Plug into your hard-wired happiness

http://www.ted.com/talks/srikumar_rao_plug_into_your_hard_wired_happiness.html

Srikumar Rao says we spend most of our lives learning to be unhappy, even as we strive for happiness. At Arbejdsglaede Live! 2009, he teaches us how to break free of the "I'd be happy if ..." mental model, and embrace our hard-wired happiness.

Nuggets of Wisdom

You have control of your actions. You don’t have control of the outcome.

Invest in the process rather than the outcome.

Focus on the outcome to give you direction i.e., determine where you and where you want to be but then invest yourself 100% in the process. If you get the outcome you wanted then great and if you didn’t get the outcome you wanted great because now you have another starting point.

We grow up learning to focus on the outcome. If, by definition, the outcome is out of our control and that is where we are spending most of our energy we are setting ourselves up for potential disappointment/unhappiness. Focus on the process and doing the best you can.

Passion exists inside you. Not inside stuff or a job etc.

Find a way to ignite your passion from inside not from external things.

All you do in life is take journeys. Ask is this a journey you want to take. Does it take you to a place where you would want to spend you time?

Focus on the task on hand, be not motivated by the outcome;
Be not driven by the results, enjoy the process of getting there.

Shrimad Bhagvat Geeta