Happiness is “life’s most important subject”.

Happiness leads to success (counterintuitively).

Happiness can create a better world.

Why do you want what you want? Why do you do what you do? I mean, why do you do anything at all when you could just do nothing?

These aren’t meant to be cheeky philosophical questions. They’re honestly worth considering.

In any given moment you could make essentially infinite choices about what to do or not do.

Right now as you read this you could stop reading. You could keep reading. You could go to the bathroom. You could buy tickets to go skydiving. You could email your boss and say I quit. You could email your boss and ask them to marry you. You could give away everything you own to charity. You could give away everything you own to me. That last one sounds pretty good actually.

Kidding.

But it seems you made the choice to keep reading. Now – here’s a provocative take… Pretty much everything we do, think, or avoid is about one thing: Happiness.

It’s about - in some way, shape, or form - pursuing happiness and avoiding suffering. Now this results in some peculiarities: plunging into a big tub of ice water so that you can feel better after, drinking a toxic chemical which will later make you sick (ahem, alcohol), staring at a screen in a boring building for 9 hours, 5 days per week so you can acquire the resources necessary to avoid suffering and pursue happiness.

Look, this business of being a human is messy and complicated. But the point remains. It’s about happiness.

Aristotle said happiness is the only goal we pursue as in the end itself and not as a means to something else. Albert Einstein wrote –

“Everything that the human race has done and thought is concerned with the satisfaction of felt needs and the assuagement of pain… Feeling and desire are the motive forces behind all human endeavor and human creation…”

Going beyond Western philosophy and science, we see the same claim made in the Eastern wisdom traditions. The Dalai Lama explains –

“Every sentient being has the right to survive and, for survival, this means having a desire for happiness or comfort: that’s why sentient beings strive to survive. Therefore, our survival is based on hope – hope for something good: happiness. Because of that, I always conclude that the purpose of life is happiness.”

I’d argue you don’t really want a great career, a nice home, a car, a cute family, a great partner, etc… I’ll prove it.

Let’s say I’m a genie who will grant you all those things and more – all the recognition, money, success, and circumstances you could want. But that’s on one condition: I’m going to remove the parts of your brain and nervous system that allow you to feel happiness.

Would you take it?

See all the things we think we want are means to an end. We don’t actually want the thing: we want the feeling we think it will bring.

I want financial freedom so I can do what I want and not have to worry about money. So what I want is to feel free and avoid feeling anxiety.

I want to find my soulmate so that I can feel love and connection. So what I want is a positive emotion of love and to avoid feeling lonely.