Derek..., love your thoughts and fine insight. I enjoyed this. Stay in touch and keep up the great work....!!!

Warmest regards, Trade. PS, are you on Facebook....??? If so, please friend me. THANKS.

Another fine post, Derek! I really enjoy what you share here.

Is there any chance you'll be attending WDS this year? I very much enjoyed your talk at last year's event.

Ahhhh...... thanks Derek! Love this line: "But happiness is the oil. Without it, the friction kills the engine." ~ brilliance! That's why you get paid the big bux!

Towards the End of your life little of this applies a new set of decitions emerge
Time to address the things that matter to those who's decitions must be based on a New set of criteria
Perhaps you have some deep and constructive ways to address these
G

Derek,

That was another good food for thought article. Thanks for sharing.

Derek, great reminder. Very convicting. Some of your stereotypes definitely struck a nerve with me, and I appreciate it.

One has to be willing to face truth and wisdom and then have the courage to implement change.

Thank you.

God gave us talents to help us make a living, to serve God and man as well as the world. If we just use those talents to serve ourselves, we are selfish and we will cheat others out of pleasures and service that they could derive from your talents. For that we will answer to God.

As a therapist we talk about these things and when someone is distressed without understanding why, I asked them "do you feel safe?" "Do you feel competent?" And "Do you feel loved?" Those three questions usually hit something which is causing discomfort. a person usually feels loved when they are useful. And competence is working Intelligently. Although being happy does not correlate with feeling safe, one cannot be happy without feeling safe.

"...happiness is the oil." Absolutely love that. Thank you, Derek.

Good reset, thanks, Derek.

Derek, Your original and brilliant work is so very Happy, Smart and Useful! Thank You for sharing with us! I just printed your diagram out and lightly penciled in the intersections the words "God" in the center, "family" at 11o'clock, community at 2 o' clock, and "world" at 6 o'clock. I'm going to try this out in my context of life, based on your brilliance and the wonderfully supportive comments that came in.

Derek, this reminds me of Maslov's hierarchy of needs.

Peace,

Jerre

hey mate many thanks for your words of wisdom .wishing you all the best

Namaste, Derek:

Great reminder as a wake up call

Derek, I loved this! It is exactly what I've been thinking about too. Thank you.

I'm a "smart and useful" female who tends toward relationships with "happy and smart" male musicians and ends up unhappily supporting their useless asses ;) maybe i'm not THAT smart after all...

I love it!:-0~

what about "just smart" and "just useful," or do those go without saying? -joe

Thanks derek,
Best regards
Jan

So true, Derek. I needed the reminder as well; thank you.

One common approach seems to be pick two, and hopefully it leads to the third, since getting all three from the get-go can be tough.

For example, choose smart + useful, and maybe that leads to a job that you love and/or pays well enough to let you pursue a different decision that is primarily focused on happy.

Fallacy or reality? What do you think, Derek?

Great insights, tried, true and proven. This is a great reminder that should be shared with everyone :) Thank you! This thought made my day.

Always relevant and interesting derek, thanks

I love the useful to others, Like a moral relevance. I like how you explain it as a balance between the three & thank you.

Derek, thank you for this fantastic insight. Will re read over and over and apply

Now that's clear.

wait- there's really nothing missing!
impressive synthesis.

Yeah, I like it. Well done.

This looks nice and neat and simple. Oh I wish it were really so! I think I will come back to this and apply this when my brain is not tired. Thanks.=-)

Great post. Reminds me of the poster that I had over my computer graphics workstation many years ago, directed at "clients from hell". It was a pie chart divided three ways and labeled:
FAST , CHEAP , GOOD . Captioned:
Pick Any Two !

LOVE IT! Very BROAD Concepts, that definitely impact your overall "thinking!" It helps to be mindful of the BIG PICTURE, during decision making!

These principles help to create a "mode of thinking", that moves you out of the box of self-centeredness, to consider of the needs of others & beyond!

One to keep growing on. 🙏

Hi Derek - I'm 68. My focus is what I can get done before I die (12 years?). I have the problem of moving on before I finish things. I hate learning new apps. I just want to get it done. I think people under 30 love learning new apps, no?
Best, Lee

You said:
"I sound critical, but I’m writing this to myself as a reminder."

Interesting. Same person I do most of my writing to. :)

This was Smart & Useful and made me Happy. Thanks!

Very helpful for me. Thanks you, Derek

Thanks for introducing the "happy" circle. Often forget to enjoy life :)

Hi Derek,

This is fantastic. Thank you for distilling these ideas into something easily digestible. These ideas will be kept in my back pocket.

Thanks,
Brandon

Spot on. Thanks
Michele aka Rockin Rebbetzin

I love venn diagrams!

(Wait, that wasn't usefull, just happy.)

Venn diagrams are a great way to teach a point!

(Kinda smart, kinda happy, but where is the usefulness?)

