You don’t need to do extraordinary things, be gifted with great intelligence, or make a fortune to be happy.
If you have the talent and the desire you can do it.
But that’s not a condition for happiness.
Another easier way to achieve happiness.
It’s simply avoiding the unnecessary things that contribute to a difficult life.
Mr. Covey has synthesized 5 of them. He called them the “Emotional Cancer.”
- Criticizing
- Complaining
- Comparing
- Competing
- Contending
By trying to become the best version of yourself, you are progressing every day and eliminating the last three points.
Sometimes avoiding is more effective than shining. Some very successful people make this their strategy, as this sentence from Charlie Munger illustrates.
“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”
—Charlie Munger
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