# Don't steal your own happiness - We should not see ourselves as a utility function mapping possible states of the world to a numerical value (i.e., money) - That utility function we think about creates a bias towards certain decisions, hoping to maximize the money - It's a conceptual mistake - In reality, that utility function is mainly making us miserable - This means we often don't take decisions that would make us happier - This creates stress, anxiety, fear, sadness, regrets, unhappiness - Instead of looking at the world and comparing it with some hypothetical future, we need to look at the world and appreciate everything that it has for us right now - Being grateful is a great way to be more positive and to create less desire for a "better" future - We should not take the world and our life as it is as granted. Everything is transient - We should be grateful for the way the world is and for the life we have - The calculation should never be "future minus present", but "present + future improvements that might come and make our life even better". But if those never come, it's all right, we've still got a lot of reasons to be grateful! - Otherwise, we'll keep desiring something more, something better. We'll always be frustrated, and unhappy - Otherwise, any setback will be a frustration, a disappointment, a failure, a negative experience, instead of opportunities to learn and grow - The present is not zero (0), it's everything that matters right now, it is there, tangible, real, and valuable - By realizing how valuable the present is, we'll have a much easier time being joyful, enthusiastic and happy - Evaluating the world and actions based on what we think will happen is a recipe for unhappiness. Each time our plans end up failing, we are bound to be disappointed - Our most important needs are not future success, wealth and whatnot. Instead, what's most important is health, freedom and autonomy