Happiness Equations: What is it? How can I apply in my life?

Life is a pursuit of happiness but our journey begins with the wrong notion thurst upon us by society. Look below as explained by Happiness Equation Book Author Neil Pasricha. Our life journey starts with this notion.

 

 But in reality, we should change the priority by

 Why? Because Happy people are more productive and creative.

In my last blog, we talked about the Set-point theory of happiness. In summary, it means that your happiness is dependent on your genes plus life events and what actions you take to make yourself happy. Simply it is

 

 Subjective Well-being= Your genes + Life Events + Your actions 

 

Unfortunately, first, two are not much in your hands. The last one is, though is. Your expectations and contentment will make it better. The only problem with this equation is that it requires being proactive. Martin Seligman, the father of modern positive psychology, stated that happiness comes from a mix of positive and negation of negative feelings in life. He proposed this equation first.

 

Unhappiness = Suffering without knowing the meaning.

 

Another way around you need to acknowledge your suffering and find the meaning in it. For example, during the pandemic, some people lost their job, but it allowed them to spend more time with the family and learn new skills to enjoy life.

 

Dr. Seligman expanded the theory and equation of happiness further by putting out this equation for your Habits or Actions.

 

Pleasant Life: Perfect past+ Perfect Present + Perfect future

 

You will now ask me what is this? How can I have a perfect past and future? Maybe, if I get all my acts together, I may have a perfect present. Let us look at his equation differently.

Happiness: Content (Past) + Mindfulness (Present) + Future (Optimism and Hope and constantly working towards eliminating the negatives).

•      Content: Expectations, forgive and gratitude

•      Present: mindfulness, savoring, and flow

•      Future: Optimism and hope, cultivating new positive habits

 

Now I will give you my equation: Vasavada’s equation of Happiness

 

So basically, Lower your expectation with Committed Acceptance (Here for more). Also, you need to lower your control issues; otherwise, that control will bring conflicts and unhappiness towards others and yourself.

Life happens, and accept that you are a small part of the grand plan.

Thank you for spending your few minutes with me. You can write me back your feedback at tarak@vasavada.us. Next time we will talk about PERMA theory from Dr. Seligman.

 

 Tarak Vasavada, MD 

Medical Director Live Well Foundation of MCMS