The author Neil Pasricha spent years developing leaders and organizations before he realized that many people (including himself) weren’t happy despite their career successes. This book captures the 9 secrets for happiness that he uncovered after researching and testing various models, approaches, and ideas for rejuvenating himself. In this free version of The Happiness Equation summary, we’ll outline the 3 parts and 9 secrets from the book.
The Happiness Equation: 9 Secrets to Happiness
Niel Pasricha focuses on practical insights that anyone can apply to improve their happiness level. Specifically, the 9 secrets are organized into 3 parts of the Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything.
We’ll now zoom in on the 1st secret (Be Happy First) in detail, with a brief overview of the remaining secrets. Do get a copy our full 12-page summary for more details on all 9 happiness secrets :)
The 9 Secrets to Happiness
SECRET #1: Be Happy First
Many of us are told that if we work hard, we’ll be successful, and then we’ll be happy. That’s a flawed perspective. You’ll end up chasing success endlessly–from better grades to the next promotion and a bigger house.
On the other hand, if you’re happy first, you’ll feel great and become more productive. According to Harvard Business Review, happy people are 3x more creative, 31% more productive, and enjoy 37% higher sales. In another study, researchers also found that the happiest nuns (with a more positive attitude) lived on average 10 years longer than the least happy nuns.
Research suggests that only 10% of our happiness is based on what happens to us (i.e. our life events and circumstances). The other 90% comes from our genetic predisposition and what we do intentionally to improve our happiness.
Drawing on research in the field of positive psychology, Pasricha presents 7 ways to train your brain to be happy. To start feeling happier, just do any of these 7 things for 2 consecutive weeks:
- Take a brisk walk for 30 minutes, 3x a week. This activity was actually found to be more effective than medication in treating clinical depression.
- Take 20 minutes daily to write about a positive experience. This helps you to relive and remember the great moments and people in your life.
- Engage in 5 random acts of kindness each week.
- Get in flow, i.e. allow yourself to become fully absorbed in a challenging task that stretches your skills.
- After a period of engaged work, completely unplug yourself (e.g. turn off your phone and internet) so you can recharge.
- Meditate for 2 minutes daily. This helps to reduce stress and improve self-awareness, thus rewiring your brain for greater happiness.
- Gratitude: At the end of each week, write down 3-5 things you’re grateful or proud of.
SECRETS #2-#9: An Overview
Here’s a brief overview of the remaining 8 secrets. Do get the complete version of The Happiness Equation summary for more details.
- SECRET #2: Do It for You: Go for intrinsic rewards/motivation over external ones, and learn to accept yourself. Learn about the 2 different types of motivation, 3 types of success and how to build your self-confidence and self-acceptance.
- SECRET #3: Remember the Lottery: Being alive today (in an age with more safety and comfort than our predecessors who struggled with food, shelter, and plagues) already means that you’ve already won the lottery. Remember that the next time you’re having a bad day or wish you had more.
- SECRET#4: Never Retire: Retirement is actually a flawed, outdated concept. And, work gives us 4S’s that are crucial for our well-being. Find out why you should never retire and why/how to have an “ikigai” instead.
- SECRET #5: OverValue You: Learn why it’s a bad idea to focus on your total income, and how you can overvalue your time to create more value and fulfilment per hour.
- SECRET #6: Create Space: Everything we do fall into 4 types of spaces. Learn how the happiest people allocate time across the 4 spaces, and how you can create space with specific strategies to reduce choice, time and accessibility.
- SECRET #7: Just Do It: Learn to overcome fear and procrastination with a baby step and the 30-seconds technique.
- SECRET #8: Be You. Discover your authentic self with 3 tests and learn to be yourself (instead of living by others’ expectations).
- SECRET #9: Don’t Take Advice. There’s no perfect advice, so learn to start listening to yourself and make your own decisions.
Getting the Most from The Happiness Equation
In this article, we’ve briefly outlined some of the key insights and strategies you can use to achieve desired change. For more examples, details, and actionable tips to apply these strategies, do get our complete book summary bundle which includes an infographic, 12-page text summary, and a 24-minute audio summary.
This is a light and easy-to-read book, filled with personal anecdotes, fun stories, scribbles and even cartoons to convey the ideas. Although many of the recommendations are based on established research studies, Neil Pasricha focuses primarily from the actionable insights instead of the research data or scientific concepts behind them. You can purchase the book here for the full details, or check out more resources at www.neil.blog.
Who should read this:
• People interested in personal and spiritual growth.
• Anyone who wants to become more clear and focused, peaceful and happy.
The Happiness Equation Chapters
See All Chapters (Click to expand)
Our summaries are reworded and reorganized for clarity and conciseness. Here’s the full chapter listing from The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha, to give an overview of the original content structure in the book.