Venn diagrams like this help me to visualize the reason that compromise and planning are valuable. When the things that I do incorporate work toward each of several goals then my work becomes valuable in the long term and to a wide audience.

Thank you. That article was smart and useful, which makes me happy to have read it. Now I'll go be useful and share this with others. ☺

Thanks for this reminder Derek. So hard to keep things in balance, but it is a must. With the 3, the tripod collapses right?

Direct to the point. Brilliant!

Liked this one. One must balance all aspects. I had thought about pragmatism + being happy. Useful is a nice addition. Liked the bit about happy being the oil. Thanks.

Derek, thanks for your clarity of thoughts. You just hit on the missing link - doing something of value for others...

I recently met a girl who is in the just happy category which she calls gratitude. It is simply a fracture of the whole picture only.

This is the stereotype of the charity volunteers

I don't know if you've spent time around nonprofits / NGOs, but this comment is dead on. I wrote more about this dynamic in "Volunteers: Nonprofits Really Want Their Money, Not Their Bodies" and "Most volunteering is a waste of time for anyone except the volunteer."

Wonderful article, Derek. I love how concise you are. Any post that's this useful with a scroll bar that's this tall is OK with me.

Happy & smart certainly struck a nerve. I appreciate the warning.

You should read some of James Altucher's stuff if you haven't before. I think you would like his writing style.

After spending over 27 years with the same employer albeit in a variety of different roles, I am accustomed to making the smart and useful choice. Sometimes I've been happy; other times not so much.

Now, during a time of unhappiness (anyone else have a narcissistic boss?) and qualified for a decent pension, I'm starting to think the happy part could be better served by walking away... putting my smarts toward something else which is useful and which will allow me to be happy.

Oops...looks like I'm 0 for 3...I better figure this out for myself! Thanks for the paradigm.

So, should I quit my job? Lol

This came at just the right time for me.

Very well put Derek. I agree that these three things must act in concert in order for one to make quality decisions. I believe that if we can find that presence or watcher that is the center of all these things then we can fell free to serve the particular aspect of the triad. Similar to music and many other aspects which deal in the power of three the checks and balances and the idea of a perfect harmony somewhere in the middle makes these thoughts worth digging. Kuddos!

At this stage in life, my music ministry had 2 out of 3. Long term for me was "dead" when the record lable never paid us our fair share. So working at becoming an A&P mechanic, selling cars, and a host of other jobs over a 45yr period kept me alive. Had kids and now grand kids....and that's worth everyting to me.
Have a great weekend Derek.
Barry

Great article, and great timing ☺ I just returned from an evening at a local high school, where about 60 parents could tell something about their profession to 15-16 year old students.

I used a similar image and argument for making career choices, balancing "what do you enjoy doing?", "what are you capable of, can you become good at?" and "what brings money on the table?"

Hopefully the students (and me) will make choices that brings them in the sweet spot of the overlapping areas.

This was awesome, I always think of your directives in how to be useful to others from the Tim Ferris episode. Thank you for the practical advice.

Wow this really struck a chord. Think I'm happy and smart but could be more useful. I think I perhaps thought being happy was enough, but I'm wondering if there's more to life than being happy (i.e. feeling rewarded). Food for thought. And action.

Thanks Derek! This post was smart and useful! Hope it makes you happy as well :)

I feel like I am at a turning point in my life where I have the option to choose what I want to do with the rest of my life. It is a difficult choice to navigate, but articles such as these definitely help.

Here is another framework that has helped to decide my direction as well: https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/

It was developed by a team led by Will MacAskill, who btw also works with Effective Altrusim

I understand and Agree with you. But what about a surgeon who enjoy most of his work. (Happy and usefull and smart) in your definition but who is not deeply happy. And I am not talking about an overworked surgeon. I think happiness is something deeper although what you say is true. Mario

Good job sticking to the self-help format: listing the dysfunctions first.

I love this! It's almost counter intuitive but so so true. Thank you for writing this!

Derek -

Great things to keep in mind. Love the things that you share. Thanks

Thanks Derek

Even though I've never thought of the scenario before, after reading the article I could easily place myself in all three. As a Pastor, Singer/Songwriter /Musician and College Graduate.

• what makes you happy
. Pastoring /Singing/Music
. Song Writing

• what’s smart (long-term good for you)

. My Degrees(something to fall
. back on)(Earthly Good)


• what’s useful to others
. All of the above.


Your article encourages me at a time in my life that "I know I'm getting older and it was effecting my outlook. I feel better thanks

The Trinity!
God the Father is ultimate happiness, Jesus the Son of God teaches us, and the Holy Spirit is what powers us to help others(become useful).
You sound a lot like St Thomas Aquinas, Derek. The opening to the Summa Theologica delves quite deep into man's quest for meaning and Natural Law

Oh man. This is hitting so close to home it may have landed on my roommate's head.

Amazing insight, as always. I hope you think it's smart and it makes you happy, because it's definitely useful!

