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Happiness Engineering

           For my first job interview in campus where I was selected, I was asked what I wanted in life. The 22 year old me replied that I wanted happiness. The panel reflected on the philosophical nature of the answer, but I was merely expressing my self honestly. I had not yet started thinking a lot about happiness back then. But I found myself seeking the answer to it more and more in the years to come. 

Almost 17 years later, here is what I think is the answer to the elusive question of how to define and sustain happiness in tactical terms.

We have 2 minds(atleast) we should try to satisfy 1) our Experiencing Mind in terms of simple achievable goals and experiences 2) our Narrating Mind in terms of connecting the dots and having a story, a big picture and a larger purpose.  I couldn't help notice the similarities of this model with a team structure with individuals and a leader. 

Keeping this in mind, we need to engineer our intrinsic happiness and devote our resources for that purpose. And thus is born my very first step by step instruction manual to glory, the 4 step way to happiness.

1) Figure out the needs of these minds and acknowledge the competing/conflicting needs if any.  

2) Consciously allocate resources to both the needs in a balanced way. 

3) Measure. 

4) Repeat.



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