Seven ways to be miserable, and how to avoid them

People often do things that make them miserable. CPG Grey presents seven of the most effective misery makers:

  1. Stay still – don't go outside, don't exercise.
  2. Screw with your sleep – vary your bedtime and sleep in a day or two a week. Never sleep or wake up at the same time.
  3. Maximize your screentime – let the screen keep you awake. Let a screen be the first thing you look at when you wake up.
  4. Use your screen to stoke your negative emotions – feed your anxiety and anger about things over which you have no control.
  5. Set v.a.p.i.d. goals – vague, amorphous, pie-in-the-sky, irrelevant, delayed. Do not set s.m.a.r.t. goals, which are specific, measurable, actionable, (goals for which you are) responsible, time-bounded.
  6. Pursue happiness directly – Expect that unending bliss is possible.
  7. Follow your instincts – do what makes you immediately happy even when you know it will make you sadder in the long run.

The video is based on Randy Paterson's book, How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use.