James Leong | Web Developer

Well, I have been reading.  Despite my very, very hectic schedule, I manage to make time for some nice readings.  (But then again… maybe its the nature of my job that allows me to do so much reading).

For those of you who have stumbled on this blog and do not really know much about me, just want to let you know that I am a sales man for web solutions… and the beautiful thing about being a salesman sometimes is that you have a lot of time in between appointments to catch up on your reading…..

Anyway,  this book is mainly about some general principles we need to abide by to lead a happy life.  I kind of like how the author scientifically expressed the amount of happiness each action will generate:

TURN OFF THE TV:  Watching too much TV can triple our hunger for more possessions, while reducing our personal contentment by about 5 percent for every hour a day we watch.

While… how do we measure personal contentment by 5 percent.. beats me.. but sure sounds cool.  Another excerpt of the book:

EAT SOME FRUIT EVERY DAY:  Eating fruit is associated with a number of positive life habits that contribute to both health and happiness, and eating more fruit is associated with an 11 percent higher likelihood of feeling capable and satisfied.

Well, if following 1 tip can increase your happiness by 11 percent, imagine following over 100 tips.  Even without taking into the effect of compounding, it will mean that I will be 10 times as happy as I currently am.  Definitely worth time looking into the issue.

As I devoured the book, i quickly took notes of some of the more easily implemented happy tips!  They are:

• Cultivate Friendships
• Turn Off the TV
• Friendship Beats Money
• Exercise
• Busy is Better Than Bored
• Eat Some Fruit Every Day
• Make Your Work a Calling
• Accomplish Something Every Day
• Keep a Pen and Paper Handy
• Take Care Not to Harshly Criticize Family and Friends
• Do Things You Are Good At
• Don’t Forget to Have Fun
• Enjoy the Ordinary
• Surround Yourself with Pleasant Aromas
• Keep Reading

Wow.. a whole lof of things to do.  Lets look back at this article a week later and see if I am moving in the right direction…..

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 at 1:49 am and is filed under Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.