Mo Gawdat is the author of Solve for Happy.

He was a successful engineer, entrepreneur, and technologist who eventually rose the be Chief Business Officer of Google X (this is Google’s innovation and “big ideas” arm). After his son unexpectedly based away due to a medical error he dedicated himself to researching happiness.

Solve for Happy is his highly practical handbook on how to engineer a happier life.

Here is a chapter by chapter summary…

Part 1

• Setting Up the Equation
  • Our default state is happiness. He compares the human brain to a new phone. It works perfectly fine until we start downloading all these weird apps and programs then soon enough our battery only lasts for 5 hours. Consider a baby. When they are not hungry, thirsty, tired, or unsafe - they are happy. When we do not a have a reason to be unhappy our default mode is happiness. So much of happiness is about removing these unhelpful “apps and programming” we pick up as we age.
  • Use the “I feel happy when _______.” protocol to quickly find your sources of happiness.
  • The Happiness Equation is Happiness ≥ Events — Expectations
  • Choose not to suffer… Pain in life is inevitable. But resisting it, wallowing in it, and focusing on it is optional. Pain is a part of life but additional suffering brings no benefit. To the extent possible make a conscious choice to reduce our suffering and that of others.
• 6-7-5
  • Mo makes the case that when we are caught up in thought we experience suffering if the thoughts are negative, escape if the thoughts are neutral, or happiness if the thoughts are positive. But true joy comes when we transcend thought all together and fully experience the moments of our lives.
  • He sets up his engineering blueprint. Bust the 6 Grand Illusions, Fix the 7 Blind Spots, and Hang on to the 5 Ultimate Truths.

Part 2 - 6 Grand Illusions

• Thought — There is a little voice inside every human’s head that, for the most part, focuses on the negative and never shuts up. We tend to identify with this thinking mind. The key insight is that thoughts are not reality (they are just thoughts produced by the brain which is a thinking machine). You can learn to slow down, calm, and quiet your thoughts with practice. Start by just observing the thoughts so that you’re not caught in them. Use practices like meditation where you shift your attention to other things (like breathing, a mantra, or body sensations) so you can step back from the stream of thought. Finally, learn to dispute your own thinking and reframe thoughts in a more positive light.
• Self — Who am I? This is a very important question. You are not your thoughts. You are not your body. You are not your personality. You are not your name. All of these things are either concepts (like letters on a page) or things that will change over time (are you your body now or when you were 10 years old?). The only permanent seat of self is the one who sees — the one who experiences thoughts, emotions, and sensory information. The witness, the experiencer, the consciousness that is inhabiting your body, your personality, and all your roles — that is the true self. Awareness.
• Knowledge — This is another illusion to bust. We really don’t know much of anything. All knowledge is tentative. When you know for sure that you are right, you are usually in trouble. For 1000s of years we thought Earth was the center of the universe. You lose your job which you think is a bad thing and on the way home you buy a lottery ticket and win $1M dollars. Was it a bad thing? We just don’t know. Be cautious when you think you really know anything for sure. Keep an open mind and be a skeptic.
• Time — Time, too, is an illusion. For the interested reader you may explore the Theory of Relativity and other insights from physics. But time moves differently depending on where you are in the universe. A clock at the top of Mt. Everest will tick a little slower than one on Earth’s surface. Think of 5 minutes watching your favorite movie vs. 5 minutes doing sprints. The truth is “now” is the only reality. If you’re in the future or the past you’re living mind not living life.
• Control — Importantly, this doesn’t mean you ought to just throw your up your hands and say “I quit”. But we must acknowledge that most of life is out of our control. We must learn to ride the waves and go with the currents of life. Accept that most of your circumstances are out of your control and then do what you can to control the controllable.
• Fear — First acknowledge when you feel fear. Then explore what is at the root of it. And having identified the cause, question if it is justified (it almost never is) and consider exposing yourself to it to build your tolerance. While caution or skepticism may be helpful, outside of life or death situations, fear is just about always unhelpful. Keep facing your fear until you overcome it.

Part 3 — Blind Spots

• Human perception is riddled with systematic errors that undermine our happiness. We use filters, make assumptions, make inaccurate predictions, distort memories, use labels, feel emotions, and exaggerate. The extent to which we can identify and observe these “blind spots” will determine the clarity of our perception. The “Negativity Bias” shows the human brain tends to default towards what could go wrong, what we don’t have, and potential threats. Our default mode is evolved from a hunter-gatherer walking through the woods: there is danger at every turn. After reading the the whole sentence you will become aware that the the human brain often does not inform you that the the word “the” has been repeated twice and filtered out every time. We also tend to make up stories. Imagine your friend is late to dinner and doesn’t text you. You’re upset and think they are rude. Then they call you and say their phone died and they got lost and had to stop at a gas station to use a charger and call you. Now you are relieved and feel less offended. All of this ordeal was predictions and assumptions and other made up stories. Always ask the question — “Am I sure of my perceptions?”. Seek the truth.