In the last post, we saw a simple happiness calculator:
This calculator computes our wellbeing as a geometric average of the degrees to which our basic needs are met. In the above picture, the basic needs are health, love, respect and wealth. If any of these basic needs is completely unmet, then the person becomes miserable and the calculator returns a wellbeing of zero. The calculator is simple, and incorporates two key ideas: the first, that wellbeing depends on multiple needs, and the second, an idea of diminishing returns where a completely unmet need leads to total misery.
In a typical example, if a person is healthier than 30% of people, more loved than 60%, more respected than 80%, and wealthier than 70%, then their wellbeing is (30/100 * 60/100 * 80/100 * 70/100)1/4 = 56% as shown below.
How can we improve our wellbeing? Obviously, we can improve our objective wellbeing by increasing the extent to which individual needs are satisfied. But does it matter whether we focus on health or wealth or something else? Our happiness calculator can answer this question. Consider two alternatives. In the first, the person increases their wealth score from 7 to 10 (all scores on 10) by making themself extremely rich. Their wellbeing increases from 5.6 to 6.2 as a result, an increase of 0.6.
In the second alternative, the person makes no change to their wealth score, but improves their health score from 3 (below average) to 6 (just above average). Their wellbeing increases from 5.6 to 6.7, an impressive increase of 1.1.
We see that the same 3 point increase towards a different need has a very different impact on wellbeing. What makes things even more remarkable is that we simply assumed that we had the option to increase our fulfillment of any single need by 3. For most people, it takes considerably less effort, perhaps a better diet and moderate exercise, to go from 3 (below average) to 6 (just above average) on health. Going from 7 (upper class) to 10 (extremely rich) on wealth is much harder.
The conclusion is clear: to improve your overall wellbeing, focus on needs that are less fulfilled.
For the same effort, focusing on an unmet need (in this case health) is far more beneficial than focusing on an area where one is already doing well. Unmet needs are often in areas that we find challenging or uninteresting. These are also areas where we are prone to procrastination.
The example above is stereotypical. Money, fame and fortune have a seductive allure. As Celine Dion said: “The hardest thing to find in life is balance – especially, the more success you have, the more you look to the other side of the gate”. The same would also be true if a person in the pursuit of perfect health were to ignore their work, relationship, or finances. To relentlessly pursue one need while neglecting others is to be optimizing one’s life for goals that impede objective wellbeing.