{"id":557,"date":"2015-02-26T13:42:36","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T12:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/?p=557"},"modified":"2015-04-08T16:48:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T15:48:00","slug":"the-anchors-of-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/2015\/02\/26\/the-anchors-of-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Anchors of Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few days ago <strong>Arthur Brooks<\/strong>, President of the <a title=\"American Enterprise Institute\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\" target=\"_blank\">American Enterprise Institute<\/a>, came to IESE to give <strong>a seminar on Capitalism and Happiness<\/strong>. I&#8217;d like to expand on some of his ideas about happiness, which can also be found in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/12\/15\/opinion\/sunday\/a-formula-for-happiness.html?pagewanted=all\">this article<\/a> from the <em>New York Times<\/em> and in this video:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Working for Happiness\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0F8QlNKL9nY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As <strong>Brooks explained<\/strong>, drawing on studies in psychology and sociology, <strong>48% of what individuals define as having a happy life is the result of congenital factors<\/strong>: biological aspects, temperament and character, family influences, etc. However, <strong>that is not enough to establish a &#8220;determinism&#8221; of happiness<\/strong>, because the fact remains that <strong>52% corresponds to other factors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Out of that number, 40% is due to temporary and circumstantial factors<\/strong>, which are often linked to a specific, unrepeatable event: living in a particular place, getting that job, fulfilling that dream you&#8217;ve had since childhood, etc. <strong>The remaining 12% depends on the decisions we make<\/strong>, and, to a large degree, can also influence the other 40%. So, if we stop to consider that fact, <a class=\"inline-twitter-link inline-tweet-click\" href=\"#\" onclick=\"inline_tweet_sharer_open_win('https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/intent\\\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.iese.edu%2Fethics%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F557%2F&text=the+degree+of+happiness+we+desire+in+our+lives+is+actually+up+to+us+');\" title=\"Tweet This!\">the degree of happiness we desire in our lives is actually up to us <span class=\"non-dashicons\"> <\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Brooks, <strong>this 12% is based on four factors, which represent the keys to a happy life: faith, family, social life and work<\/strong>. The first two aspects correspond to a generalized experience: No one at the end of their life regrets having spent too much time with their family or having an overly intense spiritual life \u2014 quite the contrary.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-560\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachaelvoorhees\/3373979391\/in\/photostream\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-560 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373979391_eef3fb58fc_z.jpg\" alt=\"Enter To Grow in Wisdom. \" width=\"640\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373979391_eef3fb58fc_z.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373979391_eef3fb58fc_z-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373979391_eef3fb58fc_z-624x435.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Enter To Grow in Wisdom&#8221;. Harvard University. Source: Flickr, Rachael Voorhees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Happiness also has a very clear social dimension: It is very difficult to be happy when isolating oneself<\/strong>. And no one regrets having spent too much time with friends (although it is a different story if one reaches the conclusion that they have chosen the wrong friends). Lastly, work is something that could be less intuitive. <strong>Work enters the equation of happiness<\/strong>, not when perceived as a means to get money, power, or social recognition, but <strong>as a valuable activity in itself, which enriches the personal development of the person working, <\/strong>and the development<strong> of the society in which the work is done<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Seen as such, <strong>one&#8217;s work or profession has a vocational sense<\/strong>. This has also recently been highlighted by other authors, such as Harvard Professor <a href=\"http:\/\/hbswk.hbs.edu\/item\/5735.html\" target=\"_blank\">Rakesh Khurana<\/a>, and in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iustitiaetpax.va\/content\/giustiziaepace\/en\/archivio\/pubblicazioni\/vocation-of-the-business-leader--a-reflection-.html\" target=\"_blank\">paper from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace<\/a>, and, incidentally, <strong>it ties in closely with IESE&#8217;s mission and the way we perceive our own work in management training<\/strong>. <strong>Doing meaningful work contributes to a happy life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_558\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-558\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rachaelvoorhees\/3373978707\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-558\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373978707_b4a82da4fb_b.jpg\" alt=\"Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind. Source: Flickr, Rachael Voorhees\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373978707_b4a82da4fb_b.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373978707_b4a82da4fb_b-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2015\/02\/3373978707_b4a82da4fb_b-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind&#8221;. Harvard University. Source: Flickr, Rachael Voorhees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Aristotle said that happiness is about fostering knowledge<\/strong> (Aristotle had a rather intellectual outlook on life, which led him to view contemplation as the ideal conduct), <strong>having friends and a little luck<\/strong>. Translated into today&#8217;s terms, it would look a lot like what Brooks describes. Other authors, such as John Finnis and Mortimer Adler, have made their own lists of the things that make up a happy life. All these authors, one way or another, describe <strong>happiness as a combination of various aspects, which people need to know how to choose and combine properly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Happiness cannot be boiled down to simply having a pleasant life. <strong>Pleasure is the result of happiness, but pleasure is not what matters<\/strong> \u2014 that can be obtained as a result of a happy life, or other, less happy ways. It&#8217;s about filling our life with things that make us happy.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking about how to characterize a happy, meaningful life, as proposed by Arthur Brooks, <strong>I am reminded of one of the gates outside Harvard University<\/strong>. Above the gate there is a double inscription in stone, a quote attributed to Charles S. Eliot, the university&#8217;s president. <strong>At the entrance it reads: \u201cEnter to Grow in Wisdom.\u201d On the other side of the gate, on the way out, is the inscription: \u201cExit to Serve Better Thy Country and Thy Kind.\u201d<\/strong> Grow in wisdom, serve your country and your fellow human beings. <strong>What a way of life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2014\/09\/2011-Fontrodona-J._153_20120720135728.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-486 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/files\/2014\/09\/2011-Fontrodona-J._153_20120720135728.jpg\" alt=\"Joan Fontrodona, Business Ethics\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #3e3e3e;\"><a title=\"Joan Fontrodona, Business Ethics, IESE\" href=\"Joan%20Fontrodona\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Joan Fontrodona<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is professor and chairman of business ethics department and academic director of the\u00a0<a title=\"IESE Center for Business in Society\" href=\"http:\/\/www.iese.edu\/en\/faculty-research\/research-centers\/cbs\/\" target=\"_blank\">IESE Center for Business in Society<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3e3e3e;\">He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy (University of Navarra) and an MBA in Management (IESE Business School).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few days ago Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute, came to IESE to give a seminar on Capitalism and Happiness. I&#8217;d like to expand on some of his ideas about happiness, which can also be found in this article from the New York Times and in this video: As Brooks explained, drawing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":867,"featured_media":572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[362,618,76071,1450],"tags":[483,809],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-ethics","category-ethics","category-ethics-for-executives","category-values","tag-decision-making","tag-happiness","megacategoria-mc-business-ethics-and-corporate-social-responsibility"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}