Related: 25 Lies Twentysomethings Need to Stop Believing by Paul Angone
Happiness is a side-effect of purpose
Chasing happiness is guaranteed to make you miserable. Social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) makes it worse by shoving curated “happiness” down your throat. Choosing to be useful and to other people/a mission will bring you happiness.
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Time and time again, we see that feelings of happiness, contentment, and joy are by-products of serving others and being committed to something bigger than ourselves.
The times I’ve felt so elated were when I felt like I was making a positive impact on my surroundings, or when I felt like I was a valued member of a group (or club/sport/activity). It might be one of the reasons why so many of us turn back to volunteering.
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Let joy come from a deep well of substance and meaning, not from your next hit of happiness.
This was a nice reminder to go full force into your interests, and pay attention to the topics that light your soul on fire. Don’t be afraid to commit to them.
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Rank the social platforms from top to bottom, from the platform that adds the most to your life to the platform that seems to suck the most life out of you.
This was the line that made me delete the Instagram app off my phone. I was spending too much time scrolling through low-quality content as default behavior. I unfollowed a lot of creators that I didn’t want to keep on my feed, and tried to engage in the topics I was interested in outside of social media a lot more (talking to others about my interests, writing about them online, etc.) I sometimes check back to message friends who don’t use WhatsApp, but spending time on there is a lot less appealing, and it’s reflected positively in my mental health and clarity.
other quotes I loved from this chapter
- I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.
- But here’s the truth: the people who are probably doing better than all of us are the people who are never on social media documenting how much better they are doing than the rest.
- Sometimes it’s the lives that look the best on your feed that are in the biggest mess.
- Pursue purpose. Pursue wisdom and truth. Pursue doing good work. Pursue loving others well. Pursue making and creating something beautiful and life-giving. Pursue spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health.