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- The Quest Newsletter
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Preview:
Quote: How to Be Happier
Ideas: Thriving, Wisdom, and Routine
Article: Quality of Relationships
Media: Don’t Postpone Joy
Question: Prioritization
Quote
Arthur Brooks on how how to build a happier America:
“First, we should concentrate each day on the happiness portfolio: faith, family, community, and earned success through work. Teach it to those around you, and fight against the barriers to these things. Second, resist the worldly formula of misery, which is to use people and love things. Instead, remember your core values and live by the true formula: Love people and use things. Third, celebrate the free enterprise system, which creates abundance for the most people—especially the poor. But always remember that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that the ideal life requires abundance without attachment.”
- Arthur C. Brooks, The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America
Ideas From Me
I.
We thrive when we have:
• Growth
• Connection
• Meaningful Pursuits
Most people are:
• Stagnant
• Isolated
• Bored
And then wonder why they're struggling.
Growth? Invest in yourself daily
Connection? Be present with others
Meaningful pursuits? Activities with purpose
II.
Wisdom is:
• Resting
• Learning
• Listening
• Pausing between stimulus and response
Also Wisdom:
• Acting
• Teaching
• Speaking up
• Reducing the time between idea and execution
There are times we should be slow to act and times we should move quickly.
Knowing when to do each is wisdom.
III.
We have two ways to live life.
1. No routine: random bedtime / wake time, eat whatever, no consistent exercise
2. Routine: similar bedtime / wake time, eat healthy, consistent exercise
The version of you with a routine will essentially become a different person over a period of time.
You will have more energy, confidence, and time.
You will become a better parent, spouse, and friend.
There are some areas of my life that I do well here and some areas that I need to be more consistent in.
How about you?
Article
What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found is the Key to a Good Life from Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, The Atlantic
(If this article is behind a paywall, you can remove it by pasting the link into this site: https://12ft.io/)
“In this sense, having healthy, fulfilling relationships is its own kind of fitness—social fitness—and like physical fitness, it takes work to maintain. Unlike stepping on the scale, taking a quick look in the mirror, or getting readouts for blood pressure and cholesterol, assessing our social fitness requires a bit more sustained self-reflection. It requires stepping back from the crush of modern life, taking stock of our relationships, and being honest with ourselves about where we’re devoting our time and whether we are tending to the connections that help us thrive. Finding the time for this type of reflection can be hard, and sometimes it’s uncomfortable. But it can yield enormous benefits.”
Nothing is more important in life than our relationships. The quality of our relationships will determine if we flourish or languish.
Are you spending time with the people you care about most?
How could you be more intentional to pursue the relationships that matter to you?
Media
A good reminder from this sweet old lady: “Don’t postpone joy.”
Question
Take a look at your to-do list and ask this question: “Which task, if accomplished, would make the others significantly easier or entirely unnecessary?"
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Make it a great weekend.
Much love,
Beau Burns
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