Practice the extensions of compassion, as this not only aligns with the mind’s inherent nature but also contributes to rising in social hierarchies and making a lasting, positive contribution.
Define your day by “jen” actions, which involve bringing out the good in others through sharing laughter, giving resources, and empowering people, as a path to a good life.
To increase happiness, focus on positive emotions (mirth, laughter, love, sympathy), effectively handle stress and negative emotions, and prioritize social connection.
Build power by being bold, empathetic, understanding others’ desires, inspiring them, listening carefully, and building strong social ties through kindness and genuine interest.
Gain power and influence by effectively animating your social network, stirring the actions of people around you in an effective way, whether at work, in a team, or in the community.
For group health and to prevent abuses of power, ensure there are mechanisms for open critique, voice for subordinates to offer alternative ideas, and forms of accountability and transparency for power holders.
As a leader, appoint “devil’s advocates” to critically challenge proposals and decisions, ensuring diverse perspectives and preventing unchecked power.
Great leaders actively listen to everyone, including those of lower status, by creating contexts that allow them to hear diverse perspectives and avoid being sheltered from reality.
Create contexts where processes and decisions are transparent, as this is essential for effective and ethical power, preventing abuses and fostering trust.
Strive to separate the person from their ideas or the context in which they write, to avoid moral selection bias and missing out on valuable knowledge due to personal biases or historical context.
Actively seek out and talk to people with different ideological views to find common ground, appreciate their perspectives, and foster mutual understanding, rather than assuming extreme differences.
Break out of your “thought bubble” by reading and engaging with opinions and philosophies different from your own to broaden understanding and recognize shared human tendencies.
Actively contest and converse about what is defined as “good” in society, as this shapes values and behaviors, ideally for the benefit and sustainability of the species.
Strive to expand your “circle of care” beyond immediate family and social groups to include people in other communities, other species, and all sentient beings, as this is a sign of human growth.
Apply Aristotle’s principle of moderation to emotions, ensuring all passions are expressed in the right place, to the right degree, and in the right context to avoid negative consequences.
Recognize that learning often requires a feedback mechanism, sometimes referred to as “pain” (not necessarily physical), which can be the turmoil of developmental changes or challenging experiences that produce insight.
To teach empathy to children, ask questions during conflicts or emotional situations and allow them to reason through the feelings and perspectives of others, rather than dictating.
Incorporate a rich vocabulary of emotion words into family language to help children understand and express a wider range of feelings, fostering their emotional intelligence and empathy.
Allow children to experience and witness suffering, making it part of family conversations, as recognizing pain and the human condition activates pro-social behaviors and empathy.
Sharing money or resources with others can make you happier than spending it on yourself, as it activates reward circuits in the brain.
Giving money to charity activates the brain’s reward circuits, similar to receiving a gift, contributing to feelings of happiness.
Volunteering can lead to a longer and happier life, as it activates the vagus nerve and oxytocin, associated with connection and well-being.
Recognize that undermining reliable news sources or disregarding ethical violations weakens checks on power, leading to greater abuses, so support mechanisms that hold power accountable.
Recognize that humans have both kind and harsh tendencies, and strive to understand the contextual factors that promote the expression of good behaviors over bad ones.