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Theodoric Chew

@theodoricchew

Dec 2, 2024 • 17 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

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I've studied happiness for over 10 years.

The shocking truth?

Everything we know about being happy is wrong.

Here's what ancient cultures knew that modern psychology forgot:

Modern psychology has spent billions researching happiness.

We've created countless interventions, therapies & frameworks to make people happier.

Yet studies show these interventions are LESS effective than they were 20 years ago.

You might wonder how that's even possible...

The answer lies in ancient Greece.

2300 years ago, philosophers made a crucial distinction we've forgotten:

There are two types of happiness:
1. Hedonia (pleasure)
2. Eudaimonia (fulfillment)

Modern psychology only focuses on the first.

Hedonia is about feeling good:

• Positive emotions
• Absence of pain
• Comfort

But ancient cultures knew this was the shallow end of happiness.

The deeper form - eudaimonia - is something entirely different:

Eudaimonia isn't about feeling good.

It's about becoming good:
• Developing virtuous character
• Living up to your potential
• Finding deeper meaning
• Contributing to others

Ancients believed happiness came from who you ARE, NOT how you feel.

Aristotle argued that pursuing pleasure actually makes us unhappy.

Because pleasure is fleeting. The more we chase it, the more we need.

It's like a drug - the high feels amazing, but the crashes get worse.

Modern psychology missed this completely.

The Stoics took this even further.

They believed happiness came from accepting life's circumstances, not changing them.

Sounds counterintuitive, right?

But there's profound wisdom here:

When we try to control external circumstances to be happy:

• We never feel "enough"
• We feel powerless
• We create anxiety
• We blame others

The Stoics taught: Focus on what you can control - your thoughts & actions.

Ancient wisdom emphasized community & relationships.

Modern psychology often treats happiness as an individual pursuit.

But no one achieves eudaimonia alone...

As humans, we find true fulfilment when we are:

• Building meaningful connections
• Playing your role in society
• Contributing to others

We're literally wired to serve something bigger than ourselves.

The ancients discovered something profound about virtue:

Developing good character is the path to lasting happiness.

And virtuous actions create positive feedback loops through:
• Wisdom to make better decisions
• Courage to create opportunities
• Trust to build relationships

This is why modern happiness interventions often fail:

They try to make us feel better without making us BE better.

It's like treating the symptoms while ignoring the disease.

The ancients knew: There are no shortcuts to true happiness.

The solution they found was brilliant...

The path to lasting happiness isn't:

• Controlling circumstances
• Chasing pleasure
• Avoiding pain

There's so much more to life...

Instead we should focus on:

• Accepting what we can't control
• Contributing to others
• Building character
• Finding meaning

This reveals the truth about happiness that modern psychology missed entirely...

The ancients were right all along:

True happiness isn't something you pursue. It's something you become.

Modern psychology is finally catching up.

Research shows meaning & purpose predict well-being better than pleasure does.

So stop chasing happiness.

Instead:
• Contribute to something bigger than yourself
• Focus on character development
• Build meaningful relationships
• Accept what you can't control

This is how you build a life worth living.

A bit about me:

Founded & scaled Asia's largest mental healthcare company (backed by Tiger Global & YC).

Building in public, sharing founder lessons from 0 to serving 4M+ lives.

Follow for insights on startup building, healthcare tech & scaling in Asia.
theodoric.com

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