Short Cuts to Happiness: Life-Changing Lessons from My Barber

usually when we just do nothing and let nature take its course, problems either resolve themselves or the solution becomes apparent to us and we know exactly what we need to do.”

The countries that consistently find themselves at the top of the happiness rankings include Denmark, Colombia, Costa Rica, Australia, and Israel. While not too many people find it surprising that Denmark or Australia make the cut, Israel and Colombia’s presence does raise eyebrows. Both countries have had, and still have, their fair share of chall

“That often the best way to solve problems is to do nothing.” He paused, focusing on trimming my sideburns, before proceeding: “Most people, when they face a problem, become obsessed with solving it. This is sometimes good, but usually when we just do nothing and let nature take its course, problems either resolve themselves or the solution becomes

We so often try to fit reality into our predetermined models, forgetting that our models need to be shaped by reality rather than the other way around. I thought back to all those business school case studies where managers failed because they refused to accept that the market had changed and a new approach was needed.

To move forward, you also need the wrong foot.”

There is a lot of research in psychology on substituting emotions—replacing anger with empathy or stress with excitement. For example, psychologist Joe Tomaka helped students with documented test anxiety to see an exam as challenging—rather than threatening—and as a result they became calmer, more creative, and performed better. Substituting a word

We should learn to pick our battles better—sometimes it’s appropriate and right to get angry or upset, but sometimes, usually in fact, it’s just not worth it.”

Believing that you’re lucky is likely to make you so; expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is much research on what psychologists call equity theory, which shows that most people have the need to reciprocate what they get from others; in fact, most of us feel discomfort when we’re unable to give back something of equal value. This applies to material things, like a gift or money, as well as to nonmaterial things like kindness or tr