“Everything we need to be happy is easy to obtain.” -Epicurus I’ve long advocated that happiness is not entirely related to a feeling of a precise moment. Instead, it’s more closely related to the overall life we live, as well as the life we hope to have in the future. If you quit smoking, you…
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Imagine your life as an epic, three-hour movie. In this saga there are numerous high points and low points, and both drama and comedy. There are coming-of-age moments and passages of growing older. There will likely be some real challenges, and maybe even a few moments when you think you won’t make it. The movie…
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When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at the mall. I had two sets of parents and lots of grandparents, but pretty much everyone I knew loved to go to the mall. No matter who I was with, a lot of early evening conversations went like this: “What should we do…
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Toward the end of next week I’ll head out to conduct my Annual Review, an extended exercise to reflect on the year that’s coming to an end and prepare for the next one. This has been quite the year with a lot of ups and downs, so I’m not entirely sure how I’ll process everything—but…
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I remember a Christmas in which I spent the day entirely by myself. Strategy #1: sleep as late as possible. Strategy #2: fill up the day with as many things to occupy my time without feeling lonely. It didn’t work, at least not completely. I was sad and depressed for much of the day. I…
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And other ways of applying perspective. “Guy from Minnesota says it’s cold in the winter. Guy from Mexico disagrees, says it’s hot in the winter. Both have a hard time realizing they’re each right based on their own unique life experiences. They call each other idiots in the comments section of news article that has…
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I got an interesting question from Allan about the nature of quests: I really enjoyed “The Happiness of Pursuit.” It appealed to the adventurer in me. I understand that you are encouraging others to pursue whatever quest they are passionate about, but my question is, “Do you notice that people who pursue quests that give…
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“One of the unspeakable things that I think might even be the most unspeakable way of carrying on is this idea of not improving from an experience, not becoming a better person, not having a redemption. Our culture is so obsessed with the idea that you’re going to go through a crisis or some difficult…
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On my recent book tour, I usually began each night’s talk with a story about playing Super Mario Brothers with my grandma. Her name was Regina but we all called her Nana, and she's been one of the most important people in my life
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They aren’t my thoughts. Even though I like to run and sometimes struggle with depression, these thoughts come from Rob Krar, a new ultrarunner who holds the speed record for the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim run. “For the longest time I think I was in denial that I had depression, and when I got in…
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From my own 193-country journey to the stories of many other people who were kindly willing to share, The Happiness of Pursuit attempts to extract and convey the lessons of modern-day quests. This series explores some of these lessons. Lesson: As you make progress toward a small goal, the bigger vision expands. Many people featured…
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Next week we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2015, a global gathering like no other! But first, over the next few days we’ll be rolling out a different speaker video every day. Jadah Sellner gave us a timely reminder to “Say our dreams out loud” by sharing her sometimes bumpy journey to…
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“I had no good reason not to take it up,” he said of a big decision. “And it kind of terrified me to imagine myself spending the rest of my life tinkering on the margins of the small arguments.” Link: Embrace the Irony Image: Ed ###
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From my own 193-country journey to the stories of many other people who were kindly willing to share, The Happiness of Pursuit attempts to extract and convey the lessons of modern-day quests. This series explores some of these lessons. Lesson: “All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.” Most…
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