Einstein's formula for happiness

[btownbuck2012]

“A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest."
Albert Einstein

Your thoughts?

I'm starting to really believe this, yes.

 

[Tenacity]

Faulty belief which leads to a faulty conclusion. We are referring to joyfulness or for purposes of this discussion, happiness.

Complacency <> Happiness

You could be ambitious and not at the destination, yet still possess a happy state of mind.

Another syllogism:

Tenacity + Ambitious + Unhappy <> Everybody + Ambitious + Unhappy

The variable here is Tenacity. Now that will be enough attention-whoring for this thread.

Sir, re-read my post because I don't think you got the entire point of it. There's a deep message in my post, see below:

What we have is joy, happiness, peacefulness, and relaxation. In my opinion, all four of these are "states of mind".

- But in order to reach these states of mind, the surrounding "matter" has to be controlled, streamlined, and organized. If the surrounding "matter" (environment, health, financial situation, family sitaution, etc.) is out of control, it's very difficult to achieve said states of mind if you in fact still CARE about these surrounding "matters" and have HIGH expectations.

- Now.....if you no longer care, have given up, or have very low expectations, it helps to achieve said states of mind. This is why you will see people like @Bible_Belt talk about the serenity prayer, it's his way of significantly reducing down his life expectations to a point where it's more possible to achieve said states of mind as long as you just have the very basics of life (health, food, shelter, some decent family/friends/love relationships, and the ability to have some form of recreation).

But someone like Tenacity, with HIGH expectations, it's hard for me to sleep at night if my quarterly sales numbers aren't where I wanted them to be, even though I'm making MORE income this year than ever before. If my expectations were LOWER (at a Bible Belt level) I would have more damn joy, happiness, peace, and relaxation right this moment than EVER before in my life. It's my HIGH expectations that make me rest-less.

 

[guru1000]

Big paradigms and happiness are not antagonists.

Notice I state paradigms and not “expectations.” Expectations beg outcome dependency, which can lead to emotional fluctuations. Sure, you could be disappointed if you don’t reach your goal, but as you did your best and committed all the actions to “win” and could not do better, are you going to allow this temporal disappointment to impact your happiness?

You push, go through the motions, but don’t condition your baseless happiness on the result. As your emotions do not serve the result, your actions do.

You need to learn to control your emotional state better and outside of your paradigm. Very possible. I do it everyday.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Faulty belief which leads to a faulty conclusion. We are referring to joyfulness or for purposes of this discussion, happiness.

Complacency <> Happiness

You could be ambitious and not at the destination, yet still possess a happy state of mind.

Another syllogism:

Tenacity + Ambitious + Unhappy <> Everybody + Ambitious + Unhappy

The variable here is Tenacity. Now that will be enough attention-whoring for this thread.

Guru showed the math here. One mistake of high ambitious types including formerly me is not allowing themselves to be happy until they reach some distant goal.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

in what context was this said?

pretty sure einstein wouldnt have said this if he were broke, starving, unfulfilled and didnt have his knowledge of advanced science to carry him through life.

he wanted for nothing and could afford the peaceful quiet life.

Read Tokyo Joe’s post on the second page

 

[Bible_Belt]

This is why you will see people like @Bible_Belt talk about the serenity prayer, it's his way of significantly reducing down his life expectations to a point where it's more possible to achieve said states of mind as long as you just have the very basics of life (health, food, shelter, some decent family/friends/love relationships, and the ability to have some form of recreation).

Wait, I thought it was because the government and corporate America had brainwashed me....out of the rat race, is that right? But with your never-ending quest to make more money (and pay more taxes) you are above that brainwashing? Sure, that makes sense.

What you're talking about is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is a very real thing. Most people just want their needs met, and then money starts to have much less importance. I have experienced it myself. I have had literally more money than I knew what to do with, and it did not make me especially happy. I bought a fast car, a fast bike, and a law degree with cash. At one point I was looking at helicopters, just because I was that fvcking bored. I am lucky to have had that experience, as a lot of poor people never will. Sure, everyone has bills to pay, but after that is done, you give all your money to the bank, and they send you a worthless piece of paper every month with numbers on it. Yippee, if that's your thing. But it doesn't do much for me.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Wait, I thought it was because the government and corporate America had brainwashed me....out of the rat race, is that right? But with your never-ending quest to make more money (and pay more taxes) you are above that brainwashing? Sure, that makes sense.

What you're talking about is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is a very real thing. Most people just want their needs met, and then money starts to have much less importance. I have experienced it myself. I have had literally more money than I knew what to do with, and it did not make me especially happy. I bought a fast car, a fast bike, and a law degree with cash. At one point I was looking at helicopters, just because I was that fvcking bored. I am lucky to have had that experience, as a lot of poor people never will. Sure, everyone has bills to pay, but after that is done, you give all your money to the bank, and they send you a worthless piece of paper every month with numbers on it. Yippee, if that's your thing. But it doesn't do much for me.

You shouldn't base your inner peace and happiness based on what's outside of you. It should be about you and who you are.

 

[Bible_Belt]

.....first clean the inside of the cup, and then the outside will also be clean....

 

[JohnChops]

“A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest."
Albert Einstein

Your thoughts?

I agree, but I feel as if Einstein did NOT follow this. This guy was out of his mind for the time period he was living in, where science was bashed by the church and you could end up with no head by the end of the day , if the church saw fit.

Living a comfortable life can be rewarding, in it's own way, depending on the person.

Some of us want to get out there and see how far we can push our mind, body and spirit before we give into that quiet and modest life. However, for the people with that mindset, they usually succeed or die before they give into a life of modesty .

For me, I recently started medical school about 3 months ago, moved 2.5 hours away to a new state, living on my own, completely out of my comfort zone, but what else would I be doing? Staying in my home town, get a nice little job at a corner store or pick up my family business with my dad? Staying in the same state for the rest of my life? Never experiencing anything new? Never having that feeling of failure and then success, in a roller coaster type fashion?

There are highs and lows to chasing success in whatever you do, you will ALWAYS feel restless and never comfortable. It sucks, but god damn it, I know for a fact that it will be worth it in the end.

To that I say, forget modesty, and live your life like an absolute savage chasing your goal, no matter what the cost.

And to the people that stay with you, you know they will be loyal, to the ones that fade away, you know you did not need them in your life anyway.

 

[zekko]

I haven't looked into it, but didn't he live a simple life, enjoying sailing and walking around beaches and the simpler things? I didn't think he pursued the fame he got, but I could well be wrong.

He may not have pursued the fame, but he certainly pursued success as far as working out his theories go. He was very driven in that direction. It may be that he simply had to do it, like he had no choice, he was simply so occupied with it. That's what I was referring to.

I do think there's value in pursuing a modest life. But compare that to a lot of what this forum (and the community) teaches - about being an alpha male, about being a "3% man", a renaissance man, having your bodyfat in a certain elite range, etc., etc. Certainly this forum doesn't embrace being average or mediocre. Maybe I'm reading too much into what you're quoting though.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

One of the strategies of keeping your elite, nobel prize winning status is to tell others they should live a quiet, moderate life, so they don't threaten your elite status.

 

[Tenacity]

He may not have pursued the fame, but he certainly pursued success as far as working out his theories go. He was very driven in that direction. It may be that he simply had to do it, like he had no choice, he was simply so occupied with it. That's what I was referring to.

I do think there's value in pursuing a modest life. But compare that to a lot of what this forum (and the community) teaches - about being an alpha male, about being a "3% man", a renaissance man, having your bodyfat in a certain elite range, etc., etc. Certainly this forum doesn't embrace being average or mediocre. Maybe I'm reading too much into what you're quoting though.

The problem comes though, when cost of living and job market issues have to where you can't even relax living a modest life anymore. Not saying this will happen in the next 20 years, but Tenacity is always striving to be better each year because in my opinion.....the moment you stop growing, learning, and striving, is the moment you die.

 

[zekko]

The problem comes though, when cost of living and job market issues have to where you can't even relax living a modest life anymore. Not saying this will happen in the next 20 years, but Tenacity is always striving to be better each year because in my opinion.....the moment you stop growing, learning, and striving, is the moment you die.

I agree with you, at least up to a point. I believe I've worked pretty hard to get to where I am. But recently I've decided to opt out of the "rat race" becuase I wanted to use what I worked for to buy me freedom, free time. So I'm not "striving" so much, but I do hope to continue growing and learning. Maybe Albert Einstein was able to appreciate a modest lifestyle because he was already rich and famous, as some here have said.

Also, I think that younger guys in their 20s and even 30s, they have the energy and resiliency to work hard and push the envelope (if that's what they choose to do). It seems kind of funny to hear about 20 year olds who are burned out, they've barely started yet, and they're as fresh, healthy, and vital as they're ever going to be.

