Sticking to the formula of happiness

Mo Gawdat was vice president of Google's development team.

The trained engineer has been dealing with the topic of happiness for years. in 2017, his book "The Formula for Happiness - and How to use it" was published.

Mo Gawdat has been dealing with the topic of happiness and what it means for years. As a former developer and head of Google's think tank, Google[X], he approaches the problem like one: he checks all the facts and looks for the logic behind them. After countless hours, books and interviews, he was actually able to create an equation for lasting happiness.

After processing a stroke of fate as far as possible, Mo Gawdat found his mission: to spread the formula that helped him overcome his suffering. Today, his formula helps everyone to see more clearly again, to set the right priorities and thus to start the future more contentedly – whether privately or at work. The formula for happiness thus answers one of the most common questions: what can I do to become happier?

The definition of happiness cannot be formulated clearly. You mean. Meanwhile, the guides to more happiness and satisfaction are piling up. Now the former chief business officer for Google X, Mo Gawdat, has even found a formula for happiness in life.

Mo Gawdat loves to check facts. No wonder, then, that the search for happiness offered him a perfect challenge. Even as a teenager, he devoured every book that fell into his hands, taught himself everything from playing the guitar to carpentry. And yet he did not find pure happiness, pure fulfillment. This was the beginning of his long-term search for the unique formula, which he describes in his book "The Formula for Happiness - and How to use It" in 2017.

In his opinion, it is above all important not to regard his expectations and wishes for life as the only happiness. After all, it is the current events in life that harbor true happiness. This means nothing less than that happiness as a primordial feeling is already anchored in all of us. It is only when we begin to attach expectations to this happiness that it becomes difficult for the constant feeling of happiness.

""Happiness is the difference between the events of your life and the desires and expectations of what life should look like." Mo Gawdat

But what exactly does the happiness formula look like now? Summarized in numbers, it is: 6-7-5. The formula only helps if you know the reasons behind the numbers. According to Gawdat, there are six great illusions, seven blind spots and five ultimate truths. For the way to happiness, the six illusions are to be destroyed first of all:

THOUGHTS, SELF, KNOWLEDGE, TIME, CONTROL, FEAR

Then it goes to the blind spots:

FILTERS, ASSUMPTIONS, MEMORIES, PROPHECIES, ASSIGNMENTS, EMOTIONS, EXAGGERATIONS

Finally, the truth counts and you should stick to it in the following points:

NOW, CHANGE, LOVE, DEATH, DESIGN

It is about consciously directing one's thoughts in order to experience lasting happiness. Anyone who constantly thinks that the world is against him will behave accordingly, which sooner or later will be reflected in the general emotional state. You have to go into the day unbiased and learn that negative thoughts have no chance to settle down. In addition, you have to accept reality as it is, realize that there are not only good days. And continue with this awareness to get into happiness. The fact that his formula of happiness works was shown by the most difficult blow of fate for Mo Gawdat. His son died at the age of only 21.

Gawdat adhered to his formula of happiness despite severe grief and quickly found his way back to life together with his family. With his book, he wants to make it possible for every person to go through life happier.