Happiness Expert on Why and How We Need to Think About Our Own Death

From happiness expert Arthur Brooks: As persuasive as the evidence is that thinking about your death can be a good happiness protocol, it doesn’t come naturally, as we’ve seen. Here’s some ideas to try. Meditate on your death. Try beginning each day with a version of this: “I know that in a few years, I will be dead, and a few years after that, no one will even remember my name. But I am alive this day, and I will not waste it.” This is a version of exposure therapy, a practice that helps to confront one’s fears, become more familiar with them, and, in the end, fear them less. Take stock of your true goals and plans. How many of your dreams are leading you to postpone love and happiness right now? By this, I don’t mean postponing a bit of money or any other trivial worldly reward; I mean love and relationships. For the sake of some future reward, are you neglecting your family life today? Your friendships? Your spiritual development? Envision yourself having just months to live and giving your current self some life advice.