I was raised by my grandparents until
the age of three and during those three
years I learned one of the greatest
lessons of my life and that was to
appreciate the small things and to be
thankful my grandfather
otherwise known as Adya was a frugal
person he never wasted he saves money
food water as if he couldn’t afford
those things sometimes on his morning
walk to the market
he’d pick up lost or wanted things that
have been chucked by the neighbors and
he’d bring them home and as you can
imagine this would drive my grandma
crazy because he was bringing back what
we valued as rubbish he was an escaped
Angier and nor was he poor or lacked the
ability to afford these things but
purely because he appreciated the
essence of the ordinary objects in the
essence of a changing world consumerism
is ever growing inequality is growing
but what about our happiness government
authorities are desperately trying to
measure the correlation between
happiness and income but measuring the
GDP rate of a country purely does not
give a clear depiction of happiness rate
we assume that a sporty a car a bigger
house and a better paying job will bring
us joy because they didn’t past right
well no because embellishing and the
material world creates a society where
we are constantly comparing to one
another we want more and more and greed
takes over greed is the unnecessary
great need of more it makes us do dumb
things where
money and diminishes our ability to
appreciate the small things we keep
buying the latest technology the newest
dropped clothing line but it never quite
satisfies the recent release of the
iPhone X serves as a prime example of
this and I’m sure it has emptied the
pockets of many I have a friend who has
brought every single iPhone to be ever
released
and recently he was desperately trying
to pre-order the newest one and I
remember asking him why are you spending
a thousand pounds on a new phone when
you only just brought one ten months ago
he confidently replied of well there’s a
longer life battery span on this one so
I can increase my social activity then
he hesitated for a little while and then
continued to say well everyone else is
going to have one so I may as well be
the first otherwise or seemed like a
right loser
so there the true reason why he was
spending so much money and buying
another iPhone was so that he could
fulfill his own social expectations and
to live up to the 715 million other
iPhones currently in use
Steve quartz an anti-consumerist and the
professor of philosophy and neuroscience
at the California Institute of
Technology studied consumer neuroscience
he led to a surprising conclusion that
the reason we consume so much is so that
we can fail we’ve come closer to those
that are richer than us and so that we
distance ourselves from those beneath us
imagine if we doubled everyone’s income
overnight it would have no effect on
your ability to catch up with the rich
because theirs would have doubled as
well sociologist Max Weber suggests that
our social status is defined by the
three P’s of stratification power
prestige and property therefore
psychologically it explains that the
reason we splash our cash to buy the new
thing
that we don’t need so that we can build
or preserve our social status a recent
survey of Millennials asked were their
most important life goal was an 80% said
it was to be rich and successful and 50%
of them said it was to be famous our
desire of wanting to be rich is perhaps
a product of media advertisement family
competition or perhaps our educational
system throughout my educational career
I have been constantly given the
impression that in in order to be
successful I have to be striving for the
best paying jobs however that’s not true
because success is subjective my success
could differ from yours we rely on the
stories and memories of successes as
examples of who we should follow alumni
or those who have achieved wealth
through their meritocracy their journey
sometimes seem are so easy from an
outsider’s perspective however Harvard
psychology professor and the author of
stumbling across happiness suggests that
research reveals that memory is less
like a collection of photographs than it
is a collection of impressionist
paintings rendered by an artist who has
taken considerable license with its
subject so we forget that the rays came
from stressful nights at the office or a
steeper tax tab similarly when we buy
that sporty-er car while that high
deflated while before our first trip to
the mechanic think of happiness
generated from money as like a caffeine
buzz we get a raise we spend it we adapt
it to improve circumstances and we seek
more money again we work up a sweat on
what the University of Southern
California economist Richard Easterling
calls the hedonic treadmill in so many
areas we know when enough is enough when
we’re healthy would
strive for extreme help after a good mil
were full
we don’t order another steak to augment
our satisfaction and a Stephen Hawking
suggests we are in the danger of
destroying ourselves with greed and
stupidity in the Western world the story
of wealth is failing to translate into
extra happiness we think that the more
money we have the happier we are a 20%
raise however does not give a 20% raise
of happiness there’s a happiness
threshold despite huge increases in
income in almost every developed country
happiness levels have stayed largely
static over the past 50 years and in
1974 Richard E sterling suggests that
people in wealthier countries were no
happier than those in poorer ones a
survey of more than 2,000 adults led to
