Harvard professor Arthur Brooks has spent years researching the seemingly inescapable association between achievement and satisfaction. Most of us have been duped into thinking that we are just one deal, one raise, or one dollar short of true happiness.
The pursuit of personal wealth, or homo economicus, consumes most of us. One study found that 79 percent of us believe we would be happier if we simply had more money.
The late Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen has written about what he calls “a reconfiguration of our measurement tools.” He asserts three steps will put us on a path to true contentment.
- Shift from comparison to compassion.
- Shift from counting to contribution.
- Shift from contempt to connection.
Happiness really is a choice. I’m with the old prophet who said, “I will rejoice in the Lord” (Isaiah 61:10).
Recovery Step: Trade comparison for compassion; counting for contribution; contempt for connection.
