I was intrigued about how bad most of us are at predicting what will make us happy.
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“What’s your story and how did you arrive to this point?” Countless people have been asking me that question since I left Intel to dedicate my life to Happy Brain Science.
I was a cognitive science major at Vassar College and have been fascinated by the things that stimulates our brains. Despite using artificial intelligence in my career, I was mostly leaving cognitive science behind to work on games and other software.
My path into the science of happiness truly started several years ago with a New York Times article. I was fascinated by the article, which prompted me to buy Stumbling on Happiness. I was intrigued about how bad most of us are at predicting what will make us happy.
It was no more than a few months later before my next purchase was triggered by Gilbert’s positive review of The How of Happiness.
I think saying that I liked her book is just a huge understatement. This book was not just based on one woman’s opinion. It was practical information on how to be happier, based on experimental data. I was quite thrilled to discover the real science of happiness.
I thought to myself: “I want to learn this and live this.” Then, my next thoughts were: “I’m not going to do that. I’m going to forget all of this in about one month, and go back to being only somewhat happy?” After a moment, a thought popped to my mind saying that if you really want to learn something, you should start teaching it to others.
So, I proposed a talk called The Science of Happiness in Game Development for the International Game Developer’s Association Leadership Forum and a similar talk to an internal Intel conference. Both conferences accepted my proposal. Now, I had a good reason to read every science-based book and article on happiness. I was delighted to do so.
After months of practice, I finally delivered the talks. I received the best feedback of my life. The great feedback wasn’t just from the audience. It was from my own feelings. I felt that I had done something that could really help people.
I love making games and apps while helping others to do the same. Although, teaching others about how to apply the science of happiness was deeply satisfying in a new way.
In the first five minutes of my talk, I showed a slide that included the benefits of happiness. Happier people are more sociable, creative, resilient, insightful, productive, and successful. They are also healthier and live longer.
When I mentioned these numerous benefits, I came to the realization that it is what I need for myself, my company, and our industry. I wanted the whole world to experience this feeling.
The Science of Being Happy and Productive at Work went viral. I ended up presenting it dozens of times to thousands of people. Some people asked me if I was getting tired of presenting it. To the contrary, I was energized and satisfied every time I presented my talk. Soon, I was expanding my focus to include more neuroscience and cognitive science.
As I presented at more conferences, I started getting approached to see if I could come to businesses to deliver my speech. I started getting paid to do what I was enjoying more than anything I had enjoyed in my career to date. At that point, I found myself compelled to switch careers.
I had given it much thought before resigning from Intel. Starting a new career is not always easy.
While I have been thrilled to work full time on making others happier and more productive, nobody knows if I’ll be able to sustain a career from doing it. Although, I am happy to be making the effort.
Recently, I sat down with Kallen Diggs in an interview to talk about the evolution of Happy Brain Science.
Now, I have shared my story. What is yours?
Another version of this article appeared on HappyBrainScience.com
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