the surprising conclusion that the small
things in life bring us the true joy and
happiness think about the most recent
thing that made you happy or the kind of
fun that you had in mind I doubt it was
the time that you got promoted or even
the first time that you brought your new
home people often recall that their
fondest memories are the ordinary
moments that gave them joy and that
instant time so whether that be the
picnic to the park in the park or
watching sunset or perhaps even
generally being with our family as the
little things remember the little
moments in our lives which can pass us
by but which can also mean so much more
than 82 percent of people said the best
things in their life was what they did
not expect
according to Glenn Williams research and
Nottingham Trent University the way to
happiness mean not just the big things
that we plan in lives on the contrary
they are rather unexpected
two things that bring us every day smile
and they fill our lives and make us
happier so why is it so hard to accept
the idea that wealth cannot increase a
mental health so what does make us happy
motto world recently posted an article
on the 80 little things for a happier
life they claimed that instead of
allowing ourselves to enjoy every plate
pleasant moment in our lives it seems
like we’re always rushing to catch up
the focus is always on tomorrow and
never than now many of us can wobble for
a second when our favorite brand isn’t
at the supermarket or when someone skips
the head and the cue we feel agitated
when we have to wait a nap – and
crossing or when we have to stay late at
work so if these more petty little
things can impact us why can’t the good
things why can’t we enjoy nice weather
smile of a stranger a scented fragrance
or a cup of hot coffee or tea
accompanied by splendid view super haps
the reason that I viewed Adia as a
frugal person was because I was trapped
on the hedonic treadmill myself he saved
money because he didn’t feel the
compulsive urge to buy more he was
satisfied with what he already had more
importantly he didn’t need more like all
of us we don’t need the most expensive
phones or the sportiest car we do this
so that we can indulge and looking
better than everyone else
anything more is purely just a luxury
and all the items that he picked up from
the floor unwanted by others when his
eyes beautiful genius creations I’d like
to end on a quote from the Dalai Lama
man because he sacrifices his health in
order to make money
he sacrificed his money in order to
recuperate his health and then he is so
anxious about the future that he does
not enjoy the present the result being
he does not live in the present nor the
future he lives as if he is never going
to die and then he dies as having never
really lived thank you
[Applause]
the age of three and during those three
years I learned one of the greatest
lessons of my life and that was to
appreciate the small things and to be
thankful my grandfather
otherwise known as Adya was a frugal
person he never wasted he saves money
food water as if he couldn’t afford
those things sometimes on his morning
walk to the market
he’d pick up lost or wanted things that
have been chucked by the neighbors and
he’d bring them home and as you can
imagine this would drive my grandma
crazy because he was bringing back what
we valued as rubbish he was an escaped
Angier and nor was he poor or lacked the
ability to afford these things but
purely because he appreciated the
essence of the ordinary objects in the
essence of a changing world consumerism
is ever growing inequality is growing
but what about our happiness government
authorities are desperately trying to
measure the correlation between
happiness and income but measuring the
GDP rate of a country purely does not
give a clear depiction of happiness rate
we assume that a sporty a car a bigger
house and a better paying job will bring
us joy because they didn’t past right
well no because embellishing and the
material world creates a society where
we are constantly comparing to one
another we want more and more and greed
takes over greed is the unnecessary
great need of more it makes us do dumb
things where
money and diminishes our ability to
appreciate the small things we keep
buying the latest technology the newest
dropped clothing line but it never quite
satisfies the recent release of the
iPhone X serves as a prime example of
this and I’m sure it has emptied the
pockets of many I have a friend who has
brought every single iPhone to be ever
released
and recently he was desperately trying
to pre-order the newest one and I
remember asking him why are you spending
a thousand pounds on a new phone when
you only just brought one ten months ago
he confidently replied of well there’s a
longer life battery span on this one so
I can increase my social activity then
he hesitated for a little while and then
continued to say well everyone else is
going to have one so I may as well be
the first otherwise or seemed like a
right loser
so there the true reason why he was
spending so much money and buying
another iPhone was so that he could
fulfill his own social expectations and
to live up to the 715 million other
iPhones currently in use
Steve quartz an anti-consumerist and the
professor of philosophy and neuroscience
at the California Institute of
Technology studied consumer neuroscience
he led to a surprising conclusion that
the reason we consume so much is so that
we can fail we’ve come closer to those
that are richer than us and so that we
distance ourselves from those beneath us
imagine if we doubled everyone’s income
