Happiness is....

Real Insurance launched Pay As You Drive this week. If you're wondering what Pay As You Drive is all about, then Wikipedia to the rescue. The cool thing about Real Insurance's Pay As You Drive is that it does not require a black box. So no device being fitted to the car, and no-one watching over you. So it avoids the privacy concerns. It is also an interesting exercise in trust between a company and private individuals. The product should cause quite a bit of turmoil and interest. Will be good to watch!

I listened to an amazing TED talk the other day. It dealt with the new side to psychology: The psychology of happiness. Up to 10 years ago psychologists asked you what is wrong with you, and then they spent many hours trying to fix it, while you are lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. The new type of psychology today deals with happiness. In other words it studies what makes you happy and why. The intervention: How can the science make you happier? So how cool is that!

Here's the basic sources of happiness (pretty compelling stuff):

1. Pleasure. That is worldly pleasures like material possessions, a good meal, good wine, etc.
2. Good work. This the type of work where you get into the flow. Time stands still. It is typically something you do really well.
   
3. Meaningful work. This is doing something bigger than yourself. Doing something to benefit someone other than yourself.

No surprises: Number 1 does not give lasting happiness, only short term happiness. That's why rich people who don't have to work are so unhappy. This is an amazing discovery to be made by rich wives I think...

True happiness is if you experience both number 2 and 3. If you then add number 1 on top of that, it is like the proverbial cherry on top.

Three steps to happiness if you ask me...

So what do the psychologists do? They help you do all 3 better. For 1 it means savouring life. For 2 and 3 it means finding what you do really well, and then design your work around it in a way that benefits someone other than yourself. Quite biblical really.