Mo Gawdat

And I was like, okay, then I'm going to resign. I'm going to leave in four months and I'm going to find another job. And From then, I just money, money, money, money, things, things, things, things. And you know how it is. You succeed, you create a lifestyle for your family that becomes normalized, and then you now have to succeed more and create a higher lifestyle.

But the thing is, you're born happy. Happiness... changes when you change your choices. So I do a reverse engineering, a simple exercise where I tell myself, I'm going to record every moment in my life where I ever felt happy. Every moment I can recall where I felt unhappy. I'm going to try to plot them on different charts.

But the thing is, you're born happy. Happiness... changes when you change your choices. So I do a reverse engineering, a simple exercise where I tell myself, I'm going to record every moment in my life where I ever felt happy. Every moment I can recall where I felt unhappy. I'm going to try to plot them on different charts.

Basically, if I could find the fitting line that joins all of the moments where I was happy, Then I can have an algorithm and then I can almost code that within me that I'm going to always chase that algorithm. And then suddenly it hits you, okay? There is never a single experience of life that always makes you happy. It's never a single experience of life that always makes you unhappy.

Basically, if I could find the fitting line that joins all of the moments where I was happy, Then I can have an algorithm and then I can almost code that within me that I'm going to always chase that algorithm. And then suddenly it hits you, okay? There is never a single experience of life that always makes you happy. It's never a single experience of life that always makes you unhappy.

Rain makes you happy if you want to water your plants or if it's your ex-boyfriend's wedding. It makes you unhappy if it's your wedding. It's always that comparison, events minus expectations, events minus expectations, and you end up with a value that is either zero or higher or negative. But by the way, it's also your perceptions. So think about it this way. You could be stuck in traffic and

Rain makes you happy if you want to water your plants or if it's your ex-boyfriend's wedding. It makes you unhappy if it's your wedding. It's always that comparison, events minus expectations, events minus expectations, and you end up with a value that is either zero or higher or negative. But by the way, it's also your perceptions. So think about it this way. You could be stuck in traffic and

And telling yourself, oh my God, this is going to take 40 minutes. I'm miserable. I'm wasting my life. What have I done to deserve this? Life is against me. Or you could be stuck in traffic telling yourself, oh, I have a car. I have a place to go. Oh, the car is air conditioned. Oh, by the way, I actually am amazed by the fact that I don't have to walk those 30 miles.

And telling yourself, oh my God, this is going to take 40 minutes. I'm miserable. I'm wasting my life. What have I done to deserve this? Life is against me. Or you could be stuck in traffic telling yourself, oh, I have a car. I have a place to go. Oh, the car is air conditioned. Oh, by the way, I actually am amazed by the fact that I don't have to walk those 30 miles.

Or I can listen to an amazing episode. There you go, right? And then suddenly it's the same exact situation, but your perception could be very different. And here is the statement that upsets a lot of people when I say it. It's your perceptions and your expectations, which means what? Happiness is 100% a choice. Unless you have chronic pain,

Or I can listen to an amazing episode. There you go, right? And then suddenly it's the same exact situation, but your perception could be very different. And here is the statement that upsets a lot of people when I say it. It's your perceptions and your expectations, which means what? Happiness is 100% a choice. Unless you have chronic pain,

or you're really, really struggling, you can't make ends meet, you can't put food on the table, unless you're in a very, very traumatic place like some of the war zones around the world today or whatever, I honestly and truly believe that if you're fortunate enough to have a device where you can watch this conversation on or listen to this conversation on, which means you have a roof on top of your head so you're safe, which means you're not starving to death, you're probably one of the luckiest 1% alive.

or you're really, really struggling, you can't make ends meet, you can't put food on the table, unless you're in a very, very traumatic place like some of the war zones around the world today or whatever, I honestly and truly believe that if you're fortunate enough to have a device where you can watch this conversation on or listen to this conversation on, which means you have a roof on top of your head so you're safe, which means you're not starving to death, you're probably one of the luckiest 1% alive.

And once you see it that way and you realize that you could have been born in Syria and you would now be bombed with no mistake on your side, suddenly you go like, oh, it's not really that bad that my boyfriend's annoying. Boyfriends are supposed to be annoying. Right? That's expectations.

And once you see it that way and you realize that you could have been born in Syria and you would now be bombed with no mistake on your side, suddenly you go like, oh, it's not really that bad that my boyfriend's annoying. Boyfriends are supposed to be annoying. Right? That's expectations.

That turning moment for me was quite pivotal in many ways. I'm a geek, as you've probably figured out by now, right?

That turning moment for me was quite pivotal in many ways. I'm a geek, as you've probably figured out by now, right?

But this to me truly explains something. So now I can see an algorithm. Now I can understand the progress and I understand that it's my choice. And I now can understand how to work on this. But then I go to my son, Ali. And Ali was a tiny little Zen monk. He was unbelievable. I don't know if that's frequent, but he never really cried ever. And he spoke very little.

But this to me truly explains something. So now I can see an algorithm. Now I can understand the progress and I understand that it's my choice. And I now can understand how to work on this. But then I go to my son, Ali. And Ali was a tiny little Zen monk. He was unbelievable. I don't know if that's frequent, but he never really cried ever. And he spoke very little.

He either joked all the time, but when you spoke about something serious, he would listen like you're talking to Yoda. And then he would say four words, usually four to eight words that would blow your mind. So I go to Ali after I go back from that trip. And I go like, you wouldn't believe what I figured out. And I start to describe everything to him. And he treats me like a little child.