Thanks for sharing.

Loved the part about lifestyle design. I do want to be productive during my day but helping others should be the goal as prioritizing lifestyle design is dangerously self centered. I experienced this first hand at work where I pushed people away to focus on myself but found out first hand that's not the way to a successful life.

Thanks for this post. I always thought the mexican fisherman story was a little bit incomplete. This perspective provides a filter through which I can consider my goals and come to (I believe) a more complete plan.

Ermagersh! Yes! This is the lens I needed right now. I am thinking of that old song "2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad." But, of course, the point is that 2 out of 3 is nowhere NEAR good enough.

This is such a simple framework that has just blown open my thought process. (And just in time, too, because I was making myself totally nuts.)

I think I shall print out all of my ideas--even the harebrained ones--and see where they fall on the chart.

You, sir, have just taken me from crazed to creative.

Gratitude.

I definitely needed this. I feel that I fall into the happy and smart category right now. I need to find a way to be useful!

A great article! You simpiify this important concept into three keywords, and this will help us make our decision much much easier.. Thank you once again !

Ahh, like Thomas, a very useful engine! I think he was happy and useful, but maybe not smart or as smart as he could have been!

So good and timely... Thanks

I've been a few of these combinations at different stages in my life. Love your ability to capture these thoughts so concisely. Thanks, Derek!

Gannt chart, huh? Just concentrate on the 3-way intersection in the center - as it applies to MUSIC!!
Moe

Derek, thanks for reaching out, it all makes great sense. I see how it works, recently my husband started a business repairing and building custom amps (Black Volt Amplification)and he is hitting all 3=smart happy useful. It is awesome to see it growing so fast. I on the other hand l am lost at the moment. Hopefully this will help me because I'm missing all 3 at the moment, what do you call that?!
Thanks again, so happy to see you rockin!

Great post. My only question: what are some examples of things that are HSU? I'd love to read some and get a flavor for the types of things that meet these requirements.

Love it, thanks

Thanks Derek. As always your able to model concepts in such a way that makes them crystal clear. Awesome!

Thank You, This is useful. The top one is the trickiest to balance with the bottom two. I am trying a new experiment in 2016 and will keep this in mind.

You're writing and words of wisdom in interviews and talks are always useful, inspiring, and give others a better shot at living more happily. Thank you.

Once again your amazing teaching fits with the ARCLiiNK. Just want to let you know. We are striving with your methods and making a huge difference. It's crazy how your knowledge is making a big impact. Thank you again. Keep it coming, do what you do best.

Your words are always a good reminder.

Reminds me of the old construction triangle quality,cheap, or quick. You can have any of the two combinations but not all three!

this is really good ( useful to me )...think i'm a happy+smart (not useful) person.

as a musician, though, it's the idea 'useful' that is the most problematic, or 'squishy' concept..

Couldn't be said better Derek
I've been all of them at some point, and yes, life feels the best when you are happy, smart AND useful :)
Thank you!

Cool post Derek. keep up the great work!

As precise as it gets...thank you so much derek for this article...it really gave me clear perspective abput choosing work...love your work...thank you so much ☺!

Happy, Smart, and Useful...
Needs to have a catchy acronym...

HSU
HUS
SUH
SHU
UHS
USH

For big decisions.

Well said. Thank you Derek.

Reminds me a bit of a saying/choice I used to have on the bottom of my e-mail sig for clients when I used to do graphic design -- Good. Fast. Cheap. - pick two

Love it !

This reminds me of the risk vs reward thinking I learned ages ago in high school. I think in some sense risk can play into the "smart category".

Always liked your input about oneself. And about life. So glad we have met through text. Yes..very informative.

Spot on! Thanks for this. I feel more smart than useful and happy. I have focused most on passive income. Note to self: allow more happyness! Get out there. Be useful!

Thank you Derek Siver. Now what is the story of you and that guitar of yours?

Thank you Derek.

Man, you have a talent to say simple and clear things in a simple and clear manner. I envy you for that. Or I admire you for that. Or both.

I was thinking how Smart/Happy/Useful could apply in romance or a rocky marriage?
Maybe someone is being too happy at the other's expense or someone persistently sees the other as not being useful. When people have different upbringing, what's smart for you may be stupid to your partner. In the beginning, both people only see the perfectly shaded centers in each other, then experiences push the 3 circle so that nothing overlaps... Couple fight each other and selfishly fight to pull the circles back together until love is not a joining point...

Select s.happy, s.smart, s.useful
from soulmate s, life l, dreams d
where s.happy=l.happy and
l.useful=d.useful and
l.love=s.love and
s.children_future>=d.self and
s.separation<>l.inevitability;

Everyone gets different results from the same query. Happiness often becomes null. Data content always changes. Cartesian product brings useless frustrations...

Maybe set operation would be a better approach.
Select * from soulmate
UNION
Select * from life
INTERSECT
Select * from dreams
MINUS
SELECT * from selfishness;
If only one person is MINUS from selfishness, then the other will eventually have null/nothing to return...

Always insert more love, more awareness, more caring, more special time, more affection...

The database of love often hangs, crashes and gets SQL injection attacks. Securing the network, applying patches, changing passwords can help. If you are OTLP and your partner is OLAP, please tune each system accordingly to achieve maximum performance for the System Development Life Cycle.

P.S. - Don't forget to take a backup when needed;-)

http://rvrb.fm/21bCkL7
#SuperDBA
www.willavery.com

I'm just useful with occasional glimpses of happy. Bugger.

wow thats so true... Thank you i needed that

Derek, you gave examples of all the unrecommended combinations - I would love to see a bunch of examples of decisions that would be smart, happy and useful!

This is golden. Really succinct gathering and distillation of insight making a deep and meaningful and intensely useful analysis. The kind of advice I need and want to discuss at length with my kids when they're old enough to care ;-) Thank you!

Great Derek as always. There's a seed for a great book in this short essay

Thanks

Love the intersection of these three! Thanks for identifying a dysfunctional, and previously I'd thought honorable, life pattern. Revolutionizing my way of being in one diagram and a few paragraphs-way more efficient than decades of personal growth workshops. Here's to Happy-Smart-Useful! Telemetric recalibrating...

Wise as ever ☺

This is an amazing post. And a great reminder to keep those three: happy, smart, and useful in mind when making life decisions. Thanks, Derek!

I truly love your writing, your message, and your style. Thanks for sharing your profound thoughts in a simple and enlightening manner.

Hi Derek!

I use to think: If you are useful, you are happy and if you are happy you are smart.

No doubt being useful is always a very good decision, but to be useful without being happy isn't really smart.

So for me it would be more like smart+useful+empathetic. Because this world could use more empathy. :)

Superb article - very interesting and thought-provoking - thank you, Derek

So simple yet not always easy. I spent the first part of my life following the first model, smart and useful, just as I was told. It was pretty awful. And it turns out, it's hard to be useful if you're not happy. This is a great formula. Thanks for sharing.

great model. thanks!

balance is a word I like :)
balance is influenced by clarity
clarity is better when you look for spectrum

You have my gratitude.

Happy: Energy, Love. If you use a scale, Fulfilment could be at the upper level. This variable is related to our Emotional Intelligence, our relations with others and, most important, with our self

Smart: Investor Mind like? What means smart in this equation? Could be a little too vague. This variable is related to our Mental/Cognitive Intelligence.
If we use a scale, like we did for "Happiness", could be the Vision on a higher rank? I find difficult to see the "smart" variable as one with focus just on our self.

The "higher good", compared with long-term, combine "Smart" and "Useful", but will change "Smart" to "Wisdom".

Useful: Empathy is useful for your "Useful" :). Most of evolution models, including Maslow, will take the Contribution and our ability to understand our role in a bigger picture, as the higher level of "useful" variable

Where do you see "Healthy" in your model?

Nice write up.


A happy person will not have regrets at all, as he is always happy. So, question of regret in the future is wrong argument

A happy person defines his own way of being useful and not what society defines. He may not fit in to what society thinks useful.

Finally, happy person is smart in this own way.

Conclusion, all one needs is happiness.

Good article. I definitely have a tendency to pursue things that are happy-smart...gotta get outside of myself to discover what's useful to others. Thanks.

Good morning Derek! Some thoughts, happy comes from useful but smart can be developed and is ongoing... to a point to create useful. Happy comes from purpose and and understanding that life is meant to be As your circle overlaps itself to completeness, we too are all connected and paths cross to complete our usefulness. It is a divine design, much more complicated than you or I can configure, yet full of value...this makes me happy! and happy to have met such an awesome person as yourself Derek!! Always a pleasure! Rachel ☺

happiness can be too much of a boon

Love this – – just forwarded it to my college age daughter.

Derek
Something so simple, but very important to think about. You did a very effective job in a short number of words.
Thanks

Enjoyed reading these. Remind me of someone I know.

Well I found this quite "Usefull" ;)

I wholeheartedly agree Derek. But what you said is so true. We too often do smart and financially rewarding tasks just to havevthe money tonenjoy all the wonderful things money can buy for us. I admit, I've worked jobs that I had to drag my butt into everyday but it paid well so I continued to do it.

I don't mean this to be my "lufe story, " but forbyou to fully understand where I'm coming from I kinda NEED to explain some things. After HS I really hsd no clue what I wanted to do..m.of course my mom & dad wanted me to be a computer nerd which to apease them I attended classes for half a year, but it just wasn't my thing. Fast-forward about 10 years and I finally figured out what I enjoy doing snd can get paid for doing it, becoming an automotive technician. I love figuring out ehst's wrong with mechanical things. To this day, if I can watch "it" work, I can repair it too. And I can take anything apart and get it all back together just as long as nobody went throwing the parts into a big vaut. Even then I will figure it out but it takes me longer. I truly enjoyed fixing cars, but my body failed me. I have had a bad back sonce HS, but working in the automotive trade isnt easy on ine's back. I wound uo getting a 3 level lumbar spinal fushion in '02 and initually after my 12 month recovery I was 100% pain free. I FELT INCREDIBLE.....But my back pain returned mid-year 2005. To experience living pain free only to have it return is a terrible feeling I tried cortisone injections, TIAs and everything I snd the docs could think of and it wss later in 2005 that I began taking nsrcotic pain meds EVERYDAY for over 10 years intil I had peaked out at over 600mgs of morphine per day.Whe I was in Maryland I made the conscious decision to stop taking my narcs once I moved back home to AZ. It took me almost 2 years to be weened off (20 montgs) but I pulled it off. I wish I could say my chronic pain stopped, but it didn't. I just figured out a way to live with it and function the best that I can.

Finding out I could no longer do the thing that I loved due to pain was difficult to swallow. I went into a downward spiral for a time. Sfter getting off the morphine and living back in AZ I decided to go back to school, medical school. Im doing it because I NEED the moneyvsnd I know I need to perform a job that isnt physically demanding. And I hoped to find something in the medical field that I would enjoy and even though my msjor is in Medical Laboratory Technology, UmI believe I FINALLY found my niche. That is to work on kab equipment in the lab. I'm currently within 6 months of graduating as an MLT , buthopefully that is just a door opener for what I believe I would nuch rather be doing. Btw, I turned 50 last October and it is true what they say, its difficukt but Im still hanging in there.

In retrospect, I hzve also worked places that paid very little, but I enjoyed doing and given the choice between being happy doing something I live for chump change versus making MEGABUCKS doing something I hate, I will take the enjoyment evrrytime. Hopefully I once again find that hapoy, smart, good for me abd others again soon because at my age I have to believe.
It's my belief thatvthere would be a new medical technique that could "fix me," and two weeks ago I had a temporary spinal stimulator implanted andbI cried because I finally found something that got rid of most of my pain. That week I slept 7-8 hours per night! I hadnt done that in over a decade. I'm waiting for my insurance to approve it (which I know they will cus they approved the trial.) I can hardly wait to be given my second opportunity to live my life again.

I tell people this and most people dont have a clue as to what I have been through. It was a journey I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy and I truly believe that if I dudnt find relief soon I would have found another way. Now I jyst an waiting and for me the best way I can describe it is somebody giving me my life back.

Leslie Pater

A great post and reminder Derek!

After formative years of being 'smart and useful (not happy)', then rebelling by focusing primarily on being happy (not smart or useful), then after the multiple breakdowns (breakthroughs?) becoming happy and useful (but not smart), I'm glad to say that the balance has been slowly shifting to integrate all three...

Just shared with my partner and we've both sat with this and reflected, thanks!

I think you are right; but then I think that most of us (thinking people, that is) develop their personal plans with those three requisites in mind...not because we are perfect, but because most of us have been subject to the "smart and useful" policy advocated by our parents and teachers - and by the time we are thirty, we have learned that :happy" must be included.

Thanks as unusal for articulating philosophy we can practice!

Thankyou Derek for those thoughtful words which help us to establish a framework by which we can use to help us with our significant decision making. This reminded me of a book I had read a while ago - Repacking Your Bags:
Lighten Your Load for the Rest of Your Life
by Richard Leider & David Shapiro.
The intent of the authors was to "help people live where they belong, with the people they love, "doing the right work, on purpose."

It took me years to get these three together but after I went into the film industry, all three of these worked for me. I was happy at my work, it lasted my entire career and I was very useful in terms of entertaining people around the world with the results of my work.

Thank you Mr. Sivers, powerful advice!

I'm drawing the three circles on my white board tonight.

These are some timely mind triggers for me Derek. I was reflecting on myself and what's next I am at this point in my life.Your email pop up on my tablet at a crucial time and gives me some clarity of thought. Thanks!

Happy is highly personal, unique and time based. Useful is collaborative where one with agreement with others create that useful product or service. Smart begins very individualstic then with patience and perseverance adopters accept it and expect people to deploy it.

Hi Derek

The venn I referred so far is at https://breakingnorms.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/the-worst-career-advice-in-the-world-find-your-passion/ - I will add this one too...

Cheers, Kishore

Excellent concept.

People seem to work hard all their life and dream they could just have fun at the end.

While you get to do both (all 3) things both while working and while being retired :)

Hi Derek,

it might be better this strategy:

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/mps-process.htm

Anyway, thank you for your smart thoughts!!

All the best!

Fabrice

Ha! So clearly stated. I love it! Just before reading this, I was wrestling with this quote from E.B. White:

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."

To me, the dilemma here is that if I'm trying to improve the world (useful), I'm discontent with the way it is and therefore not enjoying it (not happy). But I don't think those need to be mutually exclusive. I can enjoy the world AND seek to improve it further. And if I keep my own long-term well-being in mind (smart), these three are likely to reinforce each other – happily improving the world and myself.

Though, like E.B. white, I usually struggle to find a good balance of the three. I'd love to hear more from you on how you find this balance.

By the way, I visited Te Papa this week, and wandered Cuba street – and thought of you. :)

Really very powerful and useful article. I can tell that you put in a lot of work, just because it looks so simple and common sense!

We have used your picture in our own post that you might like: https://medium.com/ripples-stories/stop-being-fooled-by-the-illusions-of-the-education-system-e48288fe9d84#.l0fnwf76v

The happy and smart part resonates really deeply with me. Thanks for the reminder. I love your simple wisdom.

fuck man, this has been a struggle of mine for years.

A lot of the businesses I've built up were because they would bring in passive money and were useful to others and pretty smart for the long-term, but realistically it's shit I don't really care much about.

I've just recognized needs in a market after doing research and built up a brand around it.

While it has paid for me to travel the world for the last few years and have a hell of a good time, I still have yet to find the business that will make me super happy. I get bored with the ones I'm running and luckily I have teams who can handle all the content for them, but it seems like it will only go on for so long.

I guess it's all a part of the process...test,fail,test,build,repeat and try to find stuff to make me happy.

Thank you Derek. These are excellent words of wisdom for those of us looking to take the next step toward living an extraordinary life. I will absolutely share this article with others. Peace and love!

Love this; simple yet profoundly powerful.

Additionally, I love the story of the Mexican fisherman; thanks for pointing that one out.

I'd not heard it before, but have often made the same point to people (though no were near as entertaining and eloquently!); at least now I'll be able to make it with a good, old-fashioned story! :)

Cheers.

I have noticed that when I focus on happiness all else falls into place.

Usually things that cause happiness (not necessarily pleasure)are smart.

Being useful is over-rated unless it causes happiness.

The world is full of people willing to sacrifice their happiness for being useful.

I let them do their thing :)

I like this. Reminds me very much of Mihaly Cikszentmihaly's studies where he talks about success being accomplished by doing your best at what you love while contributing to something greater than yourself. I actually have a kids book coming out in April not too dissimilar from all this. Great read thanks.

Thank you Derek. I really needed this today—I'm about to start a new career, and am struggling with these decisions right now. I'll keep this advice at the back of my head.

The sweet spot.

Well said Derek

Excellent food for thought.

Three great words for a great path of life Be Smart Be Happy & Be Usefull

My thoughts? To me, being smart means recognizing the necessity of "Happy" and "Useful". To me, being useful, to others and myself, makes me happy. So, simply recognize the power of being useful to others and yourself. Its a win-win situation.

Good one! It's good to be reminded.
Thanks!

I cringe at the sight of self-help books as I cringe at the idea of motivational speakers. After years of personal growth workshops, meditation sessions, and mantras, I have come to a place that simply wants to do what I love, do it in the best ways possible, and trust that others will find enjoyment at what I do. Naturally then, I like your posting, it resonates with me. My greatest challenge comes in the SMART circle as I struggle to find ways to promote my music. I say to myself there must be thousands of people in the world whose hearts will blossom in the calmness and beauty of my songs, but I do not know how to reach them. The question that comes to mind: Not smart or not useful?

What do you call the shape that is formed when the three circles intersect? That's the real question here. Sort of a puffy triangle. Would make a good logo shape, and a 3-sided, 3 dimensional one could sit on a desk and also rock back and forth if you tapped it. Hours of fun there. And pretty sure watching it would help to create smart, happy, useful thoughts, but need to do a study to be sure. At large Businesses that have big rooms with at least 50 people all at their own desk. Give everyone one on their desk and then record their new ideas.

hey Derek,

I'm just wondering if you elaborate a little about why "musicians who always perform at the local venue but never make a good recording" falls under the happy and useful, but not smart category?
Equal amount of effort with VERY different potential result. — Derek

Thanks . This is an excellent reminder. I am smiling with content. Keep them coming.

I want to say I appreciate your wisdom. To paraphrase Tim Ferriss, I will say that you are an interesting and inspirational human.

I think your formula's simplicity makes it useful for most people. At the same time I disagree with some points.

One is that about happy and smart (not useful). A person obsessively focused on how to be happy isn't actually happy. The key word is "obsession". They're so used to the chase, that they never cross the finish line.

Happiness means feeling content. I do agree though that being useful to others increases our happiness. We are wired to feel good when we help.

At the same time, there is another model, which to some might sound edgy. That involves practicing unconditional love to yourself and to others.

If you define happiness as feeling good inside, constantly feeling love towards yourself sounds like the ideal recipe. What reason would you have for not loving yourself?

A great synthesis of big ideas. Very useful for those mapping out their futures in an age of unprecedented self-determination.

Thanks for this simple system Derek. I like it much better than the Jim Collins: what do you like to do- what will people pay for - what are you good at system.

The goal of being useful is woefully underrated in our current environment.

Thanks Derek, loots of confusing ideas floating around the net, but this article is very good at bringing clarity to these. Like "... “passive income” instead of focusing on doing something that’s really valuable to others. "

Hey Derek,

Do you mean it in a way like if a good recording lands in the hands of a producer or record executive, you could get signed? Or that the recording can bring in revenue for you if it's used in a film/commercial.

I kind of fall in this category of musicians. It's not really the same effort, at least financially speaking. It costs $5000 to record an album, which may or may not get in the right hands after spending all that dough.

kiran

Excellent article

Great article! It's a nice metric and I think including all three parts might be necessary for the survival of each other as well.

It got me thinking about a WBW blog post. It's a long read and you will not see the connection until half way though but it's one of the most inspiring texts i read all 2015. http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html

All the best!
Good one! Thanks for posting this. — Derek

Hi Derek,

A great insights into what creates a life of fulfillment. I would assert that the overlapping center could be called fulfillment.

In my mind happiness is another name for love. Smart brings the best knowledge to the table and
usefulness creates tangible positive results

fulfillment for me = life done in love + best knowledge + helpful

again, great post!

I am in the process of deciding on a big life change and this is a really neat and valuable piece of good information and advice. I enjoy your emails and look forward to them. My thanks to you.

Love the image. Easy to remember! Great article.

I love this graph

It's always a matter of self-awareness, isn't it? In particular when it comes to happiness. People usually are not aware of what makes them really happy. They take decisions based on whether the expected outcome fits conscious or subconscious stereotypes or not. They rarely judge situations on the feelings they generate in them. High frequency fluctuations from extreme joy to deep sorrow is an indicator of a soul that has never walked the self-awareness path deep enough.

But maybe I go too philosophical and bit off track here... Nice post nevertheless!

It's so simple when put like that.
Thank you :)

Thanks for the reminder Derek, great read!

well!
Thank you for your post Mr. Derek
I am really grateful for your advice
Maybe this is the reminder that I long needed

Exceptionally timely for me. I found it particularly useful that you broke down every overlap zone in the Venn diagram (e.g. smart & useful but not happy, etc.). Meticulous!

Oh how true! It seems hard to make life-changing decisions while listening to what others think you should do. Thank you for your comments.

Love love love. Thank you so much for the reminder. You rock!

Again, Derek, what you've posted here is cogent, thoughtful and laser-focussed on your point. Thank you.

Fantastic article! I definitely relate to happy and smart! 'Useful to others', I have been working on for a long time; I'm finding how I do that becomes clearer and easier the more I progress with myself, becoming less reliant on others/mentors, so I can in turn give back. I'm enjoying the journey and look forward to leading the way!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Derek. Have an awesome day.

Jesse Connor

Great enjoy this alot made me think of my own happiness thank you

I've really enjoyed this post. Well, not only enjoyed. This is really VERY SEROIUS. And I've loved this phrase: HAPPINESS IS THE OIL. We refuel regularly, but do we always care for the oil level?

I will read this to myself every day for 1 whole month. This is way to true for me, it will change. Thank you!!

Cool Venn diagram says it all...

For me personally, I might suggest replacing "smart" with "creative", but of course its hard to be creative without feeling "happy" and "healthy'. No matter how remarkably "useful" your smart, happy, creativity may be, no one will ever use it unless you can get the intended users to know about it! You are surely Yoda-like in your thoughts! Ha, Ha!

Wicked, Thanks again Derek

Best,
Scott
PS: I've sent you a missive, look forward to hearing from you...

Derek - good stuff. I soaked you in on the Ferris podcast and have dug into some of your stuff - we concur on lots. I do believe, and am an example of, someone who's really into lifestyle design and passive income. Yet it seems the assumption is that someone checks out and chills on the beach once they've attained the income to do so. I'm a veteran of the same direct sales company since 2004, have built a 7 figure annual residual income, yet am more engaged in our business and more on purpose than ever before (being useful). Being useful is a part of my dream life design. Teaching nutrition (my degree) and financial principles (working a plan B, debt reduction, etc)... its part of what I do daily... Yet I have passive income and have designed my dream lifestyle. Food for thought. Best, MW

You just described my goals and once again turned it upside down. Thanks

Derek,

This article is very clear and focus, thanks for being you & keep up the great work...

Your on line friend,

Rae Rae

Your HU comment reminded me of my one and only mission trip (to Haiti)last year. I left thinking that if we had all donated the $2k we each spent to allow the locals to build wells, etc., it would have been money much better spent. I felt like the only good we did was to make ourselves feel righteous.

Derek,

this is an extremely useful concept. You nailed it.

