In 1922, Albert Einstein was in a Tokyo hotel when, not having enough money to tip a bellman, he gave him a handwritten note in German. At this point, the famous physicist was informed that he would receive the Nobel Prize, and in that paper he left a profoundly important reflection that can now be fully implemented: “A quiet and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant unrest”
Almost a century later, That improvised note was sold at an auction in Jerusalem for $1.3 million. And although Hebrew University archivists caution that it is impossible to know whether the phrase reflected Einstein’s feelings about his recent world fame, modern psychology is responsible for demonstrating that his intentions were not misguided.
external goal. Einstein’s first warning points directly against the “pursuit of success,” a concept that behavioral psychology has been analyzing for decades. And here Tim Cassar and Richard Ryan’s seminal work on self-control theory has already set a clear red line about the dangers of focusing our lives purely on external goals and moving from one goal to another with little enjoyment of what we’ve achieved.
But it didn’t stop there, because a few years later, a revealing study following recent college graduates demonstrated the physicist’s theory experimentally. Here researchers observed that achieving intrinsic goals significantly improved the mental health of young people. In contrast, the pursuit of extrinsic goals associated with material and social success not only does not provide well-being, but also goes against good mental health.
Constant restlessness. This is the second great pillar that we find in this reflection of Einstein on a general note. And this is where psychology suggests that the anxious search for happiness is the fastest way to keep it from us.
And it’s not a stupid idea, because the research that’s been done shows that overestimating happiness is counterproductive. Something that makes sense, since by artificially raising our expectations, we become much more vulnerable to disappointment.
calm down Faced with the exhausting race for success and recognition, the Noble Recipe opted for peace of mind, which today is defined as an inner state of deep calm and harmony. And current global data largely supports this view, as the 2022 World Happiness Report found that a majority of people in almost every country in the world prefer a peaceful life.
This thesis also recently topped the 2024 Global Flourishing Study, the largest longitudinal study of mental well-being ever conducted with more than 200,000 participants. And while there are important cultural nuances, global trends show that we increasingly value calm under the pressure of success.
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