A Simple Formula to True Happiness — And Why Struggling for It Feels Better
We live in a world that tells us happiness comes from convenience, abundance, and instant gratification. But the older I get, the more I realize that happiness isn’t about what we have—it’s about how we feel about what we have.
In the video above, I break down a simple but deeply effective formula for understanding happiness:
Happiness = Contentment Level = Sense of Satisfaction + Sense of Security
It sounds almost too basic, right? But think about it. In the past, people lived with far less, but many of them were more content. Today, we have access to everything at our fingertips—entertainment, fast food, endless online shopping—and yet, somehow, a deep and lasting sense of happiness feels more elusive than ever.
Let me give you a personal example that really drives this home for me…
🍜 The Joy Hidden in the Struggle
Image: A young warrior with spiky blond hair and ornate golden armor stands ready with a glowing sword, facing two monstrous, multi-eyed, tentacled creatures under a full moon in a dark landscape.
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Every now and then, I treat myself to watching anime. Now, I’ll be honest—it’s a stressful experience for someone like me. Most anime isn’t made with accessibility in mind. There’s no audio description. The visuals are often fast, complex, and not intuitive. So what do I have to do?
I spend time hunting down summaries, reading reviews, diving into fan wikis, piecing together character profiles, learning about special moves, and even spoiling myself just to understand the context. I’ll sometimes re-watch an episode three or four times, and if I’m really into it, five times or more, until I’ve absorbed every little detail I can grasp.
Image: A young warrior with spiky blond hair and detailed golden armor stands ready with a glowing sword. He faces two large, black, multi-eyed, tentacled monsters under a stormy, lightning-filled sky.
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It’s exhausting. But you know what? I always end up loving those anime experiences far more than the countless audio-described movies I can access with ease.
Why? Because when things are too easy, the sense of discovery is lost. The joy of earning the story, of struggling through the fog to find the light, is what makes the satisfaction hit so deep. The work means something. It adds value.
Image: A knight in shining gold armor stands ready with two swords, surrounded by four grotesque, pink, multi-eyed monsters with sharp teeth and tentacles. The scene is dramatic, with a stormy sky and lightning.
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💸 My Dad’s Million-Dollar Revelation
Let me share something personal—a story from my father that changed how I saw happiness forever.
My dad was an incredibly wealthy man. To give you an idea of the scale—we’re talking about someone who once lost $750,000 in a single night in Vegas… and shrugged it off like it was pocket change. He and my mom regularly tipped over $100 when they dined out.
One day, he was driving himself to a meeting—his chauffeur was off. As he passed a rice field, he spotted a poor farmer toiling in the sun. The farmer's wife came walking over, bringing him lunch.
Curious, my dad pulled over in his Mercedes. He just wanted to see what "poor people" ate.
But what he saw shattered his world.
Image: A man and woman in work clothes laugh together while eating on a blanket in a field. Behind them, a man by a luxury car thinks, "How can they be so happy while having so little?"
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There, under the shade of a tree, the farmer and his wife sat side by side—laughing, talking, eating together. Their clothes were worn, their hands dirty, and yet… they were glowing. Genuinely happy.
My dad said it shook him to the core.
“It was fucking crazy,” he told me. “This guy had nothing. His wife was fat and ugly, his clothes were torn—and yet, they sat there smiling like they owned the world. Me? I owned hotels. I had mansions. I slept with beautiful women and traveled everywhere… but I’d never been that happy in my entire life.”
And just like that, decades of ambition and pride cracked open.
🧸 Buying Less, Feeling More
Same goes for my action figure collection. Sure, I could spend $400 to buy 20 mass-produced Marvel Legends figures. Easy, done, shelf looks full. But will they make me happy? Maybe for a second.
Image: Four action figures—Loki, a barbarian, a masked hero, and Martian Manhunter—stand on a wooden surface. Behind them are Dungeons & Dragons-themed boxes with dragon artwork and red designs.
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Or… I could save that money, wait patiently, and treat myself to a single, stunning high-end collectible—say, a premium dragon figure from Four Horsemen Studios. That one piece might cost me $600, but it’ll make me feel something. It’ll be special. It’ll be mine in a way those cookie-cutter figures never could.
That’s satisfaction. That’s security. That’s contentment.
And that is happiness.
⚠️ Too Much of a Good Thing... Isn’t Good
Let’s be real here. Having things too easy, too convenient, and too accessible doesn’t just water down your sense of satisfaction—it actually chips away at your security. And it’s so obvious when you think about it.
Take action figure collecting, for example. The more figures you buy, the easier it becomes to get more—thanks to online stores, auctions, instant preorders, and buy-now-pay-later traps.
But here’s the catch:
The easier it gets to buy toys, the harder it gets to feel secure.
I remember when I was younger, if you wanted a new figure, you had to physically go to the store. You had to sneak into the toy aisle, hoping no one cool saw you there. Then you had to pray they had the one you wanted, and if they did, you still had to walk up to the cute girl at the counter, blushing and stammering, pretending it was for your little cousin or some nonsense like that. 🤣
Yeah—it was hard. But it meant something when you finally got that toy in your hands.
Image: A muscular man nervously claims he’s buying action figures for his brother’s birthday. The cashier, a woman with rainbow hair, sarcastically replies, “SURE buddy, SUREEEEEE.” The store is filled with boxed action figure.
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Now? With a few clicks and no effort, I can add 10 figures to my cart and get them by next week. And the more I do it, the less special it feels—and the more those purchases quietly gnaw at my wallet and my peace of mind.
Because let’s face it:
The bigger your credit card debt, the less security you have.
The less secure you feel, the more stressed out you get.
And the more stressed you are… the less happy you become.
Simple math, baby. Sexy logic. 😘
Image: A worried man is buried up to his neck in dirt and surrounded by piles of colorful collectible toy boxes and a fake banknote. Bold text above warns "Don’t let this be you."
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💖 The Takeaway?
It’s not about having less.
It’s about feeling more.
When we take the long way, struggle a little, earn our joys instead of shortcutting them—we unlock something deeper. Something money can’t buy.
So the next time life feels a little too hard, or happiness seems far away, just remember:
You might already be sitting under your own tree.
You might already have what you’re looking for.
All that’s left… is to notice it.
💡 Want more insights, stories, and deep dives into life, art, and accessible joy?
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