How to Identify What You Enjoy

The quotes below represent some of the key points and takeaways that resonated with me from the Podcast episode:  How to Build a Happy Life : How to Identify What You Enjoy. For the full transcript check out The Atlantic’s website.

What is happiness?

Happiness consists of enjoyment, satisfaction, purpose and connection (to people or to a craft)

“There are three macronutrients to happiness. They are enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose. People who are truly happy about their lives, they have all three.”

“...if you don’t have connection added to those ingredients, it’s going to be hard.”

“...[happiness is not] a feeling, because I think that happiness as a byproduct of living our lives in a meaningful way…”

Having fun

Define what fun looks like and book it in the calendar

“...people think that fun is frivolous. They don’t realize that it’s actually essential”

“… when you talk about enjoyment, people think, Well, that’s optional”

Use your Envy to guide you:

Reflect on the people or things that you envy. What are the qualities that you want to incorporate into your life?

“...a good way to figure out what is fun for you is to look at your envy...”

“Follow your envy. It tells you what you want.”

“We are so hesitant to look at our desire”

Satisficer vs Maximizer:

“The Secret to enduring satisfaction is not to have what you want, but to want what you have” - Dalai Lama

“The satisficer is one who wants what she has, and the maximizer is the one who is always chasing, trying to have what he wants.”

The example given in the podcast is someone who walks into a store and buys the first sweater that matches their criteria, (the satisficer), compared to the person who walks in, tries on multiple sweaters, goes to another store to find a better price or style (the maximizer), but they tend to not be as happy if they just got the first one that fit their needs.