What I Learned About Happiness
Today I read about happiness. Science tells us something interesting. Our happiness level is decided when we are born. Our genes and childhood make our basic happiness level.
This sounds sad. But there is hope.
Happiness Is Relative
Happiness is not fixed. It changes by comparison.
We compare with other people. When we see someone doing worse than us, we feel happy. When we see someone doing better, we feel pain. This is how our brain works.
We also compare with our past self. If today is better than yesterday, we feel happy. This is good news. Everyone can become happier.
Three Types of Capital
The book explains three important things for happiness:
Financial Capital – This is money and savings. This gives us economic freedom.
Human Capital – This is our skills, knowledge, and job status. This gives us confidence.
Social Capital – This is our relationships with family and friends. This gives us emotional support.
When we have these three things, we have freedom. Freedom makes happiness possible.
Eight Life Patterns
People have different combinations of these three capitals. This creates eight life patterns:
- Poverty – No capital at all. Very unstable.
- Poor – Only social capital. Still unstable.
- Solo – Only human capital. Work life is good but no savings or friends.
- Lonely Rich – Only financial capital. Has money but no relationships.
- 充実 (Fulfilled) – Human capital and social capital. Good job and good friends, but no savings yet.
- Solo Rich – Financial and human capital. High income job but no time for relationships.
- Comfortable Life – Financial and social capital. Supported by family wealth with good relationships.
- Super Fulfilled – All three capitals. Very difficult to achieve.
The Realistic Goal
Having only one capital is dangerous. If we lose it, we lose everything.
Having all three capitals is also difficult. We don’t have enough time and energy.
The best strategy is to have TWO capitals. This gives us stability.
Why Not Three?
Time and energy are limited. If we try to get all three, we fail at everything.
For example: A Solo Rich person works hard to earn money. If they spend time on relationships, work performance drops. Then income drops too.
We must choose. We cannot have everything.
How to Build Each Capital
Building Financial Capital
Only two ways exist:
- Increase income (improve human capital)
- Decrease spending (save money)
The formula is simple:
Financial Capital = Income – Spending + (Assets × Investment Return)
For investment, index funds like S&P 500 work well. They give about 10% return per year.
But first we need money to invest. So we must increase income or decrease spending.
Trade-off: To increase income, we often sacrifice social capital. If we want to keep social capital, we must save money instead.
Building Human Capital
Human capital is our skills and knowledge. But this does not always make money.
Many meaningful jobs pay less. Boring jobs often pay more.
The real value of human capital is mental stability. People with high skills feel confident. They can handle workplace problems calmly.
Warning: Working only for money in a boring job destroys our mind. Especially if we have no family or friends. This path leads to depression.
The problem is not long working hours. The problem is doing things we hate.
Building Social Capital
Relationships need two people. We choose others, and they choose us.
People become friends with similar people. We need seven common points:
- Language
- Hometown
- Life experience
- Hobbies
- World view
- Sense of humor
- Music taste
To make good friends, we must become the kind of person they want as a friend.
Relationships need time investment. The more time we spend together, the stronger the relationship becomes.
My Conclusion
Life resources are limited. When we invest in one area, other areas suffer.
The smart choice is:
- Choose which TWO capitals matter most to us
- Focus our time and energy on those two
- Accept that the third one will be weak
This creates stable happiness. This is the most rational life design.
Think of it like a tripod. A tripod needs three legs to stand. But in life, trying to make all three legs perfect makes them tangle up and fall. Better to make TWO strong legs and accept one weak leg.
This way, even if one leg breaks, we still have another strong leg to support us.
What I Will Do
I will think carefully about my values. Which two capitals do I want most? Then I will focus my limited time on building those two.
This is my path to a stable and happy life.
What I Learned About Happiness
Today I read about happiness. Science tells us something interesting. Our happiness level is decided when we are born. Our genes and childhood make our basic happiness level.
This sounds sad. But there is hope.
Happiness Is Relative
Happiness is not fixed. It changes by comparison.
We compare with other people. When we see someone doing worse than us, we feel happy. When we see someone doing better, we feel pain. This is how our brain works.
We also compare with our past self. If today is better than yesterday, we feel happy. This is good news. Everyone can become happier.
Three Types of Capital
The book explains three important things for happiness:
Financial Capital – This is money and savings. This gives us economic freedom.
Human Capital – This is our skills, knowledge, and job status. This gives us confidence.
Social Capital – This is our relationships with family and friends. This gives us emotional support.
When we have these three things, we have freedom. Freedom makes happiness possible.
Eight Life Patterns
People have different combinations of these three capitals. This creates eight life patterns:
- Poverty – No capital at all. Very unstable.
- Poor – Only social capital. Still unstable.
- Solo – Only human capital. Work life is good but no savings or friends.
- Lonely Rich – Only financial capital. Has money but no relationships.
- 充実 (Fulfilled) – Human capital and social capital. Good job and good friends, but no savings yet.
- Solo Rich – Financial and human capital. High income job but no time for relationships.
- Comfortable Life – Financial and social capital. Supported by family wealth with good relationships.
- Super Fulfilled – All three capitals. Very difficult to achieve.
The Realistic Goal
Having only one capital is dangerous. If we lose it, we lose everything.
Having all three capitals is also difficult. We don’t have enough time and energy.
The best strategy is to have TWO capitals. This gives us stability.
Why Not Three?
Time and energy are limited. If we try to get all three, we fail at everything.
For example: A Solo Rich person works hard to earn money. If they spend time on relationships, work performance drops. Then income drops too.
We must choose. We cannot have everything.
How to Build Each Capital
Building Financial Capital
Only two ways exist:
- Increase income (improve human capital)
- Decrease spending (save money)
The formula is simple:
Financial Capital = Income – Spending + (Assets × Investment Return)
For investment, index funds like S&P 500 work well. They give about 10% return per year.
But first we need money to invest. So we must increase income or decrease spending.
Trade-off: To increase income, we often sacrifice social capital. If we want to keep social capital, we must save money instead.
Building Human Capital
Human capital is our skills and knowledge. But this does not always make money.
Many meaningful jobs pay less. Boring jobs often pay more.
The real value of human capital is mental stability. People with high skills feel confident. They can handle workplace problems calmly.
Warning: Working only for money in a boring job destroys our mind. Especially if we have no family or friends. This path leads to depression.
The problem is not long working hours. The problem is doing things we hate.
Building Social Capital
Relationships need two people. We choose others, and they choose us.
People become friends with similar people. We need seven common points:
- Language
- Hometown
- Life experience
- Hobbies
- World view
- Sense of humor
- Music taste
To make good friends, we must become the kind of person they want as a friend.
Relationships need time investment. The more time we spend together, the stronger the relationship becomes.
My Conclusion
Life resources are limited. When we invest in one area, other areas suffer.
The smart choice is:
- Choose which TWO capitals matter most to us
- Focus our time and energy on those two
- Accept that the third one will be weak
This creates stable happiness. This is the most rational life design.
Think of it like a tripod. A tripod needs three legs to stand. But in life, trying to make all three legs perfect makes them tangle up and fall. Better to make TWO strong legs and accept one weak leg.
This way, even if one leg breaks, we still have another strong leg to support us.
What I Will Do
I will think carefully about my values. Which two capitals do I want most? Then I will focus my limited time on building those two.
This is my path to a stable and happy life.