Running Header: THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS

The Secret to Happiness

Chanel Stewart
ENG1313-05
February 11, 2015

Running Header: THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS

The Secret to Happiness

Brooks speech, The Secret to Happiness, addressed a question that is the
essential first step in finding and cultivating ones Happiness. The question that Brooks
began his speech with is, What brings happiness, (2013) as opposed to the usual
question that is asked of individuals: Are you happy? (Brooks, 2013). Brooks posed his
question in order to first explain that happiness is brought about by three major concepts:
genetics, big life events, and finally, by choices. He also created the analogy of life being
a super highway (2013) that one may find themselves having veered off of during
middle-age (Brooks, 2013). Brooks speech ultimately demonstrated how an individual
can rejoin this life super highway by taking into consideration his three main points.
The first major concept that brings about happiness, as explained by Brooks in his
speech, is Genetics: a non-controllable factor that determines a persons natural
disposition or inclination towards happiness and being a generally happy individual. In
his explanation of this concept, Brooks touched upon a study showing that personality
tests taken by 75 pair of identical twins, eached adopted to different families, revealed
that fourty-eight percent of a persons happiness was genetic. Brooks also spoke on
gender studies that revealed how women, both single and married, were happier than
their male counterparts. The significance of these studies is found in the fact that
happiness is essentially in a persons DNA, however, individuals still have control over
their actions and thus, have a portion of control over his or her own happiness.
The next major concept that Brooks spoke on was Big Life Events, which, he
declared, account for roughly fourty percent of an individuals happiness. In this setion of

Running Header: THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS

his speech, Brooks explained that people will not achieve happiness by chasing after the
Big Thing(s), (2013) for two reasons (Brooks 2013). The first reason is due to the fact
that even though Americans are a part of a goal- oriented society, people are generally
bad at achieving their goals. The second reason that people will not achieve happiness by
chasing after the Big Things is because the gratification that comes from attaining them
will eventually wear off, and a person will be no more happier than they were before their
goal was attained. Brooks offers an example of this, citing how lottery winners return to a
level of happiness six months after winning that is just below their original level
happiness prior to them winning. Because of this, Brooks suggests to instead form habits
instead of chasing goals.
In conclusion, the final point that Brooks made in his speech was that a persons
choices have the ability to bring about happiness, as do their faith, family, community,
and above all, their work. Brooks spoke about how work, regardless of what a person was
making, is a source of happiness to eighty-nine percent of Americans. This was because
working brings about about earned success, (2013) which comes from creating value in
a persons own life as well as in others lives and that is what makes people happy
(Brooks, 2013).