Deep wisdom I learned this week:
Happiness [a slippery word — means different things to different people] in life is mainly dependent on three things:
- Purpose
Having a meaning to your life, a goal you are working towards or a reason for being. - Flow
Having that state of working in an uninterrupted way on something you enjoy so that everything else, including time and your ego (that is, the thoughts that create a distinct ‘you’), disappears. - Using your strengths
You are happy and get flow (see #2) when you are working on a task that challenges your strengths at the right level.
The flow state helps to shut down something called the default mode network in your brain, which is the network in the brain that creates the ego, for one thing. It’s also responsible for that annoying narrator in your head that you think is you, that, for some people, is not their best friend. The more flow you got, the less time the voice can hang around and tell you dumb things.