The Pursuit of Happiness

“The pursuit of happiness” in modern terms means “living a life of Flow” which is living aligned with your highest purpose, and in doing so you enter Flow State easily.

Flow State is also known as The Zone, it’s that state of deep immersion in which your sense of self and self-consciousness step aside making you feel at one with your activity.

Flow State is a cycle. You can’t operate at peak performance 100% of the time, but when you live in alignment with your highest self and purpose you can more easily move into Flow State. This is Living a Life of Flow.

Relating this to “The pursuit of happiness”, Thomas Jefferson wasn’t talking about chasing pleasure or comfort, he was specifically referring to the Aristotelian idea of Eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia means “flourishing through virtuous action”, living in alignment with your highest self and purpose. This is the pursuit of happiness; it’s the pursuit that creates a Life of Flow.

Eudaimonia isn’t just personal; it’s also relational. It means flourishing while contributing to the greater good.

For Americans, this means that living in alignment with your highest self and purpose is core to our American ideal, and helping others to achieve it is a truth we hold as self-evident.

I have clients and readers all over the globe, and so I’d venture that all cultures share this concept.

For ADHD leaders, this often starts by transforming hyperfocus—that raw intensity of deep fixation—into intentional Flow that fuels purpose instead of burnout.

We leaders model that achieving Flow is possible and we create the conditions for others to achieve it.

Leadership is the act of bringing one’s own mind, work, and values into such alignment that everyone around benefits—the pursuit of happiness as civic virtue.

This is what it means to Live an Enhanced Life.

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This is one of my Big Ideas posts where I explore how new ideas, good science, creativity, and bold leadership can help us build a better world.

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