The Happiest Man in the World is retiring. Or rather, I’m retiring this blog. In its place, I’m launching a weekly email newsletter called Refilling the Cup. Refilling the Cup will focus on sharing practical lessons on how to live a better life that come from philosophy, history, science, literature and more. Unlike The Happiest Man in the World, which was a mix between self-help advice, quippy aphorisms, and self-indulgence,.. Read More
How I Took Back My Time
I spent a big chunk of my late twenties and early thirties trying to find the perfect time management recipe to lead me to the promised land of the ideal life (before that I was too busy being a slacker). I read books and articles with titles like: 17 Habits Of People Who Are Happy, Healthy And Successful! If You Want To Be Happy, Healthy And Successful, Start Doing These.. Read More
Why Slackers are Happier than You
In my early twenties, I left behind a legal career, took a substantial pay cut and joined a large company working as an entry-level marketer. The job was not exactly challenging, the pay was mediocre, and I was definitely at the bottom of the food chain. I had a crappy apartment that wasn’t exactly in what you would call the right part of town. On the flip slide, I had.. Read More
The Most Important Lesson I Learned About Happiness in 2016
If I go by the highly scientific measure of happiness that is my Facebook news feed, I would have to say that 2016 was one of the worst years in recent memory for a lot of people As such, it makes me uncomfortable to say that for me, at least, 2016 was actually a great year. I married the love of my life, I finished the first draft of a novel.. Read More
Lessons I Learned While Finding and Marrying the Love of My Life
On September 10th, 2016, I married the love of my life, and it was the happiest day of my life. After a day of love and fun surrounded by family and our closest friends, I’ve come back to Earth a bit. Reflecting on that special day, I realized that in the process of finding and marrying my wife, I have learned a lot of hard lessons about relationships and love,.. Read More
How Writing a Novel Reminded Me How to Have Fun
The secret is out. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been working on a novel. I’ve been writing fiction for over a decade and have published a few short stories but have never before finished a novel. This year, that changes. I am well on my way to finishing the first draft and you can even follow along as I write it at the novel’s website: firstworldproblemsfiction.com. Every two.. Read More
Protect the Old, Make Room for the New
I’m an old soul at heart. When I was young, teachers used to tell my parents that I was very mature for my age. Now that I’m not so young, I find myself gravitating towards the comfort of the recognizable, and the known versus the new and the cutting edge. My music collection doesn’t have a whole lot in it from any year after I graduated from college. I have.. Read More
What I Learned After Six Months of Meditation
I started a daily meditation practice on November 1, 2014. Since that day, I am incredibly proud to say that I have not missed a single day of practice. That’s over six straight months. Now, I want to share with you what I learned after six months of meditating, how it changed my life, and how it didn’t. However, before we talk about what I learned after six months of meditating,.. Read More
Happiness Is Not the Perfect Life
As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time reading about the subject of happiness. From psychology papers to greek philosophy, I spend an unhealthy amount of time learning about the subject of happiness. In pretty much anything I ever read, there is always a starting point where the author tries to define happiness. Most recently, I was reading Stumbling on Happiness by Dan Gilbert. He starts the book off by saying.. Read More
The Perfect Productivity System That Won’t Help You At All
I’m a productive person. I’m organized, and I get more stuff done than the average joe. The biggest compliment someone can ever pay me is, “do you ever sleep?” In fact, I sleep a solid 7.5 hours a night on average. But I wasn’t always this way. In fact, upon entering law school, and then even moreso upon exiting law school, I struggled mightily with stress and anxiety that stemmed from having.. Read More