As many of you likely know, the United States faced a terrible tragedy recently with the death of George Floyd. Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated event, and the name of George Floyd with join the likes of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and way too many more. This event is simply a mere reflection of the flaws of the justice system, the manifestation of police brutality, and the continued potency of racial injustice. In these times, it would be unfair of me to tell you what to do; however, I do want to share what I have been doing in hopes that someone finds it helpful.
In addition to calling Mayor Jacob Frey(which I highly suggest doing - 6126732100) to join the fight to hold the police officers properly accountable for their actions, I have tried to take some time for the very purpose of this blog - introspection. One of the first topics of this blog was regarding my takeaways from a college class I'm taking online called the Science of Well-Being. With new responsibilities, I struggled to make time to finish it. Now that the school year is over, I completed Week 2 and wanted to share what I have learned.
One of the very first things I wanted to share before I dive into the takeaways from Week 2 was that I, being the work-driven person I am, would be the first person to say this class is waste of time or that it couldn't have any information that I didn't know before. Now, after taking this class for a bit, I have come to the realization that a lot of the research and strategies in the class may seem like common sense but were simply things I didn't focus on or even think about before. One of the things that I found helpful was to evaluate why I am doing the things I am. For me, I study to get good grades to get into a good college to get into a good medical school, etc. ultimately to feel like I have made an impact on the world so that I can be happy. So, if we ultimately do many things to be happy, it is necessary for us to take conscious effort to evaluate and critique our own lives in an attempt to make it more fulfilling and "happier".
Anyway, this week's focus was on the various misconceptions regarding the way we derive happiness. The professor shared research on how a good job, money, a perfect body/face, cool stuff, good grades, and even true love(as measured by marriage) often doesn't correlate to real happiness. As much as I would love to share all the fascinating research that the professor did, in an attempt to make this as concise as possible, I won't. For the people that know me well, they know how driven I am by good grades. However, a study showed that when students got a score lower than they expected, their happiness levels did not significantly drop even if they predicted that they would. Looking back at times where I have not received the grades I have expected, I have found that I wasn't as devastated as I would have thought before especially through my attempts to rationalize my results. Similarly, there was a study conducted that asked people with differing salaries how much more money would make them satisfied. Those making $30,000 said they wanted (on average) $50,000 and those making $100,000 said they wanted (on average) $250,000. I ultimately think this ties into the desire to do more and have more that is perpetuated by modern-day materialism, and I find this translates to my life. With every new accomplishment and success that I have, the happiness I derive from these accomplishments is very short-lived, and I find myself constantly chasing a new, "shinier" goal.
This philosophy translates to what is known today as the hedonic treadmill or hedonic adaptation which is the idea that humans return to a relative baseline of happiness even after significant negative or positive events(if you are interested, I attached below some ideas that were running through my head). In order to combat the feeling that I am aimlessly running on this treadmill, the course suggests that I make it a practice to write down the things I am grateful for every day and to savor at least one moment every day. Especially in light of recent events, I think this exercise is incredibly important to check our privileges and be appreciative in this time of uncertainty, and I encourage you to do the same. I wanted to end with some of the things I am grateful for today(both big and small). But before I get to that, I really enjoyed reading and responding to the comments on the last edition of this blog, so I would love to hear your thoughts about recent events and just hear how you are doing.
Today(5/27) I am grateful for:
1. Being able to go outside and appreciate the beauty of the world without a second thought about my safety
2. Having friends all around the world and the country that I like to think have influenced the way I view things and that have made a more well-rounded person
3. The wonderful new garlic and herb-flavored cheese that I can eat with my crackers
4. My blue-blocking glasses that make me look a bit more serious and give me less of a headache as I stare into my computer screen for hours on end
5. Being able to voice my opinion and thoughts and have people think they are meaningful on this blog
Today, I savored the walk I went on very early this morning. I enjoyed the light rain, discovered a new park, and got to spend time with some people that I truly cherish.
*some people reached out saying that they would be interested in a blog about the impact of gender/sex on COVID-19, so I will be posting that soon!*
Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juO4zxsjSjw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wVbZag85Cc - this is a video by one of my favorite YouTubers detailing how social media(and thereby social comparison) impacts our perception of happiness and causes us to want to capture moments instead of actually living them in the fear of missing out of our own lives; it's slightly off-topic but I found it to be good food for thought(I find this all so interesting so I might do my thoughts on this video in a later post)
https://positivepsychology.com/hedonic-treadmill/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b7fOqPfnaw
In addition to calling Mayor Jacob Frey(which I highly suggest doing - 6126732100) to join the fight to hold the police officers properly accountable for their actions, I have tried to take some time for the very purpose of this blog - introspection. One of the first topics of this blog was regarding my takeaways from a college class I'm taking online called the Science of Well-Being. With new responsibilities, I struggled to make time to finish it. Now that the school year is over, I completed Week 2 and wanted to share what I have learned.