 

[Urbanyst]

One of the strategies of keeping your elite, nobel prize winning status is to tell others they should live a quiet, moderate life, so they don't threaten your elite status.

YEP.

We didn't build this complex technologically advanced world around us to keep living like mountain men with a wolf on a leash as a pet, surviving on seeds, bugs and wild game.

Its human nature to be competitive and never satisfied on some level. Even the laziest people will try to "achieve" in video games or creating a taller cheeseburger than last time lol.

I think HOPE is what "happiness" really is. As long as you have HOPE that your life will probably improve, you can usually find a way to be happy. The joy of life events, wins and achievements is not "happiness" its just a temporary situational reaction.

If someone gave you a crystal ball today and told you your life will only get worse OR stay exactly the same from today onward.. you would probably blow your brains out. Its that HOPE of improvement that keeps us "happy" imo.

 

[Tenacity]

YEP.

We didn't build this complex technologically advanced world around us to keep living like mountain men with a wolf on a leash as a pet, surviving on seeds, bugs and wild game.

Its human nature to be competitive and never satisfied on some level. Even the laziest people will try to "achieve" in video games or creating a taller cheeseburger than last time lol.

I think HOPE is what "happiness" really is. As long as you have HOPE that your life will probably improve, you can usually find a way to be happy. The joy of life events, wins and achievements is not "happiness" its just a temporary situational reaction.

If someone gave you a crystal ball today and told you your life will only get worse OR stay exactly the same from today onward.. you would probably blow your brains out. Its that HOPE of improvement that keeps us "happy" imo.

Excellent, excellent point about the concept of HOPE.

 

[guru1000]

I think HOPE is what "happiness" really is. As long as you have HOPE that your life will probably improve, you can usually find a way to be happy. The joy of life events, wins and achievements is not "happiness" its just a temporary situational reaction.

Excellent, excellent point about the concept of HOPE.

Stupid point.

Hope <> Happiness

Happiness = Happiness

You and @Urbanyst are contriving reasons to be your miserable selves.

 

[Urbanyst]

Stupid point.

Hope <> Happiness

Happiness = Happiness

You and @Urbanyst are contriving reasons to be your miserable selves.

LOL.

Speak for yourself. I'm not miserable at all. In fact, my life is better than ever.

The difference between me and you is I'm not delusional. I'm willing to accept and acknowledge some of the darker sides of life and work around it. I don't need to "pretend" things are one way when they aren't.

 

[guru1000]

LOL.

Speak for yourself. I'm not miserable at all.

Of course, you’re not. Now go whine a little more about the state of the market, and how you can’t find a decent LTR—or perhaps, those decent LTR girls don’t want you.

Wonder why.

Back to the subject: yes, it was a stupid comment.

Hope <> HappiNess

 

[resilient]

Of course, you’re not. Now go whine a little more about the state of the market, and how you can’t find a decent LTR—or perhaps, those decent LTR girls don’t want you.

Guru... it's easy for you to say this statement because you're coming from a place of abundance with your regular triple header weekend dates. Not being jealous here, just stating the obvious, based on your feedback.

I don't know about @Urbanyst, yet there are guys on this forum like me that are still struggling to lift up their SMV from the ashes against a backdrop in the dating field that is leveraged towards women these days.

I think it would be one thing if we just got fed up and went 100% MGTOW. I would understand and agree with you calling us out.

Those here that are still striving against the tide are doing what we can to improve ourselves and get to a level to compete with guys who have higher SMV in OLD and real-life approaches.

 

[guru1000]

Guru... it's easy for you to say this statement because you're coming from a place of abundance with your regular triple header weekend dates. Not being jealous here, just stating the obvious, based on your feedback.

I don't know about @Urbanyst, yet there are guys on this forum like me that are still struggling to lift up their SMV from the ashes against a backdrop in the dating field that is leveraged towards women these days.

I think it would be one thing if we just got fed up and went 100% MGTOW. I would understand and agree with you calling us out.

Those here that are still striving against the tide are doing what we can to improve ourselves and get to a level to compete with guys who have higher SMV in OLD and real-life approaches.

The difference is you recognize whom the issues lies with and are correcting it—as opposed to pointing outward and faulting the whole market.

Simple example: You walk into a supermarket with $5 in pocket and try to buy a juicy $9 steak. The cashier rejects your money. You have a few choices:

1) Complain about the state of the supermarket;
2) Buy a $5 steak; or
3) Earn some more money and come back.

Huge distinctions.