Believe it or not, learning something new is a Happiness Habit. When we learn something new, the brain creates new neural synapses (connections), and this neural stimulation creates a physiological feeling of self-satisfaction and increased confidence. We simply feel better about ourselves. This is not an accident. These physiological feelings of happiness are the brain’s way of rewarding us for engaging in good brain behavior. The brain’s secondary purpose (the first being to keep us alive) is to learn. When we learn new things, we actually increase the mass of our brain (new neurons = new mass). The brain is one of the very few internal organs whose mass increases by use (the stomach being the other obvious one). The more we engage in learning, the more the brain will reward us with feelings of happiness. Each time you learn something new, therefore, you are creating a happiness event. The winners of the happiness contest in life are those with the most happiness events. Set a goal, for the next month, to create 30 happiness events by learning something new every day. Devote 20-30 minutes each day, for the next month, reading something that will help you on the job or increase your knowledge in some hobby or passion you might have. Learn and be happy.
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