Happiness-hacking tends to trivialize happiness as little more than a feeling, but this is an error, Arthur C. Brooks writes. ⁠ ⁠ When his “How to Build a Life” column first began in April 2020, he saw it as an opportunity to think about long-term well-being. Humans desire lots of worldly rewards, such as money, power, pleasure, and admiration, but believing that these things will make us happy is nature’s cruelest hoax, perpetrated to make sure that we pass on our genes with no consideration of whether we enjoy doing so, Brooks writes. The hardest part of being happy is to live according to what truly brings us happiness. ⁠ ⁠ To get you started, share the happiness tactics mentioned above. “Just as teaching math helps you understand it deeply, almost nothing works better for elevating your happiness than teaching it to others. Obviously, teaching requires students. Writing 100 columns depends on you reading and productively using the ideas therein—and filling me in on the results from time to time. And that raises one of the most important principles of happiness: gratitude, which powerfully improves well-being,” Brooks continues at the link in our bio. “So in that spirit, thank you for reading ‘How to Build a Life.’” ⁠ ⁠ 🎨: @janbuchczik