Summary

The text suggests that enduring hardship can lead to greater long-term happiness and improved performance in life by lowering expectations and fostering appreciation for simple pleasures.

Abstract

The article posits that facing challenges and adversity, akin to the experiences of the author's grandparents, can lead to a deeper appreciation for life's simple joys and a higher level of happiness, as supported by Mo Gawdat's Happiness Equation. This equation implies that happiness is determined by the gap between life's events and one's expectations. The piece further argues that struggle enhances learning and performance, citing research indicating that individuals who overcome difficulties without immediate assistance perform better when faced with similar challenges in the future. The brain's growth and connectivity are also said to benefit from making mistakes and engaging in the process of struggle. The author concludes that by embracing the value of struggle and reducing expectations, one can lead a more fulfilling life, akin to past generations who, despite having less, often experienced more joy in life.

Opinions

The author believes that experiencing hard times can lead to a greater capacity for happiness by recalibrating one's expectations.
It is suggested that billionaires, despite their wealth, may experience less fulfillment due to their high expectations and exposure to luxury.
The article conveys the idea that personal struggle is beneficial for brain development and learning potential.
The author emphasizes the importance of appreciating the small things in life as a path to happiness, drawing a comparison to the fulfillment experienced by past generations.
The text implies that facing adversity without immediate help can improve one's ability to tackle problems in the future.

Does Going Through Hard Times Make Us Happier in the Long Run?

Research shows us struggle is good

I look back at my grandparents and they didn't have much. They were immigrants who faced prejudice and had to work hard just to survive.

But because of this, they appreciated things much more than we seemingly do today.

The simple things like spending time with family and meeting up and attending community events were big things that created such joy. Things that we take for granted, they truly celebrated.

I didn’t have such a tough upbringing and have been blessed with plenty of opportunities that they were never given and I didn't have to work particularly hard for.

As a result, I have been conditioned to take things as a given and my expectations are higher.

Former chief business officer for Google X, Mo Gawdat looked at The Happiness Equation, which goes some way to explaining this:

The Happiness Equation is: your happiness is equal to or greater than the difference between the events of your life and your expectations of how life should behave.

Due to my lack of struggle growing up and having certain home comforts, I was primed to have higher expectations of events in my life. So it may have been harder for me to appreciate having certain things in life like hot food and a bedroom to myself. This is all I knew, so was just the norm.

This can explain why billionaires are some of the most unhappy people in the world. As they have become super-rich, they have been exposed to all the great things life has to offer, so their expectations have become so high.

Driving a new sports car will be nowhere near as fulfilling an experience for a billionaire, as it would be for someone who has never been in a sports car before.

Our expectations become a result of our surroundings. If we lived through tough times and struggles, our gratitude to have food and a roof over our heads increases. And when we look at the happiness equation, our happiness levels are higher as a result of hardship.

Struggle can be a benefit in other areas of our lives

According to Enterpreneur.com, struggling at something actually can increase performance:

Research shows that people who struggle with a problem on their own before receiving assistance actually perform better than people who haven’t had to struggle — on the second time they encounter a problem.

According to Edsurge:

Neuroscientists have found that mistakes are helpful for brain growth and connectivity and if we are not struggling, we are not learning. Not only is struggle good for our brains but people who know about the value of struggle improve their learning potential.

This goes to show, if we are not really struggling, we are not really learning and performing to the best of our abilities.

Whenever you face adversity and hard times, it is good to recognize the positives you can take with you, once you reach the other side. You are less likely to take things for granted and will be more grateful in life.

In order to be happier, we need to reduce our expectations and try and take more joy out of the small things in our lives. Just like past generations did, who had less but in many ways, experienced more.