Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days

So, for the storyteller to connect with their audience, whether that’s one person on a date, or a thousand people at a rally, the story must be as familiar as possible. Even if the content is new or different, then the audience should at least recognise the shape. And I think this is why man in hole or hero’s journey has entertained for at least th

The man in hole shape is also, so psychologists have discovered, the one most likely to lead to personal happiness. Studies in narrative psychology have found that there are two distinct types of personal narratives that people tell, and that these stories follow two very different ‘emotional sequences’. In one, the story begins with an event that

Second, you should be in ‘full body awareness’, so both your mind and body are not only entirely focused but also completely in sync with each other, with no spare psychic energy that could be caught by a passing distraction.

Third, there should be clear goals, and fourth, there should be feedback. You should know as soon as possible if you’re reaching those goals.

Amartya Sen. Sen says that for people to flourish, they need three things: control, capabilities and social participation.

Csikszentmihalyi wrote. ‘The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.’

So, there’s another ingredient that also strikes me as essential. It’s this: the story should have a positive ending. To borrow from Vonnegut, ‘because why get a depressing person’ at the end? If you’re going to sell someone on the idea that they should follow your lead, you’d want to tell them that, yes, things are hard now, but they’ll get better

As these personal narratives develop across our lives, they pass through three levels. The first stage is Actor. This is when we just act and react in the moment, the role kids typically play. I can see it in my four-year-old son. He bounces from home to park and to his grandparents’ houses, just playing. He’s taking part, but he’s not planning. Th

If you’re not happy with how things are in your ordinary world, for instance, maybe you’re refusing your call to adventure? Perhaps what you need is to hear and accept your call and maybe a mentor will help. Or, if something or someone seems to be deliberately trying to stop you achieving your aims – no need to fret, this is just a test or an enemy