Q.

How important is it you be happier

an you are now?
It’s very important as happiness makes me
overcome any obstacle in life wi peace and be
my ue self. A ue smile on my face is a I
ever wan d at e end of e day celebra
my cumula ve e orts roughout e day
wards e targets I set in my life. For me
happiness is carrying a e virtuous values
wi in you as your superpower overcome
any ing life rows at us daily.

Q.How much con ol do you have over your

ture happiness?
Right now I am hear ly broken inside out
because of my academic failures in e last
ree years of my life. Failing con nua y for 3
years in every ing I did has made me feel like
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 a loser of life. is possesses a signi cant
danger a e opportuni es I wi have in
ture which may be was d if I con nue be
like is for I don’t know how long.

Q. How would you de ne happiness?

Ensuring success in professional life i.e
academic grades, income, l lment of ture
goals set in life and in personal life i.e
s eng ening e bond between your family,
iends and surroundings is my de ni on of
success.

• Scien sts measure happiness based on 3

parame rs of a human:
A. How happy you are in ur life
1. POSITIVE EMOTIONS
2. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
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 B. How happy you are wi your life
3. SATISFACTION WITH YOUR LIFE

Q. How sa s ed are you wi your life right

now?
Seeing e above fac rs men oned evalua
your personal happiness in life, I am nei er
posi ve nor sa s ed wi my life. For e last
2 years I have seen what bi erness in life uly
means. e cha enges rown at me daily was
some ing at ok e good out of me
everyday and made me feel like a hopeless
fe ow in life. Socie , family, iends, academic
failures has made me incapable and de cit of
my ue po n al what I had expec d om
myself in e last few years.
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 • Ancient philosophers came up wi e idea
of hedonism for happiness which meant
maximising pleasure and minimising pain
in life.
It doesn’t talk about e instant bodily
pleasures you get but talks about e good
feelings you get while you watch a movie, deep
iendship talks, family me, musical concerts,
a task we done in school/co ege/profession,
mee ng new people, learning new ings and
having varie of experiences while exploring a
new place. According Epicurus, pleasant life
res d on e founda on of
sober( ought l )reasoning. In nse and
luxurious pleasures are be avoided as ey
lead more pain in ture. Eg. par ing hard
by drinking, watching a movie e day before
an important exam.
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 Q. Is ere more happiness an feeling
good?
Feeling a sense of purpose everyday and
having order in life is e ano er meaning of
happiness for me. Being always childish is
happiness. Not ac ng as grown ups is
happiness. Having e eedom and wi do
work in your own manner and delving
ourselves in work is happiness. Having a
posi ve approach wards any obstacle in life
is happiness. Caring about your loved ones is
happiness. Feeling and ge ing love is
happiness. Delving ourselves in e process of
doing ings is happiness.

• Desire eory of happiness- ge ing most of

e ings you want out of life makes you
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 feel eleva d. Ge ing a your desires
guaran es you e feeling of happiness.
Enjoying your life is e basis of desire
eory.Happiness is a about l ing your
deepest desires. Ma er of feeling good and
enjoying life.
• A complica on of desire eory is addic on.
A you want is e preferred narco c
substance everyday but s you don’t feel
happy even if your desire is ge ing sa s ed.
• Ano er complica on of desire eory is
con ic ng desires. Deciding between 2 ways
for example studying for ur exam and
ge ing good grades or at e same me going
a family nc on for your sibling’s
wedding is a con ict. At e end you cant
take bo in s ide as it wi lead failure of
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 bo . us you need priori se one over e
o er.

Q. Living e life you want live is a crucial

ingredient in happiness, even more so an
pleasure and e avoidance of pain. But Maya
s feels like some ing’s missing om is
account of happiness. What do you ink is e
missing piece?
When a person fails for prolonged period of
me, he/she gets depressed and loses his/her
ue self. He/She loses belief and hope in
every ing else remaining in life which also
means giving up a e remaining happiness
om life. Hope and self belief is e dogma of
humans which is lost. Missing piece is being
virtuous.
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 Refer: h ps://dtg.si s.fas.harvard.edu/Gilbert
et al (IMMUNE NEGLECT).pdf

• AFFECTIVE FORECASTING-
predic on of one’s emo onal sta in e
ture. Research shows at ese intui ve
predic ons of n signi cantly miss e mark.
When we are predic ng e outcome of an
event we are suscep ble its impact bias
• IMPACT BIAS is ndency for people
overes ma e leng or e in nsi of
ture emo onal sta s.
• FOCALISM is e ndency place o
much focus or emphasis on a single fac r or
piece of informa on when making judgments
or predic ons.
• IMMUNE NEGLECT
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 EG. How does immune neglect explain why a
talen d soccer player se les for a safe career,
abandoning her ue passion?
Neglec ng how her psychological immune
sys m would pick her back up if she failed in
pursuit of her passion, she decides not risk it
• Our minds use lots of icks for rebound om
bad stu . And one of ose icks is blame
a our failures on ex rnal fac rs. So, when
subjects had an easy explana on for not
being chosen for e job “ at process was so
unfair!” it was much easier for eir
psychological immune sys ms kick in.

Q. Why seemingly obvious life improvements

like earning a higher salary don’t end up
boos ng our happiness very much. What’s
going on? Is it at we get used ose be er
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 circumstances and start taking em for
gran d? What do you ink?
e way we accept our ings is very
important. If we get happiness and take it for
gran d en we would feel more sorrow if it
goes away even for a sma period of me. We
start lose e value and importance ose
ings have in our life. Humans should us be
humble and ank e reali of ings(God)
for making it possible succeed in given
scenarios of life.

• People are not at happy when eir

circumstances are changed because of
OTHERS. We a live in a niche wherein we
constantly observe our surroundings and
now e whole world rough e eyes of
social media. e whole world has become a
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 classroom where every human is in e race
of being a pper anywhere it goes. Its a
constant tussle between everyone in e
surroundings about who has e best co ege
en car en income en house. Our minds
constantly moni r at being be er an
everyone else is actua y being happy but
at’s not e case most of e mes.
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 • Hedonic adapta on is like Lenz law, Law of
Iner a where good changes boost our
happiness hedonic adapta on drops us back
our set point.(curse)
• Bad changes bring us down hedonic
adapta on gradua y brings us back up.
(blessing)
Q. How do you y make e most of what
you have?
It’s a constant process of self evalua on where
you s ive get be er every single day. In e
end, looking at e brigh r side of e ings is
what makes us progress. Even in our su ering
we cannot only focus on our problems and
rarely ink about our solu ons(focalism). We
need ink about e solu ons and keep on
working wards ge ing be er because if we
won’t do at we would be apped in it forever.
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 • PARTS OF MIND
A. ID- wiki
B. Ego- wiki
C. Superego- wiki

Q. Is overcoming inner con ict key

happiness?
Yes, having a more s uctured and ordered life
brings you e peace of mind and body.
Balance is e key live a life. Overcoming e
emo onal impulses and desires rough reason
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 and ought is e key managing con ict in
mind.
• Video anscript of INNER HARMONY.

Q. Are good habits e key happiness? What

do you ink?
Yes, ey are. Not always knowing a solu on
problem but nding e way solu on is
e key solving it. Good habits lead
nding a be er way. Ensuring our mental
and physical we -being is key living a
harmonious life which can only come about
rough good habits.
• SOLUTIONS- video on evidence based s ps
and ar cle on more evidence based prac ces
• Comprehending e argument in e last
ar cles of iends
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