334: How to Be a Happier Person, with Neil Pasricha

Neil Pasricha: The Happiness Equation

Neil Pasricha is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and positive psychology researcher focused on the relationship between happiness and leadership in business. He leads The Institute for Global Happiness.

Neil has written five New York Times and #1 international bestsellers including: The Book of Awesome*, Awesome is Everywhere*, and The Happiness Equation*. His books have been on bestseller lists for over 200 weeks and sold millions of copies.

Key Points

• Retirement can be a shock for people, but having a sense of purpose makes it much easier to handle.
• We need to take the stigma off demotions, because for some people it’s a better match to their stage of life. As people get older, they work less. It shouldn’t be a shame for them to earn less.
• Social media solutions:
  1. No screens in the first or last hour of day.
  2. Put your charger as far away from your bedroom as possible.
  3. Turn off notifications on your phone, or put your phone on airplane mode.
• Happiness should be a starting point, not a destination.
• The best time of day to check email is 9-10 am and 4-5pm.
• If you’re only doing the urgent tasks, your never doing the important ones.

Resources Mentioned

• The Happiness Equation* by Neil Pasricha
• Irresistible* by Adam Alter
• Abundance* by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler

Book Notes

Download my highlights from The Happiness Equation in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• The Secret To Happiness (episode 134)
• Five Ways to Avoid Living With Regret, with Allison Clarke (episode 171)
• How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245)

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.