Tag: Happiness
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Respecting Time: Beyond Showing Up on Schedule
When most of us hear the phrase “respecting time,” the first thought that comes to mind is punctuality. We believe that if we promise to meet a friend at 6 p.m. at a café and we show up at 6 p.m. sharp, then we’ve done our job. We respected time. While that’s not wrong, it’s…
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New Ways to Be Happier: Practical Wisdom from Vanessa King and a Growing Global Movement
We all want to feel happier and more resilient, especially when life gets messy. But what does it really take to build lasting wellbeing—not just for ourselves, but for the people we care about? For me, this question became personal. I’ve not only championed the Action for Happiness movement in my own life, but also…
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The Beautiful Trouble of Raising a Human
Parenting is not a profession, a project, or a plan—it’s a wild, messy, magical relationship. From the moment a child is born, a parent is thrown into a lifetime of balancing joy and frustration, love and fatigue, laughter and tears. It is both the hardest and most rewarding journey a person can embark on. And…
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The Journey Is All There Is: Naval Ravikant on Time, Happiness, and Success
Part 2: In a deeply reflective conversation, entrepreneur and philosopher Naval Ravikant sits down with Chris to dissect the complex interplay between time, happiness, success, suffering, and fame. It’s not a motivational soundbite session, but rather an honest, often self-revealing discussion on how to live a good life—not just by chasing goals, but by understanding…
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More Than Happy: Embracing the Four Pillars of a Meaningful Life
We live in a time where happiness is marketed as the ultimate goal. It’s on magazine covers, in self-help books, and on Instagram feeds. But what if the secret to a fulfilling life isn’t happiness at all, but something deeper—something steadier? Writer and positive psychology researcher Emily Esfahani Smith offers a profound answer: the key…
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The Everyday Science of Meaning in Life
For as long as humans have reflected on their existence, the question of life’s meaning has hovered at the edges of philosophy, religion, and literature. Is life meaningful? And if so, how and why? While these questions may sound like the domain of poets and mystics, modern psychology has quietly built a robust science around…
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How Do We Measure the Meaning of Life?
What makes life feel meaningful? Is it having a clear sense of purpose, achieving personal goals, living according to one’s principles, or perhaps feeling that life itself is inherently valuable? For decades, philosophers and psychologists alike have wrestled with these questions, and in recent years, the quest to understand and measure “meaning in life” has…
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Press Pause and Reflect: The Power of a Life Audit
We live in a fast-moving world. Days blur into weeks, and before we know it, months have slipped by. We chase goals, tick off tasks, juggle responsibilities—but how often do we actually stop and ask ourselves whether we’re on the right path? That’s where a life audit comes in. It’s not just another to-do; it’s…
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When Life Slows Down, You Begin to Wake Up
Sometimes, you come across a video that feels like someone is speaking the words you didn’t know you needed to hear. That’s what happened when I watched Reflections Of My Life on YouTube. It wasn’t just a personal story — it was a mirror. A wake-up call. A gentle but powerful reminder that life is…
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The Hidden Cost of Comfort: Why Seeking Discomfort Might Just Save You
Imagine standing at the edge of a vast frozen wilderness. The cold slices through every layer of clothing. Your breath turns to crystals in the air. There’s no phone signal, no Wi-Fi, and certainly no cozy couch waiting at the end of the day. It’s just you, the elements, and a primal need to survive…
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The Unexpected Riches of Having Less
Is it possible that having less can actually give us more? At first glance, it may sound like one of those frustrating clichés designed to console those who are struggling. Many people would rightly push back, arguing that when your basic needs aren’t being met, romanticizing scarcity is offensive and out of touch. But what…
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Naval on True Intelligence: Designing a Life You Actually Want
You only get one shot at life—so why do so many of us settle for mediocrity? Naval Ravikant, entrepreneur and philosopher, offers a striking redefinition of intelligence that cuts through the noise of IQ scores and academic credentials. In a world full of distractions and pre-written scripts, he argues that true intelligence is about getting…
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Your Happiest Days Are Behind You—And That’s a Good Thing
