Sustained happiness over time comes from growth and contribution, from continually improving our own skills and then using those skills to benefit others.

• Happiness is a secret of the evolutionary success of humans. We are sensitized to relationships with others and to the probability of success of different paths (links between where we are and where we want to be).
• Hormone levels rise and fall, so happiness comes and goes.
• The specifics of happiness are different person to person but everyone falls within spectrums of ‘stability & variety’ and ‘connection & significance.’ Everyone benefits from growth and contribution.
• The secret to prolonged happiness is continually working on getting better and continually working to help others. The “continually” part is a critical portion of sustained happiness.

References:

• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Tony Robbins, Why We Do What We Do TED Talk
• The Lovheim Cube of Emotion
• Sapiens by Yuval Harari
• Happiness by Design by Paul Dolan
• How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen.