I want to have opportunities,
The freedom and the ability to create and do what I want.
Money. Money can help me do things I want to do.
I want to build a place where I can always have the resources to focus
on what’s really important to me.
I think happiness is about having no worries
and being able to do what I want every day.
I’m content when I interact with others,
when I’m at the right place with the right persons.
I guess when you are completely in the moment
and not thinking about the past or the future,
you are happy like a child.
They are always in the moment.
It’s a very content and blissful feeling.
It has nothing to do with what is happening around you,
but rather how you are perceiving it.
When I feel happy, I feel loved, full, fulfilled, and at ease.
That’s when I know I’m doing something right
or when things are going my way.
Happiness is a state of mind.
It’s how you choose to see the world.
Growing up, I used to spend so much time talking to people.
At first it was to learn the language,
all those words and sounds I didn’t fully understand.
Then I wanted to learn about their lives,
their cultures, their beliefs.
That’s how I discovered people have this idea of happiness.
I remember I used to think it’s your choice to be curious
about the world and to see the good in it,
but we are constantly bombarded with messages
that we need to be happy and that we need to pursue happiness.
Advertising and marketing are based on one single concept.
The idea that we as consumers are not happy
and that we need to buy something to be happy.
This is of course not true, but still, when you look at data,
we still believe that the number one thing
that can bring us happiness is money
to buy more stuff.
Even though data also demonstrated that beyond a certain point,
money does not make us any happier.
So what is happiness?
It’s hard to say
something that we’re constantly chasing
and that we are never quite able to catch.
There is this idea that the current conception of happiness
is rooted in the countercultural movement
of the sixties and seventies.
By the eighties, we see the rise of what’s called the yuppie,
which is this young, upwordly mobile professional
who is very individualistic, very focused on career and money.
And this is the ideal that’s promoted by corporations,
and it’s been co-opted by corporations and advertisers
who have used it to perpetuate a culture
of consumption and production.
This hyper individualistic culture actually
makes us much less happy than we could be,
but it’s a false ideal because it’s based on the idea
that happiness comes from individual achievement
and material possessions, and that’s just not true.
Happiness comes from our relationships,
from our connection to others,
and so the big question is,
can we change our idea of happiness
without changing the economic system?
That’s a really good question.
I think it’s possible, but it’s going to be very,
very difficult. We Need to start by recognizing
that the current system is not working for the majority of people.
It’s not making us happy and it’s not sustainable.
We need to build a new system that puts people
in the planet first, not profits.
And it’s going to be a huge challenge.
But I think it’s one we need to take on.
After all. What’s more important?
Our happiness and the survival of the planet
or the profits of a few corporations?
