T or F: Happiness equals reality divided by expectations?

Question

Why or why not?

"While working at a free clinic for drug addicts in Haight-Ashbury, Freudenberger noticed that the volunteers, when discouraged, would often push harder and harder at their jobs, only to feel as if they were achieving less and less. The result, in 1974, was the book Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement.”

“Ask Cass why his clients are burning out, and his answer isn’t any different for a banker than it would be for a public-school teacher; there’s a gulf between what they expected from their jobs and what they got..So what does he tell them? “That happiness equals reality divided by expectations.”

For example, if your expectations are higher the realities of life then Happiness = Reality (10) / Expectations (20) = .5

If your expectations match the realities of life then Happiness = Reality (10) / Expectations (10) = 1

If your expecations are lower than the realities of life then Happiness = Reality (10) / Expectations (5) = 2 (Highest Outcome)

Answer 1

Eh...math. I guess with too expectations, you won't get much for happiness, and I think reality should just be the same number..but I'd say this is true =)

Answer 2

maybe it's a factor...but expectations affect reality..they contribute to it, reality is a function of your expectations. If you lower expectations, you might get a temporary happiness boost..but eventually your reality will decline to meet your low expectations, leaving you with poorer results and the same happiness as you started with.

You always have to have an idea of perfection to aim at or else you won't know which direction to turn. Of course, no one ever achieves perfection, and some get closer than others..but if we had no idea when we were failing and why, we'd have no idea how to improve.

Problems in the case you stated, are people trying the same thing over and over again. Expecting to do the same with new results..and this is what people need help with. Learning new methods to make their reality come closer to their expectations.

Answer 3

i don't understand most of this question, but agree. you achieve greater happiness when your expectations are lower than reality.