overnight it would have no effect on
your ability to catch up with the rich
because theirs would have doubled as
well sociologist Max Weber suggests that
our social status is defined by the
three P’s of stratification power
prestige and property therefore
psychologically it explains that the
reason we splash our cash to buy the new
thing
that we don’t need so that we can build
or preserve our social status a recent
survey of Millennials asked were their
most important life goal was an 80% said
it was to be rich and successful and 50%
of them said it was to be famous our
desire of wanting to be rich is perhaps
a product of media advertisement family
competition or perhaps our educational
system throughout my educational career
I have been constantly given the
impression that in in order to be
successful I have to be striving for the
best paying jobs however that’s not true
because success is subjective my success
could differ from yours we rely on the
stories and memories of successes as
examples of who we should follow alumni
or those who have achieved wealth
through their meritocracy their journey
sometimes seem are so easy from an
outsider’s perspective however Harvard
psychology professor and the author of
stumbling across happiness suggests that
research reveals that memory is less
like a collection of photographs than it
is a collection of impressionist
paintings rendered by an artist who has
taken considerable license with its
subject so we forget that the rays came
from stressful nights at the office or a
steeper tax tab similarly when we buy
that sporty-er car while that high
deflated while before our first trip to
the mechanic think of happiness
generated from money as like a caffeine
buzz we get a raise we spend it we adapt
it to improve circumstances and we seek
more money again we work up a sweat on
what the University of Southern
California economist Richard Easterling
calls the hedonic treadmill in so many
areas we know when enough is enough when
we’re healthy would
strive for extreme help after a good mil
were full
we don’t order another steak to augment
our satisfaction and a Stephen Hawking
suggests we are in the danger of
destroying ourselves with greed and
stupidity in the Western world the story
of wealth is failing to translate into
extra happiness we think that the more
money we have the happier we are a 20%
raise however does not give a 20% raise
of happiness there’s a happiness
threshold despite huge increases in
income in almost every developed country
happiness levels have stayed largely
static over the past 50 years and in
1974 Richard E sterling suggests that
people in wealthier countries were no
happier than those in poorer ones a
survey of more than 2,000 adults led to
the surprising conclusion that the small
things in life bring us the true joy and
happiness think about the most recent
thing that made you happy or the kind of
fun that you had in mind I doubt it was
the time that you got promoted or even
the first time that you brought your new
home people often recall that their
fondest memories are the ordinary
moments that gave them joy and that
instant time so whether that be the
picnic to the park in the park or
watching sunset or perhaps even
generally being with our family as the
little things remember the little
moments in our lives which can pass us
by but which can also mean so much more
than 82 percent of people said the best
things in their life was what they did
not expect
according to Glenn Williams research and
Nottingham Trent University the way to
happiness mean not just the big things
that we plan in lives on the contrary
they are rather unexpected
two things that bring us every day smile
and they fill our lives and make us
happier so why is it so hard to accept
the idea that wealth cannot increase a
mental health so what does make us happy
motto world recently posted an article
on the 80 little things for a happier
life they claimed that instead of
allowing ourselves to enjoy every plate
pleasant moment in our lives it seems
like we’re always rushing to catch up
the focus is always on tomorrow and
never than now many of us can wobble for
a second when our favorite brand isn’t
at the supermarket or when someone skips
the head and the cue we feel agitated
when we have to wait a nap – and
crossing or when we have to stay late at
work so if these more petty little
things can impact us why can’t the good
things why can’t we enjoy nice weather
smile of a stranger a scented fragrance
or a cup of hot coffee or tea
accompanied by splendid view super haps
the reason that I viewed Adia as a
frugal person was because I was trapped
on the hedonic treadmill myself he saved
money because he didn’t feel the
compulsive urge to buy more he was
satisfied with what he already had more
importantly he didn’t need more like all
of us we don’t need the most expensive
phones or the sportiest car we do this
so that we can indulge and looking
better than everyone else
anything more is purely just a luxury
and all the items that he picked up from
the floor unwanted by others when his
eyes beautiful genius creations I’d like
to end on a quote from the Dalai Lama
man because he sacrifices his health in
order to make money
he sacrificed his money in order to
recuperate his health and then he is so
anxious about the future that he does
not enjoy the present the result being
he does not live in the present nor the
future he lives as if he is never going
to die and then he dies as having never
really lived thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: