Wander & Wonder

I’ve been watching an online lecture series called The Science of Wellbeing and something that really stuck with me is an idea that comes from the book The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky.

According to her research, the sources of happiness can be visualized as a pie chart:

• 50% is intrinsic (shaped by your natural temperament and your genetics)
• 10% comes from your life circumstances
• 40% depends on your thoughts, actions, and intentions

We focus so much of our energy on that 10% slice: getting great grades, choosing the best career path, finding the perfect partner, buying the newest phone, etc. I find myself often thinking, “If I could just get X, Y, Z, then I’d be happier”. And to be fair, these things do bring happiness…but it’s usually short-lived. That initial excitement fades, and whatever once felt special eventually becomes the new normal. And then we quickly start looking for the next thing, thinking maybe that will finally be it. We often end up restless or disappointed by the very things we once wanted most. Or we can even lose the good things we once had: you ace a midterm only to do badly on the final, or you fall in love only to face heartbreak.

In reality, the 40% is the only slice we genuinely control, yet ironically it’s the one we overlook the most.

Perhaps it’s time to serve ourselves a different slice of the pie.