The Virtuous Circle of a Happy Personality
The happiest and most successful people are those who have figured out ways to exploit their Tendency to their benefit and, just as important, found ways to counterbalance its limitations. For all of us, it’s possible to take the steps to create the life we want—but we must do that in the way that’s right for us.
Gretchen Rubin • The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too)
If you’re wondering how to attract happiness into your life, try incorporating these 10 virtues Aristotle recommended in his writings—and which modern research supports:
1. Name your fears and face them head on.
2. Know your appetites, from substances to behaviors, and control them; you might need to eliminate some things.
3. Be neither a cheapskate n
... See moreThe happy person keeps good company and delights in study. Excellence of character, she believes, is “a healthy departure from the relentless pursuit of material goods, wealth, power, and celebrity that characterizes much of our childish culture.”
Erica Brown • Return: Daily Inspiration for the Days of Awe
On the other hand, in the same study the University of Rochester researchers found that individuals who focused on intrinsically rewarding activity, working hard to develop their personal strengths and build social relationships, for example, were measurably happier over the entire two-year period completely regardless of external life circumstance
... See moreJane McGonigal • Reality Is Broken
Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities.