Newsletter #1
Finding Joy in a World Obsessed with More
Firstly, a heartfelt thank you for being one of the early subscribers to The Happiness Habit newsletter. Your willingness to join me on this journey means a lot to me. And I’m very grateful that you took the time to visit my website and read this far. I hope you’ll stay for a while.
The plan is to publish this newsletter every two weeks. In each edition I'll be sharing insights that I hope will not only keep you subscribed but inspire you to share these ideas with others who might benefit from a fresh perspective on life, work, spirituality, wealth and happiness. (There's a subscribe link at the bottom of this email if you want to forward to a friend or two!) ****
A Personal Revolution
Many of you know me from various chapters of my life - as a friend, as a collaborator on a project or a colleague at a previous place of work. What you're seeing now might seem like quite a departure from my previous work. And you're right - launching a book, posting on LinkedIn and sending out newsletters about spirituality is definitely pushing me outside my comfort zone. But there are two driving forces behind this pivot.
The first relates to the turbulent nature of the past few years of my life. They have been a bit of a rollercoaster to say the least. I won’t go into the full detail here (You can read the full story in my book "The Habits of Happiness" - yes, that's a shameless plug!) but suffice to say that it’s been transformational. And the catalyst to that transformation? Learning to deal with life's ups and downs without my trusted companion: alcohol. What began as a daunting challenge to beat my addiction and quit booze evolved into something unexpectedly powerful - a spiritual awakening.
Now, before you raise an eyebrow, know that I was once the ultimate sceptic. Spirituality? God? Meditation? I dismissed it all as irrelevant nonsense. But desperation has a way of opening doors we'd previously slammed shut.
Having begrudgingly adopted a more spiritual way of living to save my skin, I have reaped unbelievable and surprising benefits that, to my cynical old way of thinking, are verging on the miraculous. So much so that I feel compelled to tell people how remarkable a more spiritual life can be.
I now firmly believe that adopting some of the spiritual ideas, tools and practices that I was taught, can help combat the anxiety, the overwhelm, the burnout, and the ‘stuck-ness’ that many people feel. Especially people in their 40s and 50s, who, on the face of it, seem to have all they could wish for in terms of money, jobs and possessions, but deep inside feel utterly miserable and lost. And they don’t know why.
So, that’s one driving force behind the pivot; a desire to help people cope with the struggles of modern life by guiding them through a spiritual process that most of people would dismiss out of hand as being irrelevant.
But there’s another driving force. And that is my desire to promote a more sustainable way of living and working.
The Money Trap
Here's where I believe things get interesting. As I’ve delved further into my own personal spiritual adventure, I’m beginning to see the benefits of spiritual living playing out on a bigger stage.
My recent day job has been as a B Corp Leader trying to promote business as a force for good across Edinburgh and beyond. It’s clear that there are plenty of businesses that want to be more purpose-driven and sustainable, but they're caught in a money trap. They feel they can’t ‘do the right thing’ for people and planet as they’re operating in a system that predominantly values and prioritises money.
That’s because we live in a culture where;
Politicians chase GDP growth valued in £s
Businesses pursue profit valued in £s
Employees seek higher salaries valued in £s
Consumers choose products based on £s
We value everything in £s but, as The Beatles quite rightly noted, £s can't buy you love. Or peace. Or joy. Or fulfilment. Or the buzz of being alive.
And that’s why so many people in their 40s and 50s who, on the face of it, seem to have all they could wish for in terms of money, jobs and possessions, but deep inside feel utterly miserable and lost. They don’t know why. But I do. They live and work in a world that knows the price of everything except that which is ultimately valuable.
A Vision Worth Sharing
So, my big idea, my big vision, is to promote the idea of a different type of world, with a difference type of culture, and a different type of economy. The sort of world where happiness, rather than money, becomes the focus. The sort of world where people are encouraged to pay more attention to how happy they feel. And less attention to how much money they don’t have but think they need.
The type of world I imagine is one where:
Politicians measure success by national happiness, not just GDP
Businesses prioritise positive impact ahead of profit growth
Employees seek fulfilment as the primary benefit of employment
People value the way they feel about life more than how much they earn
Not only is this a happier world. This is a more sustainable world. It’s a world that doesn’t rely on mindless production and mindless consumption to survive. It relies on people feeling good about life to thrive. And that shift would address so many of the issues we face today. It’s the sort of world I wish I lived in. But I don’t. So, it’s the sort of world I wish to talk about and cultivate so at least my kids may have a chance of living in it.
Material Sufficiency. Spiritual Abundance.
I realise that this new sort of world may sound very naive and a bit like a new age pipe dream to many. To be honest, it does sound a bit fanciful when I re-read the above paragraphs. But then I’m reminded that I’m not alone in having this big idea. I’m encouraged that other people, people more intelligent and wiser than I am, have a similar vision.
One such person is the philosopher and economist David Korten. This is the way he articulates his vision;
“The purpose of a functional economy is to provide all people with material sufficiency and spiritual abundance while supporting the wellbeing, beauty, and creative unfolding of Earth’s community of life.”
I love those words…Material Sufficiency and Spiritual Abundance. That sounds like the type of economy I want to work in. But then again, I’m lucky. I know what ‘spiritual abundance’ feels like. I know that ‘material sufficiency’ is more than enough as long as you have ‘spiritual abundance’.
But most people have never experienced true spiritual abundance. So when they think about living with ‘material sufficiency’, it feels like they're settling for less. Like they're accepting a lower quality of life. Like they're missing out on something.
Unfortunately, we’ve been fed the story that happiness lies in material abundance for most of our lives. We've been encouraged to chase bigger homes while our hearts crave deeper connections. We’ve been incentivised to busy ourselves to accumulate yet more stuff while starving ourselves of peace. And we’ve been enticed by higher salaries while our souls hunger for purpose
But here's the beautiful, liberating truth:
When you've tasted genuine spiritual abundance, material sufficiency doesn't feel like a compromise - it feels like freedom.
It feels like…
Deep contentment that money can't buy
Authentic connection that makes social media feel shallow
Meaningful fulfilment that makes status-seeking seem childish
Heartfelt joy that makes shopping feel like the band-aid of distraction it really is.
And that brings me full circle.
As I ponder this new sort of world I’m left with this intriguing thought; if I want people to yearn for the same sort of economy I yearn for, I need to help them feel the benefits of spiritual abundance. Not just so they address the anxiety, the overwhelm, the burnout, and the ‘stuck-ness’ they feel. But to help them experience the natural happiness of spiritual abundance. Only then will they experience the type of happiness that doesn’t need money or distractions or consumption or possessions or, indeed, alcohol to make it any better. Only then will they see that a world built around material sufficiency is much, much more than enough.
And that’s the second driving force behind this pivot.
Join the Adventure
So that, in a nutshell, is why I'm here, sharing these ideas with you. The Habits of Happiness isn't just an idea for a book - I believe it's a practical pathway to finding joy without the endless pursuit of more. It's a way of creating a life, and ultimately a world, where happiness isn't something we buy, but something we nurture. Together.
Until next time,
Simon
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