
Being unhappy running a successful business - epi0Bauqu
http://maxkle.in/happiness/
======
swombat
_“Enjoying life has nothing to do with what you have, it has to do with who
you are hanging out with”._

Umm, I can't agree with that. You need a new mentor, Max.

Enjoying life indeed has nothing to do with what you have. It also has nothing
to do with who you go get drunk with.

Enjoying life has to do with who you are, and what your perspective on life
is. Some people enjoy solitudes, others enjoy being with close friends, others
enjoy being adored by infinite crowds. Some people are happy sitting alone on
a grassy hill with half a penny in their pockets, others are miserable even as
millionaires surrounded by the best and cleverest people in the world.

Happiness comes from inside, not outside.

~~~
Retric
There is a lot of evidence that Happiness is much like IQ in that you are born
with a basic peak and while it can be dragged down there is little that can
rise it. For the most part, outside of extraordinary circumstances it's fairly
constant over your lifetime.

PS: And yes this means there are probably people in the middle of a 20 year
prison sentence that are on average happier than you are.

~~~
chokma
According to studies cited by Sonjy Lyubomirsky
(<http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja/> ) in her Book "The how of happiness" (a
happiness book from a scientific view), the genetic predisposition is about
50%. 10% is your environment, and the rest is what you do with your life.

So, there is room for improvement for most people, although not as much as
some happiness-gurus may like them to think.

------
DanielBMarkham
One of the worser ones, Max.

Over the past few years, just hanging out on HN, I've read a lot about
happiness and pleasure. I've even had some great books recommended by fellow
HN'ers (latest one is the science of pleasure. Great read so far!
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393066320?ie=UTF8&tag=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393066320?ie=UTF8&tag=whtofi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393066320))
And none of it tracks with your blog entry.

One of the interesting things that has happened in the last decade or so has
been a serious study at just what happiness and pleasure really is. I wish I
could give some trite answer, but the real answers are much more interesting.
Things like experiences beat possessions, or the great beauty of essentialism.
In all of that reading, I've never read anything that jived with your blog
post.

I think I'm getting the happy bit. The more interesting bit is whether or not
people are made to be unhappy. I'm not so sure total happiness is a good
thing. (which sounds really strange, huh?)

------
Luc
I can't help but hear the sound of my bullshit detector when I read your
stories, 'Max'. I am sorry and apologize if what you write is all true.

~~~
prs
<http://apps.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353307> yields the following
information:

 _Max Klein does not exist. He is an identity created by Mark Essien
(www.essien.org)._

The posting is worth a read in my opinion.

~~~
paraschopra
Wow, thanks. I had sometimes chatted with Max Klein on Twitter. It's quite a
weird feeling to realize that he doesn't actually exist (almost Hollywodish).

Does that mean all business, relocation and other stories are fiction?

~~~
maxklein
I exist! Come visit me!

~~~
paraschopra
Interesting. Where are you based out of? I am curious because the commenter's
reasoning sounded plausible.

~~~
maxklein
I'm in Shenzhen at the moment. Look in my flickr (little icon on blog), I've
got recent photos there.

~~~
olalonde
I actually had a beer with Max last week in Shenzhen. He is definitely real
and quite interesting :)

~~~
GVRV
Nice try, another Max identity :P

~~~
eapen
Didn't some other popular blogger meet Max Klein in Thailand a while back?

------
antidaily
_I sat at the top of the tower in hong kong and looked out over the bay. The
bed I sat on was expensive, the writing pad on the desk was made of heavy
expensive paper._

groan...

~~~
maxklein
Frankly, I groan too. It was really badly written and I will change it.

------
wccrawford
Newsflash: Unhappy people are not made happy simply by having more money.

If you don't enjoy life, you're doing it wrong. The secret isn't any material
thing. It isn't 'who you hang out with'. It's who you are. If you don't like
life, change yourself until you do. Learn to enjoy things, instead of simply
using them. Learn to enjoy accomplishments, instead of using them as goals on
your way to happiness.

I hope we aren't supposed to believe this was a real story, either. Unhappy
people don't turn around in 1 night. You can't show someone that other people
are happy and have them wake up the next morning realizing how to be happy
themselves. You have to work at it, and realize that the unhappiness is you
and the only way to change it is to change yourself.

~~~
kilian
I enjoyed reading this, as it is a nice story, but wccrawford has a point.
Happiness is internal, not external. It's a choice and a habit, not a
situation.

------
greenlblue
?? So what was the lesson? Hang out with a fat dude that spits out proverbs
like the best of them?

~~~
notahacker
Money can't buy recognition of talent or self-discipline but it can buy you
girls in a KTV lounge and a hangover?

it's like an updated, amoral version of A Christmas Carol...

------
flannell
Having money gives you options, having no money gives you limited options and
being in debt you have none. Simples.

------
plainOldText
I think the author meant to depict what happened to him and not necessarily
what's his take on life.

------
Sindrome
An interesting piece of fiction. I guess it was a nice change of pace from the
other stuff on here today.

------
inodeman
If you're feeling unhappy even when successful that means, there are issues
you need to work on, could be childhood trauma, child abuse, etc.

I went through the same thing and could not figure out why I w as feeling like
shit when I was making tons of money.

Ultimately found the reason.

Started going to a ---> \--Gestalt-- Psychologist therapist, It's been over a
year and it has changed my life enormously. Discovered I had resentment
against my parents for many many reasons, worked on that and feel happier than
ever.

Give it a shot

~~~
neilk
No. The reason why you might be unhappy although successful is because success
has nothing to do with happiness.

I'm happy you worked your issues out, but you might have been just as happy
doing the therapy first. In fact, maybe you would not have chosen a "tons of
money" job.

