What does it mean to be happy?
Photo by Jacqueline Munguía on Unsplash
Today’s second topic is a book review of Beyond Measure.
Word Count: About 1,200 words, with an approximate reading time of 5 to 7 minutes. Please share your thoughts in the comments. Please be kind and subscribe to my newsletter.
Links to purchase the books discussed in this newsletter can be found on my website’s recommended reading page.
“The secret of happiness is this: Let your interest be as wide as possible and let your reactions to the things and persons who interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”
Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
What does it mean to be happy? It is a question that has been asked for ages. Russell’s definition is one of the better ones. It breaks down into two parts.
Be Diverse
People with multiple interests are easier to be around. We all know people who can only talk about one thing, usually work. I know single-topic people who I like and enjoy their company, but only in small doses and limited frequency. We can spend hours or days with others because they can go with the flow and discuss almost any topic. This group is where strong friendships are found.
Be Positive
This is where my greatest concern about our society lies. Rather than being friendly, too many of us now react to differences in opinions with intolerance. This results in perpetual anger. This anger eats away at your soul. We must be willing to do two things to avoid the hostility trap. We must be willing to admit our imperfections. When we have an opinion that facts and data cannot support, we must change our minds. We must accept that others may interpret the same information differently. That doesn’t make them bad people; it makes them interesting.
Adopting Russell’s secret of happiness allows us to make deep and meaningful friendships. Recent studies show this is a major factor in good health and mental well-being.
Given that this newsletter targets business audiences, the words of Barbara Bush should be kept in mind.
“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”
Walt Whitman’s words are also relevant.
“Be curious, not judgmental.”
The wisdom has been with us for a long time. We simply need to pay attention.
Related Articles
Inc - The Secret of Happiness in Just 35 Words
CNN - Strong, steady friendships may be an asset to your physiological health
BBC - Why friendship makes us healthier
Mayo Clinic - Friendships: Enrich your life and improve your health
The Leaders Journey - Intolerance is the Death of Leadership
Book Review – Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants by James Vincent
We are constantly measuring the world around us. Whether it is distance, speed, weight, financial performance, or process efficiency, we rarely take time to consider the scales we use as the reference point.
Beyond Measure explores the history of measurement and the pursuit of standard weights and measures as the basis of commercial activity. We take today’s standards for granted without realizing that reliable standards are a relatively new phenomenon. For example, the Metric system is an outcome of the French Revolution. Artifacts currently stored in heavily guarded facilities in Paris defined the meter and kilogram. They have been recalibrated to repeatable scientific calculations that can be independently replicated.
As more and more data is created and analyzed, the need to truly understand the evaluation scales we use gets more complicated. Beyond Measure is an interesting read that starts with history and ends with modern-day challenges.
What I’m Up To
Traveling with friends, we just completed a two-week visit to Greece. We spent several days in Athens before sailing the Aegean Sea for seven days. Our sail took us to Poros, Idra (Hydra), Perdeka, and Spetses. Spending that much time in many different places gave us a real sense of Greek culture. Wherever we went, the Greeks were pleasant and friendly.
In Athens, we toured the Parthenon and watched the changing of the guard at Greece’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Our food tour was affected by record rains in Athens generated by the same system that devastated Libya. While waiting for our guide, the subway station flooded in just a few minutes. Our two-hour tour became four, allowing us to get to know our tour mates better.
I did end up with a job on the catamaran – Anchor Barista. I raised and lowered the anchor at each stop. This required the difficult task of pressing a button. As Barista, I was responsible for the first pot of coffee. I did this simply because I was the first to wake up each morning.
Chips and Salsa: Snack-sized news and posts
Take time to laugh. My favorites are #4 (Understanding basic Mathematics), #7 (Great Art), #21 (Infinite Energy), #28 (Metric vs. Imperial in space), #33 (The next movie franchise), #49 (D not try to fix what is not broken).
Bored Panda - 50 Hilarious Engineering Memes
Sometimes, there is a fine line between selling and lying.
NPR - Fed-up consumers are increasingly going after food companies for misleading claims
The problem with side hustles is that you are always working. When do you live your life?
Insider - Generative AI will boost income and help millions of workers take on second and third jobs
No surprises here.
yahoo!News - Don’t travel to these countries
When science fiction becomes reality.
Cracked - How 34 Sci-Fi Technologies Look in the Real World
We are fast approaching the next generation of battery technology. It will impact more than cars.
Autoweek - Here’s When We’ll See Toyota Solid-State Batteries
For many, cloud strategies represented a false choice. It was never an either/or decision.
InfoWorld - Cloud first is dead—cloud smart is what’s happening now
This is why Crypto is something to be very afraid of. (My daughter did the quality control edition for the audiobook.)
Bloomberg - The Crypto Hell on the Other Side of a Spam Text
Probably the hardest to get right is succession planning.
NBC - Disney’s wildest ride: Iger, Chapek and the making of an epic succession mess
Cars cannot be trusted.
Axios - Your car has “unmatched power” to spy on you — and share the data
Always question what you read. Outliers is a good book that misses key points. This article points out one. Another is the 10,000 hour rule. It’s a nice round number that misses the point. It is not the number of hours that matter. The quality of the practice makes the difference. Check out Peak on my recommended reading list.
Medium - Why Malcolm Gladwell Doesn’t Understand Michael Phelps
Do Psychics play the lottery?
Based on candy displays in the grocery store, it is time to prepare for Halloween. Count Floyd’s 3D effects are something to see.
SCTV Monster Chiller Horror Theatre: The House of Cats
Quotes (Seen during our trip to Greece.)
“Writing is the Geometry of the soul.”
- Plato
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”
- Aristotle
“Life must be lived as play.”
- Plato
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
- Socrates
You can order The Leader With A Thousand Faces on the Recommended Reading Page of my website.
My goal is to make this newsletter as interesting and valuable as possible. Please share your thoughts and suggestions for improvement. If there are specific topics in leadership you would like me to focus on in future issues, please send them my way.
You can follow this newsletter on either LinkedIn or Medium.
