Professor Gad Saad, despite what the pronunciation of his surname may suggest, is an unusually jovial man, who has given the subject of happiness a considerable amount of thought.
Saad grew up in an active war zone in Lebanon and has suffered career setbacks as a result of injury and his ideological stances, and he notes that everyone has a long list of setbacks and unpleasant experiences they’ve faced in life: “But I refuse to let life beat me down. I don’t want to be unhappy for five minutes longer than necessary – life is too short and too precious.”
To that end, Saad has proposed seven ways to maximize your happiness.
1. Find The Right Spouse
Marriage is arguably the most important relationship in any person’s life (rivaled only by a parent’s relationship with their children, which are ideally the product of marriage) and it is a relationship that is completely under your control, so when picking a spouse, choose wisely.
“He or she is also the person you are going to spend the most time with,” Saad notes. “Spending time with someone with whom you share values, who is your best friend, is bliss. Spending time with someone who doesn’t share your values is torture.”
2. Work Your Way To The Right Profession
Saad notes that most of the time that isn’t spent with your family is spent at work: “A job that you find fulfilling and meaningful means that you’re spending a good part of your day in a happy mental state. The opposite is also true – nothing, outside of a bad marriage, will make you more miserable than a workplace you can’t stand.”
3. Seek The Sweet Spot
On a wide variety of traits and behavior patterns, the optimal position is in the middle of two extremes: too much stress and you can become anxious and overwhelmed, too little and you can become apathetic and bored. Too little attention to detail and your work will be shoddy and second rate, too much perfectionism and you’ll struggle to finish anything to your own satisfaction.
The best place to find yourself is often the happy medium.
4. Stay Playful
“Play is a human universal, found in all societies.” Saad notes that human beings are inherently motivated by play and need it – even growing up in the middle of a war torn city he and his friends found time to play.
“You can’t work all the time, unless, of course, you can turn your work into play,” he says. “That’s the best of all possible worlds.”
5. Pursue Many Interests
Life offers many opportunities for happiness and fulfillment – friendships, hobbies, travel, study. Taking advantage of many of them and constantly expanding your horizons is a source of accomplishment and pleasure.
“Pursue knowledge across multiple disciplines. This is a truly enriching way to live your life.”
6. Be Persistent and Resilient
“Life is hard, but if we’re persistent enough, and resilient enough, we can use adversity to our advantage.” Being able to accept that there will be hardships and obstacles will help you overcome them and become a better and stronger person for it.
“Don’t be afraid to fail,” Saad says. “Failure is the way you learn.”
7. Minimize Regrets
Saad noted that a common regret expressed by people in hospice care is “I wish I let myself be happier.”
Saad argued that our happiness is largely within our own control, and that obsessing over things outside of your control and making decisions that actively make you unhappy is wasting a limited resource – time.
“Be happy. It’s a better way to live.”
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