One of the very first things I wanted to share before I dive into the takeaways from Week 2 was that I, being the work-driven person I am, would be the first person to say this class is waste of time or that it couldn't have any information that I didn't know before. Now, after taking this class for a bit, I have come to the realization that a lot of the research and strategies in the class may seem like common sense but were simply things I didn't focus on or even think about before. One of the things that I found helpful was to evaluate why I am doing the things I am. For me, I study to get good grades to get into a good college to get into a good medical school, etc. ultimately to feel like I have made an impact on the world so that I can be happy. So, if we ultimately do many things to be happy, it is necessary for us to take conscious effort to evaluate and critique our own lives in an attempt to make it more fulfilling and "happier".
Anyway, this week's focus was on the various misconceptions regarding the way we derive happiness. The professor shared research on how a good job, money, a perfect body/face, cool stuff, good grades, and even true love(as measured by marriage) often doesn't correlate to real happiness. As much as I would love to share all the fascinating research that the professor did, in an attempt to make this as concise as possible, I won't. For the people that know me well, they know how driven I am by good grades. However, a study showed that when students got a score lower than they expected, their happiness levels did not significantly drop even if they predicted that they would. Looking back at times where I have not received the grades I have expected, I have found that I wasn't as devastated as I would have thought before especially through my attempts to rationalize my results. Similarly, there was a study conducted that asked people with differing salaries how much more money would make them satisfied. Those making $30,000 said they wanted (on average) $50,000 and those making $100,000 said they wanted (on average) $250,000. I ultimately think this ties into the desire to do more and have more that is perpetuated by modern-day materialism, and I find this translates to my life. With every new accomplishment and success that I have, the happiness I derive from these accomplishments is very short-lived, and I find myself constantly chasing a new, "shinier" goal.
This philosophy translates to what is known today as the hedonic treadmill or hedonic adaptation which is the idea that humans return to a relative baseline of happiness even after significant negative or positive events(if you are interested, I attached below some ideas that were running through my head). In order to combat the feeling that I am aimlessly running on this treadmill, the course suggests that I make it a practice to write down the things I am grateful for every day and to savor at least one moment every day. Especially in light of recent events, I think this exercise is incredibly important to check our privileges and be appreciative in this time of uncertainty, and I encourage you to do the same. I wanted to end with some of the things I am grateful for today(both big and small). But before I get to that, I really enjoyed reading and responding to the comments on the last edition of this blog, so I would love to hear your thoughts about recent events and just hear how you are doing.
Today(5/27) I am grateful for:
1. Being able to go outside and appreciate the beauty of the world without a second thought about my safety
2. Having friends all around the world and the country that I like to think have influenced the way I view things and that have made a more well-rounded person
3. The wonderful new garlic and herb-flavored cheese that I can eat with my crackers
4. My blue-blocking glasses that make me look a bit more serious and give me less of a headache as I stare into my computer screen for hours on end
5. Being able to voice my opinion and thoughts and have people think they are meaningful on this blog
Today, I savored the walk I went on very early this morning. I enjoyed the light rain, discovered a new park, and got to spend time with some people that I truly cherish.
*some people reached out saying that they would be interested in a blog about the impact of gender/sex on COVID-19, so I will be posting that soon!*
Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juO4zxsjSjw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wVbZag85Cc - this is a video by one of my favorite YouTubers detailing how social media(and thereby social comparison) impacts our perception of happiness and causes us to want to capture moments instead of actually living them in the fear of missing out of our own lives; it's slightly off-topic but I found it to be good food for thought(I find this all so interesting so I might do my thoughts on this video in a later post)
https://positivepsychology.com/hedonic-treadmill/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b7fOqPfnaw
As always thanks for reading and stay safe,
Janvi :)
As always, a well written piece of information that I enjoyed reading. Some people say happiness comes from contentment and not so much as from satisfaction. The dilemma is how to draw a line on where the contentment occurs; as also will one contentment give rise to the next level of contentment, or in that case there is nothing known as contentment. Marketing Management theories differentiate between "wants" and needs", but is it really possible to state where one starts and the other one ends; not to forget that it varies from person to person, place to place, culture to culture, and so on. Example: a poor boy in developed country needs a toy but wants a high ended toy, whilst a poor boy in under-developed country needs to simply eat some food (even if picked up from leftovers) but his want may revolve around to have at least one square meal a day; who will feel content and how and when?
ReplyDeleteHigh achievers have to constantly strive for higher goals and their quest for further knowledge is never satiated, otherwise people of our world would have lived like during the prehistoric period and there would have been no innovations or discoveries. Being satisfied or contented also might lead to or mean remaining dull and dumb. I think the driven people must never be satisfied or content with whatever goals are attained by them, and must keep striving for more, but all the time sustaining their internal balance with a high tendency to "move on" to ensure against own frustrations. Indian YOGIS and SAINTS in the past have recommended YOGA and MEDITATION for the highly driven people seeking great achievements for maintaining their peace of mind.
Thank you so much for the insightful comment! I largely agree in many of our thoughts regarding the distinction between "wants" and "needs". This field is largely subjective, and identifying where one ends and the other starts is nearly impossible. One of my thoughts is that there is a difference between contentment and complacency. I think one can be content with their successes, but I do not think they should be complacent. My current understanding is that one should be happy about their accomplishments(content) but constantly strive to do more(not be complacent). However, this is still a balance I think many people, including myself, are still in the process of figuring out. Excited to hear your thoughts!
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