"Happiness" feels under-specified here. I think it's more like Maslow's hierarchy of needs [0]. Which actions, both in the moment and in the long-term, (1) shore up the base of your pyramid and (2) carry you further up it?
People seem to think a lot about the lower layers, e.g.:
- I am hungry, what will I eat?
- How are the people that I love doing?
But people seem to spend relatively little effort reasoning about the top. Self-actualization looks different for everyone, and for a particular person it tends to evolve. What would make today a great day for you? What would make the next year great? How do you get there?
Relatively few people seem to reach a durable state of "I am so happy that I desire only to maintain my current happy situation". Perhaps a big component of happiness is the state of working toward (or at least anticipation of reaching) continuously evolving goals.
Or, maybe I have strong "type A" bias and have something to learn from people who do much less.
People seem to think a lot about the lower layers, e.g.:
- I am hungry, what will I eat?
- How are the people that I love doing?
But people seem to spend relatively little effort reasoning about the top. Self-actualization looks different for everyone, and for a particular person it tends to evolve. What would make today a great day for you? What would make the next year great? How do you get there?
Relatively few people seem to reach a durable state of "I am so happy that I desire only to maintain my current happy situation". Perhaps a big component of happiness is the state of working toward (or at least anticipation of reaching) continuously evolving goals.
Or, maybe I have strong "type A" bias and have something to learn from people who do much less.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs