7 Lessons from Yale's Most Popular Class: Psychology and the Good Life

Yale's most popular class in it's 320 year history:

Psychology and the Good Life.

Here are 7 lessons from the course to help you live a happier life:

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

1. About 50% of happiness is determined by genetics.

10% is determined by circumstances.

And 40% is determined by us: our thoughts, our actions, and our attitude.

Most of us overestimate the role of circumstances - and underestimate our own role - in increasing our happiness.

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

2. This means that most of us mistakenly focus on our circumstances when looking for sources of happiness:

• Money
• A fancy job
• A fit body
• Cars
• An attractive partner

Turns out these things don't improve happiness as much as we think they do.

But why?

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

3. Hedonic adaptation.

Gains in happiness from improvements in our circumstances are short-lived.

We want something (like money).

We get it (nice!).

We're happy for a while (yay!).

And then we revert to our old selves and want more of it (ooh but now I want the new iPhone).

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

4. So what does make us happy?

The Yale professor studied tons of happy people to find out what works.

And certain habits showed up repeatedly in happy people:

1. Spending time with friends and family.
2. Practicing gratitude.
3. Practicing optimism.
4. Physical activity.

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

5. But what about money?

Money makes you happy. No doubt.

But only up to a certain point.

Studies show that once you hit $75k in income, any subsequent rise in income only has a mild affect on happiness.

But there's another underrated source of wealth and happiness:

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

6. Time.

Money is a renewable resource.

Time isn't.

Once we have enough money to cover our needs, more control over our time leads to significant increases in happiness.

In fact, people are much happier when they use their money to buy time, according one study.

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

7. Knowing is not enough.

Just because you took a course on happiness - or read a thread - doesn't mean you're ready to be happy.

Happiness is the product of daily habits that fuel joy over months and years.

So get up and start building these habits!

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

Recap:

• Spend time with friends and family.
• Practice gratitude.
• Practice optimism.
• Incorporate physical activity.
• Make (enough) money.
• Once you have enough, focus on using it to get more control over your time.

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023

If you want to learn more, I highly recommend you follow the course professor Laurie Santos at @lauriesantos.

— Zain Kahn (@heykahn) April 11, 2023