Want Nothing
Secret #1: The first thing you must do before you can be happy
1. 6 words that will forever change how you see happiness
2. The single biggest reason it’s so hard to be happy
3. The one thing your doctor, teacher, and Tom Hanks all have in common
4. How much can we control?
5. 7 ways to be happy right now
6. A final lesson from the convent
Secret #2: Do This and Criticism Can’t Touch You
1. The only goal you set that matters
2. What’s the biggest problem with external goals?
3. 4 simple words that block all criticism
4. Why your dream job could be the worst job you ever have
5. The 3 S’s of success
6. The sad and unfortunate reason we listen to critics in the first place
7. The secret scribble to increasing your confidence
8. 3 simple steps to self-acceptance
9. How does Buddha use this secret?
10. What does a message secretly hidden under Wimbledon’s Centre Court show us?
11. “I don’t stand back and judge… I do.”
Secret #3: The Three Words That Will Save You on Your Very Worst Days
1. The first war you are fighting every day
2. The second war you are fighting every day
3. The one thing many billionaires want but cannot have
4. What does a Greek philosopher have in common with the Rolling Stones?
5. When does making a million dollars feel like nothing?
6. The classic tale of the Mexican fisherman
7. How to use the three words on your very worst days
Do Anything
Secret #4: The Dream We All Have That Is Completely Wrong
1. The terrible tragedy of Mr. Wilson
2. Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt agree on this
3. What can the healthiest one-hundred-year-olds in the world teach us?
4. The single greatest lesson we can learn from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
5. The horrible idea the Germans had that ruined things for everybody
6. “When you’re through changing, you’re through.”
7. The 4 S’s of work
8. The dream we all have that is completely wrong
Secret #5: How to Make More Money Than a Harvard MBA
1. What does Harvard do for your salary?
2. “Is everyone nuts?”
3. The single calculation to find out what you really make
4. How does a teacher or retail assistant manager make more than a Harvard MBA?
Secret #6: The Secret to Never Being Too Busy Again
1. Do this and you’ll suddenly have space back in your life
2. The 3 B’s of creating space
3. This is how NASA, Alfred Hitchcock, and Nicole Katsuras use this secret
4. Removal #1: How to make every decision at twice the speed
– How do the President of the United States and the CEO of Facebook make every decision at twice the speed?
– The curious case of Benjamin Lee
– The most exhausting idea I’ve ever had
– 285 reasons why you’re tired right now
– What do you find every morning and lose every night?
– The only person whose rules you have no choice but to follow
– The unanticipated joy of being totally stuck
– 4 simple words that will help you prioritize everything
5. Removal #2: The counterintuitive way to have more time
– The single law that determines how long anything takes to do
– How do you cut all meeting time in half?
– How do you complete a three-month project in one day?
6. Removal #3: How to add an hour to a day with only one small change
– How to protect your most valuable asset
– The greatest misconception you share with every other employee
– The only two modes your brain actually has and how to use them
– One of the hardest and most important things you will ever do at work
7. “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”
Have Everything
Secret #7: How to Turn Your Biggest Fear into Your Biggest Success
1. The childhood trauma that made me quit swimming
2. Two barriers we place in front of anything we don’t want to do
3. The secret scribble to moving from fear to success
4. How does Jerry Seinfeld use this secret to write comedy?
5. It’s not easier said than done, it’s easier done than said
6. A 30-second technique to using this secret in your daily life
7. What does the greatest physicist of all time say?
8. The advertising slogan everyone knows because it follows this secret
9. The single greatest lesson we can learn from Home Alone
Secret #8: The Simple Way to Master Your Most Important Relationship
1. “I run a burlesque dancing troupe.”
2. This is the most authentic person of all time
3. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
4. 3 simple tests to uncovering this secret inside you
5. The 5 greatest regrets of the dying—and how to avoid them
6. “When there are no enemies within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”
Secret #9: The Single Best Piece of Advice You’ll Ever Take
1. “Ninety-seven percent of lung cancer patients are smokers, and ninety-seven percent of smokers never get lung cancer.”
2. What can we learn from the most common advice of all?
About the Author of The Happiness Equation
The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything is written by Neil Pasricha–a Canadian author, entrepreneur, podcaster, and speaker. He’s best-known for his advocacy of positivity and simple pleasures, including his famous blog on 1000 Awesome Things, which won him several awards and recognition. He was also a recipient of the Canada’s 40 under 40 award in 2018.
The Happiness Equation Quotes
“Because we scan the world for problems, sometimes that’s all we see.”
“Remember, it’s not the critic who counts. It’s the man in the arena.”
“Accepting yourself insulates you from the washing machine of emotions that comes from other people’s views swaying your own.”
“None of us can control our emotions. We can only control our reactions to our emotions.”
“When you’re working you become part of something bigger than yourself.”
“It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting.”
“Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship in your life.”
Click here to download The Happiness Equation summary & infographic
