Ask HN: What makes you happy?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2086898

by withoutfriction • 16 years ago

9 12 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Alternative title: how to be happy?

enf• 16 years ago

Being able to solve someone's problem (including my own). Walking around in San Francisco.

verticalflight• 16 years ago

The key to happiness is setting goals that are recognizably stretch goals for oneself (but not so stretch that they are unachievable), then achieving them, and then taking pause to reflect on the successful achievement of those goals.

kunley• 16 years ago

Doing things I couldn't imagine I'do some time ago.

It requires constantly checking and crossing your comfort zone, but it's sooo worth!!

spacelaw• 16 years ago

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaW4Ol3_M1o

When you know you're going to die all you have time for is happiness. Ask any old person rotting away their last days in existence in a dilapidated convalescent home. The point is you don't have to wait until you're old to reap the power your death gives you.

AndyParkinson• 16 years ago

When I'm working on what I love when I want to and without feeling like I have to. In other words, finding freedom.

dmm• 16 years ago

Key to happiness(according to Vonnegut): Low expectations.

Key to being good at something while also being happy(who knows but you can try this): decouple self-worth from achievement. Base self-worth on pursuit of consistent, deliberate practice.

arn• 16 years ago

I think when seeking this advice, you need to be aware of what people think will make them happy vs. finding people that are actually happy.

It's easy to spout off things that in your head "will make you happy" -- but don't listen to those people. Since they haven't actually made it there.

It's like how winning the lottery doesn't actually make people happy. Ask those people before they win the lotto, what would make them happy, I bet a good number of them would list winning the lotto. Ultimately, the lotto doesn't actually make them happier.

(I think the key is that there is no state of absolute happiness. You have to "work" at being happy. Not necessarily through action, but perhaps by awareness.)

dstein• 16 years ago

I learned this trick from http://thinktrylearn.com/

Step 1: Think. Next time you approach something new, think of it as an experiment. Be curious, with a healthy sense of detachment. A scientist would say "I don't know, let's see what happens," and so can you!

Step 2: Try. Decide what you will try in your experiment. Challenge yourself to do something you might not have done before. Think about how will you measure success. How will you enjoy the journey in addition to the outcome?

Step 3: Learn. Observe what happens and learn from it. The final outcome might be different from your measurement of success. Expect to be surprised.

rick_2047• 16 years ago

Thanks for telling me that what I am doing for most of my life is actually a formal paradigm and has to learned from a website :)

driftsumi-e• 16 years ago

This is something I'm trying to hone in on these days.

Recognize and appreciate the little moments in life. At times, we absorb ourselves in the grind of our projects that we easily lose sight of simply enjoying the little things for what they are - a good conversation, a nice view, putting together a nice meal, etc.

agentcris• 16 years ago

Proving others wrong.

yourfavwhiteguy• 16 years ago

Recognizing that I'm part of a group that works smarter, not harder. Also having the means to spend my life with a mixture of work and play.

Ask HN: What makes you happy?

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