Happiness Kit
2010 TYF: The Happiness Kit
As we face a world-changing decade, we pause to ask: What makes a life worth living—and how many of us get to live that way?
This question is not just a philosophical meditation. As populations increase and resources dwindle, we may find that we need to radically redefine happiness, especially if we have any hope of achieving it at a planetary scale. Quality of life globally has long been measured in terms of economic activity—namely, material production and consumption of finite resources. Meanwhile, the “American dream” of a high-consumption lifestyle has been adopted as a global model for happiness. But as we face a future of scarcer resources, we may find that this way of thinking no longer works.
How to Use the Happiness Kit
This kit contains four happiness cards: one for each of the four alternative scenarios in the 2010 Ten-Year Forecast. In each of these scenarios, happiness means something different, and the way we go about achieving it is also different. The purpose of this kit is to try out different happiness scenarios. The goal is to explore what it takes to be happy and how you—and the organizations you work with—can do what it takes.
- Choose a Card: Spend a little time with the description on the front side of the card. Discover what happiness means in the scenario you’ve chosen. Take a peek at the research behind it. Consider the various ways this kind of happiness can be measured. Think about who’s happy in this scenario, who’s not, and how more people could be happy.
- Look for Opportunities: Each definition of happiness poses its own challenges and opportunities for innovations. Reflect on the ways you might increase your own happiness in this world. Then think about ways you—or those you work with—could amplify happiness worldwide. Write down possible happiness inventions, new services, new ways of working and communicating and transacting business that your community, your organization, your agency could innovate. Put a star next to those that seem most exciting to you.
- Talk to your Friends and Colleagues: You don’t have resolve the dilemma of happiness on your own. Take the card with your notes and show it to friends or colleagues. Ask them what they think of your ideas. Ask them what you might do together. Write down your ideas together. Do it like a game where each person adds another sentence to a story. See what bigger opportunity emerges when you’ve talked to two, three, or ten people.
- Turn it into Action: Everyone has their own way to go from idea to action. Maybe it’s a to-do list. Maybe it’s one resolution you undertake. Maybe it’s a meditation. Whatever your style is, use the card and your notes to turn your insights into action. Create a happier future.
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Publication Date
2010