The New Dimension of Happiness with Ryan A. Bush
What really makes us happy? Renowned author Ryan Bush has created a new definition for happiness, one that involves a third dimension. This new theory will help you understand what makes you happy so that you can spend more of your time feeling good, and less of your time feeling bad.
This week, you’ll hear from Matt and Ryan as they teach you this new theory of what makes us happy. You’ll also gain powerful tools to boost your mood by cultivating fulfillment from within.
Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:
Ryan’s three dimensional model of happiness
How to identify your unique personal virtues
Creating the five core values for your company and your family life
The theory of the self-appraisal system
[01:11] Ryan’s Three Dimensional Model of Happiness
Ryan introduces a three-dimensional model comprising pain and pleasure, gain and loss, and virtue or admiration. While the first two dimensions focus on experiences and external accomplishments, the third dimension, virtue, plays a crucial role in our well-being. By embodying virtues like courage, creativity, and compassion, we can cultivate a sense of self-worth and fulfillment even in the face of adversity. Ryan's model emphasizes the importance of maximizing this virtuous dimension and aligning our actions with our strengths, highlighting the influence of self-approval on our overall mood and life satisfaction.
[10:36] How to Identify Your Unique Personal Virtues
Take the VIA StrengthsFinder survey to uncover your top 5 strengths and ask those who know you well for their perspective. Look to admired individuals, like philosophers and heroes, and identify traits that resonate with you - they may reflect your own virtues. Consider your core values such as integrity, kindness, and creativity, as they often align with your virtues. Once identified, focus on maximizing behaviors, activities, relationships, and environments that allow you to demonstrate your virtues. Embrace self-admiration and fulfillment as a result.
[20:18] Ryan’s Theory of the Self-Appraisal System
When we find evidence of admirable virtues in our daily lives, it produces a deeper sense of happiness and well-being. However, if we are not demonstrating these virtues, it can move us closer to depression. Ryan argues this self-appraisal system is what really influences our satisfaction and moods in life. It evolved to motivate behaviors that are socially adaptive and boost our status, for the purpose of survival and reproduction.
Notable quotes:
[04:11] We're all going around navigating our lives with a faulty map. We're pursuing happiness without accounting for the factors that actually produce happiness much of the time. [04:21]
[10:52] It can often be more useful to double-down on your strengths, rather than focusing on your weaknesses. [10:58]
[19:18] There really is a mechanism in your brain that is going to lower your own mood based on your lack of self-approval. [19:25]
[20:18] There's no worse prison than being a person you yourself don't approve of. [20:23]
Resources Mentioned:
www.designingthemind.org/psychitecture
Become Who You Are by Ryan A. Bush
Jim Collins books: Good to Great and Built to Last
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About the Guest
Ryan A. Bush is a thinker and designer focused on building better systems, better people, and a better future. As founder of Designing the Mind, Ryan’s central purpose is to provide wisdom education and expand human potential beyond the norm.
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