some of my own context. Mr Pasricha is a Google employee who wrote a book about expectations and the reality of your life, with the gap being how happy you will be. Although at first glance this seems to be a good proposal, looking beyond the surface shows a flawed concept.
Before we jump into the intricacies of Pasricha’s theory and things we can do to be happier in our everyday lives, let’s look at depression in the United States and abroad. 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression related symptoms, in the United States alone 7% of the population aka 16 million people are impacted. Worldwide we have therapy, drugs, and lifestyle changes accounting for 99.9% of treatments, with no one size fit all solution. No cure exists, and people can spend decades finding a treatment that works for them. In addition many people never do find a perfect solution, struggling with this for an entire lifetime.
You may wonder why I added some depression information before jumping into this theory, and although almost 10% of the diagnosed population deals with depression in some form, it is extremely important to note this doesn’t include those who have not looked out treatment Members of the population who never seek treatment or let loved ones know they are dealing with symptoms could account for another 10%, maybe more. This is striking, and parallel to unemployment at surface level statistics can have bigger implications below the %. Let’s walk through a few points in the book/theory, and address each one individually:
Retirement
The End Game! The reason we get up at 5;30AM form our (best) and earliest working years through our middle ages. The reason we put up with our bosses crap and leave money accumulating in bank accounts. Retirement for most people is the dream, and as the human life expectancy continues to increase we see this lifelong dream being continuously kicked down the road. 33% of Americans have ZERO dollars saved for retirement, with 42% of this total belonging to Millennials. After digesting these acid inducing facts, is it a surprise The Happiness Equation proposes further foregoing retirement? In the name of people will deteriorate slower if they are constantly being productive, let’s make a part of this equation ignoring forty five years + of productivity already achieved by retirement age for most people. This is a major hole I simply can’t accept, and think most better alternatives could have been at the forefront.
As an alternative to the let’s forego retirement until we are 80, perhaps happiness can be more easily achieved by being financially literate at an earlier age. Why do we keep basic accounting, economics, and finance concepts from middle school aged students, wetting the beaks of some smart high school juniors and seniors right before they ship off for college? Wouldn’t it be incredible if budgeting was incorporated into math? Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had a practical and applied mathematics class where children started in middle school? Hey Billy! Welcome to junior high and puberty, here’s the tools you need to start budgeting so when you get to college you aren’t always relying on loans and your parents to buy ramen noodles. By the time we get to those who need these financial literacy skills, consumerism and society have replaced budgeting, saving, and 401k’s. Changing the way we approach money and consumerism as a culture, and from an educational standpoint will greatly improve the happiness (and preparedness) of that glaring 33% of Americans with no retirement plan. I find it hard to accept the equations solution of let’s just work longer for the sake of having more time to be prepared. Who doesn’t want the margaritas and the beaches and the golf instead of the calculator and office? What better way to increase happiness than pursuing your passions, rather than working for someone else until you are old and saggy?
Saturday Morning Test
My favorite point the equation addresses is the “Saturday Morning test.” In an ever more connected world with very little time truly to ourselves, who wouldn’t want to carve out a few hours on Saturday morning to do what makes us happy? Sociological and psychological studies point time and time again to happier people being those who spend more time with family and friends. If you make time for the people in your life who you care about, you will be happier. This shouldn’t be a light bulb moment, think about when you have felt happiest in the last two weeks. I would bet you experienced something with another person over doing something in solitude. (Although it is possible and I think you can certainly experience happiness by yourself) A great part of this equation truly reminds us to take time for ourselves and pursue our passions, because life will get in the way if you don’t put time aside for passions and loved ones. I won’t rebuke any portion of this piece of the equation, because I think it is the most well constructed part of his theory, and I do agree with this portion.
Don’t Listen to Much Advice at All
This is probably the most relevant point and piece of the equation to our modern world. We google everything, we watch the news and get expert opinions on every global and political situation. We are absorbing commercial messages 24/7 telling us purchasing this or that will make us happier and better. With all of these stimuli bombarding us, it should be apparent that we have been raised in a society that wants us to second guess our own judgment and intuition. The Happiness Equation argues that ignoring all of these other stimuli and listening solely to our own little voice will increase happiness. Although I do think this could be potentially helpful, I find ignoring everything but our own judgment to be rather naive. We have compiled the working accumulated knowledge since the beginning of humans and made it easily accessible for the masses, with diligence and care I think it is insane to propose ignoring this wealth of resources. Maybe it is because I myself am a Millennial, but couldn’t fathom as long as the source is reliable and trusted, using other people’s experiences and highly intellectual thinkers would be an incredible resource for me to learn and make my life better, aka increasing my happiness.
Closing Thoughts
My closing thoughts boil down to the variables that interact and ultimately spit out the happiness result per the equation.
Our expectations < Life’s realities = Greater Happiness.
Overall this is a glass half empty philosophy that I can’t accept. Although some good points have been brought up about human behavior, being more trusting with our inner judgment and intuition, and allotting time to do things that we care about with those we care about move in the right direction, lowering expectations about our lives and foregoing retirement to work more years are ultimately creating a dystopic narrative. Can you imagine during your childhood if parents told you “Billy! Lower your expectations and Life will be better, lower your expectations and you will be happier.”? Instead this equation should be focusing on something more along the lines of a momentum equation. When we replace expectations with effort and willpower things become much more digestible.
Our Willpower and Effort put into Life > Life’s realities = Greater Happiness.
If we approach happiness from a different perspective per the formula above, we can see that happiness is an individuals hard work and effort that will directly impact reality. Accepting life is mediocre, or we were brought up in poverty and lowering our expectations to make us happier will result in perpetual unhappiness in the long run. Taking into account one’s ability to dream, one could argue happiness may be linked to what you potentially see your life becoming in the future.
I hope the above discussion stirred some thoughts about happiness in your own life, thanks for reading
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