In Tim Ferriss's podcast with Dr. Peter Attia, the conversation at one point turned to what they believed was the most devastating situation in the world: to have all worldly riches and to still be deeply, personally miserable.
This got me thinking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The original idea is that humans aren't motivated to achieve to a higher level of need until all lower levels are already satisfied.
Can you invert the pyramid?
What if, instead of attaining esteem and psychological safety first, you went straight for the jugular, that is to say, happiness?
Then, I suspect the other things wouldn't even matter. But they would likely come anyway.
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(Today was the first time I realized that my answer to the question, "Would you rather be happy or ______?" was unequivocally happy. (_____ in this context was "successful", but could just as easily have been "admired" or "respected" or "have a great group of friends".))
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