When we think about happiness, we tend to look ahead. We imagine it waiting for us in the future, just around the next corner—after the promotion, the relationship, the vacation, the next big change. But what if that’s the wrong direction to look? In his heartfelt and humorous TEDx talk, psychologist Robert Biswas-Diener flips the…
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Tiny Experiments, Big Shifts: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World
In a world that’s constantly evolving, many of us find ourselves drowning in cognitive overload. We absorb more information than ever before, build endless to-do lists, and cling to routines in a desperate attempt to keep up. But our brains haven’t evolved to match this speed. We’re running ancient software on modern hardware. Social media…
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We Can Do Better Than Happiness: Insights from The Big Picture
In our modern quest for happiness, we often treat it as the ultimate goal—a prize waiting at the end of life’s journey. Books, podcasts, and motivational speakers eagerly promise the secret formula to attain and sustain this elusive state. The message is clear: if only we were happy, everything else would fall into place. But…
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The Subtle Signs of Aging: What It Feels Like and How We Experience It
Aging is one of life’s most natural processes, but when does it really start? And how do we experience it? Most of us don’t notice it immediately—it’s a slow, subtle shift that begins in our late 20s or 30s. Let’s take a closer look at how aging unfolds for both men and women, and what…
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The Secret to Happiness: A Journey Beyond Wants
For Harvard Professor, Arthur Brooks, what does it mean to be a “professor of happiness”? It’s not about teaching people to chase fleeting feelings or superficial joys. It’s about understanding happiness as a profound, multidimensional experience. At its core, happiness is not just a feeling. It’s a combination of three essential elements: enjoyment, purpose, and satisfaction. Let’s dive…
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The Secret to a Good Life: Lessons from the Harvard Study on Happiness
What truly keeps us healthy and happy as we go through life? Imagine you’re investing in your future best self—where would you focus your time and energy? For many, the instinct might be to chase wealth and fame. A recent survey of Millennials found that over 80% had the goal of getting rich, and 50%…
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The Connectedness Paradox: Why “More” Can Mean Less
We are deeply interconnected through social media and technology, yet paradoxically feel more isolated. The constant digital stimuli can desensitize us to real connection, leading to a yearning for deeper, authentic relationships. Spiritual retreats offer an opportunity to disconnect, rediscover inner peace, and foster genuine human connection, providing a solution to the connectedness paradox.
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The Lies We Live By: Debunking Societal Myths with David Brooks
I recently watched a 2019 TED talk by David Brooks titled ‘The lies our culture tells us about what matters — and a better way to live’ and found it quite intriguing. In this talk, David, a renowned columnist and author, invites us to confront the “lies” our society whispers, shaping our values and perceptions.…
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Beyond the Ladder: Expanding Your Self, not Your Ego, in Work and Life
We’re constantly bombarded with messages to “climb the ladder,” “hustle harder,” and “achieve more.” While striving for goals and self-improvement is valuable, the relentless pursuit of external validation can lead down a treacherous path: the inflation of the ego. But what if there was another way? What if, instead of expanding our ego, we focused…
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Love is hard
It’s easy to simply confess to someone ‘I love you. ‘Doing’ love is the hard bit. For most practical purposes ‘to love’ is taken to mean ‘to enjoy’ another person and lets ourselves ‘be enjoyed’ by them. Even the Oxford dictionary agrees with this practical definition: a strong feeling that you have when you like…
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Life: The Journey of Letting go
Everyone knows we don’t live forever and that life, this life is short. The things we hold most dear to our hearts- the people we love, our achievements, our wealth and possessions, even our own lives – we simply need to leave behind when we die. In this journey of life, we seem to lose…
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Pursuit of Worldly Wealth
Today is Krishna Janmashtami, the birth anniversary of Sri Krishna, who gave us the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, which lays out a roadmap to Moksha, inner freedom and tranquillity. Though many of us like to relate to the good parts of any character as similar to our own selves, there is a lot in…
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Choosing Between Pleasure and Happiness
The ancient wisdom of Vedanta tells us that we are frequently posed with a choice in life between Preyas and Shreyas (Sanskrit). Preyas includes all desired activities by an individual at a given point in time while Shreyas includes that which is desirable for all people of all times and places, namely freedom from unhappiness,…
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