E14 - Attention to Internal Triggers: [The Happiness Checklist]

Hi everyone,

My name is Lemmy and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

In Episode 14, I want to teach you how your screen time and your emotions are connected to each other.

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• Why screen time is a symptom, not the problem.

• Why happiness is the antidote to unintentional phone use.

• A structured definition of happiness.

• Actionable questions to assess your happiness.

This week’s community challenge

Arthur Brooks is a Harvard professor, Ph.D. social scientist, and #1 bestselling author. He was a guest of Steven Bartlett, host of the Diary of a CEO podcast. Arthur presented a structured way to find out if you are happy or not. Before we explain why this is important to stop wasting time on your phone, please take a moment if you want to test yourself.

From the podcast episode, I created [The Happiness Checklist] for you. The assignment is to write down your answers to the following questions:

1. Do you lack any of the following? Clean air, enough food, drinkable water, shelter, warmth, sleep, enough sex, health, a job that pays the bills? Yes or No?

2. Do you fear that you or your loved ones will lose any of these things? Or do you feel that the future for you and your loved ones is uncertain for any reason (e.g. war, climate change, AI, inflation, housing prices)? Yes or No?

3. Write down all the pleasurable activities you did last week. Ask yourself: How many of them connected me with others or created a lasting memory?

4. Write down all weekly activities that are challenging and that push your limits. Work doesn't count.

5. Do you have a general theory or concept of what the world is and what role humans play in it? Yes or No?

6. Does your life have a purpose, a concrete direction? Yes or No?

7. Would it matter if you weren't here? Yes or No?

8. Moral foundation: What are the 3 most important values you live by and expect society to live up to?

9. Do you have an answer to the question: Why am I alive? Yes or No?

10. Do you have an answer to the question: What am I willing to die for? Yes or No?

11. Do you have a daily contemplative routine in which you reflect and look inside yourself, such as meditation, breathing, prayer, or journaling? Yes or No?

12. Do you read at least 1 hour a week? Not the news, but anything that helps you grow, from philosophy to self-help to inspiration (like biographies). Yes or No?

At the end of this newsletter, you will be able to determine your Happiness Score and understand why it matters. Let's dive in: