Let’s take a look at our happiness because being more happy will offer better immunity and therefore, less inclination to disease, longer life and ability to enjoy it.
This week I was inspired by a brilliant 13 year old.
Who is Logan LaPlante? Maybe you’ve never heard of him before, but he is intelligent and well-spoken, living through a unique education process based on a philosophy of “being happy.” You can see him give a Ted-Talk by searching for “Hackschool.”
Who influenced his concept of what it takes to be happy?…
Look beyond your horizons. Hawaiian Sunset (photo by Challen Yee)
HAPPINESS, LEARNING, AND THE HACKER MINDSET
As a foundation for the study of happiness, he chose a system developed by Dr. Roger Walsh.
According to Walsh’s research, there are 8 aspects which strongly contribute to your personal happiness:
- Exercise
– Diet and Nutrition
– Time in Nature
– Contribution & Service
– Relationships
– Recreation
– Relaxation & Stress Management
– Religious & Spiritual
What adds a greater insight to connecting with these 8 key areas is the attitude conveys by Logan is his “hacker mentality” which also strongly coincides with Dr. Walsh’s belief that school would better equip children to leading happier and healthier lives should they make those two life aspects more of a focus, that is, to be happy and healthy.
If you don’t understand what being a Hacker is, it’s not as bad as a lot of people imagine. Being a Hacker is probably best exemplified by Steve Jobs who didn’t restrain himself by adhering to a rigid system to create and make real his ideas. He envisioned the benefit to the consumer, then worked on a solution. He didn’t come up with a product and then hope people would buy it. He knew people would adopt his brilliant idea and then set out to make it real doing much of his work from design to business dealings in unconventional manners, thinking outside the box.
In Logan’s experience, he often looks first at his passion and then associates with experts and takes more of an apprenticeship-like approach to learning the core subjects.
The basic rule applies: You learn more easily if your are passionate and excited about a subject.
This is the opposite approach often applied to traditional learning, where kids are provided generic information regardless of their personal passions.
The only summer school program my parents put me though, when I was about 13 or 14, adopted the passion-approach to writing. They asked me what I enjoyed, then they provided some assignments based on my favorite interests. I had a passion for high performance cars (still do). Logan also gives a similar example in his education process, he loves skiing, so he writes with passion about skiing. This approach really works.
This works with any subject or process.
History is another great example. I hated studying history until I took an interest in a historical character. You can’t fall in love with facts and figures, but you can develop a relationship or passion for a person’s successes and struggles and then take an interest in the factors that influence their world. That’s learning like a hacker.
And learning like a hacker increases your satisfaction and therefore your overall happiness because you can achieve what you want faster by adopting some hacker techniques.
This approach can be applied to anything. Be less restrained in using your creativity and imagination. Have some fun.
So the takeaway is this: If there is something you are passionate about, ask yourself, meditate on if there is an easier way to achieve what you want. Take some time to think outside of the box you’ve put yourself into. Listen to a few people who have already achieved what you seek to achieve. Life is too short to waste time making mistakes you can avoid with a few well placed ideas and recommendations, personalized by your own untapped well of creativity and imagination.
Be Empowered. Be Alive. Be Happier.
…
I hope you got some value from this, if so please LIKE SHARE COMMENT