The last ten years, I tried to come up with a good idea what to do with my life. I always felt that something is missing. Your diagram shows me why this is.

I think many are struggling with this. It's way too easy to choose one of the obvious options that pair two of the three (especially smart and useful, and happy and smart).

In contrast, it is extremely difficult to find a life plan/career where the three intersect. We look to those who made it, and hope to discover the trick. You, for example, made CD-Baby because it made you happy and was useful. And it accidentally turned out also to be smart when it started to generate income.

But that's the point: successful people more or less accidentally stumble upon something great. They could have failed, too.

So, why is this? Why is it so hard to do something that fulfills us, is useful to others, and makes money?

I'll play with your diagram, and approach my life planning with this in mind. Thanks a lot for this, and keep up sharing your great ideas!

Good reminder!!!Great thoughts!!!

Great post as usual. I achieved recently all 3 by becoming a Wellness and Nutrition coach, my passion. So I study and learnt a whole lot of new things, I help people to become healthier and I love what I do. If interested, check out www.wellnessmethods.com I have a few free giveaways

Hi Derek, Thank you so much. Very thought provoking in a K.I.S.S way. I've shared it on my facebook page april4health.com and hope you don't mind.

Wow, very true Derek. And it parallels what I was saying in my article below. We're both hitting the same 3 things from different angles. Thanks, I liked it!

http://www.lifehack.org/366451/3-keys-happiness

While I agree with Mr. Sivers that a measure of expedient "usefulness" is an essential requirement for entrepreneurial success, I submit his three rings are too confining for broad success as a human being and wholly prohibitive for becoming one of those remarkable people who, in pursuit of a unique vision and widely disparaged by their contemporaries, doggedly press on toward a goal they alone can see, and upon achieving it, turn the tide of human history. I present a broader dissent on my blog, along with a “never say never” list and a challenge for Derek to add "willing to get a little lost" to his recipe for value.

http://dancetodeathafterlife.com/never-say-never/
class="response">I like your article and I'm honored that I inspired such a thoughtful reply. But by “useful” I didn't mean immediate market appeal. All those people you name were doing incredibly useful things for the world. The counter-example — the “not useful” ones — are those who just hang out full-time, never doing anything that anyone could ever benefit from. — Derek

Thank you.. this is gold for me, thank you so much.

The model needs is context dependent, and needs another dimension:
- I don't have enough for myself
- I have just enough for myself
- I have more than enough for myself

There is little point promoting any of the above to someone who doesn't have enough to eat.

Same for the lifestyle design example: if the person has been crushed by chronic burnout, happy and smart will be the best they are able to aim for

In the final analysis, I think that happy/Smart/Useful is correct, but it's assumes a high Mazlow pyramid / rich man's perspective
Good point! I agree. Thanks for adding this. — Derek

Man thanks for this. Sometimes when I am talking to myself and others I forget this. I find myself falling into this " I am miserable with my life." I have rolled myself into the "Smart and Useful" category and dont do much in the terms of happiness. Thanks for this post.

Man thanks for this. Sometimes when I am talking to myself and others I forget this. I find myself falling into this " I am miserable with my life." I have rolled myself into the "Smart and Useful" category and dont do much in the terms of happiness. Thanks for this post.

This is brilliant. Just like all things in life you have to have balance. Life is not black and white.

I never leave comments but this article struck me - I'm happy and smart and trying to figure out how to be useful. It's been a great challenge even though I want so much to figure out my useful. I heard you say somewhere else that you "try something and see what happens". ...Maybe I'll try that. (^_^)

Hi Derek, nice one. Would love to see you write how to get to that intersection? Do you know some who feel thay are in that intersection? Often, we see people complain that they are very succesful career-wise but their personal lives are in complete shambles. And I have heard the vice versa also. Any thoughts?

Thanks Derek! Great article.

I often skip happy. I used to say that I did it for my kids...to pay for private school and all the rest of life in San Fran. Now, I realize how much of a disservice it is to do this...to them and to me. So messed up to blame others for misguided effort. Working to add in happy.

I was thinking just today, "beware of quotations". That so many quotations are used to romanticize life, reduce our challenges to a simple few inspiring words. This article is a great reminder of the hazards of that kind of thinking. That a practical formula can be much more meaningful and enduring. This is useful. Thank you.

Derek,

You are an inspiration. Succinct, helpful and actionable. Bravo and Thank you :)

This is so simple yet profound! I am going to use these foundations in my startup business! Thanks!

Hi Derek, I understand what your saying and I agree with it, I can trace back decisions that I've made and ultimately found unsatisfactory or worse acts of self sabotage.

I'm considering the idea that having these thoughts in mind whilst making future decisions will be enough to make more positive and intentional choices.

Sometimes I don't seem to notice that there's a defining decision being made until a few years later.

What do you think?

Excellent - thanks for sharing Derek!

Perfect formula, perfect combinations! Must do, must not forget. Thanks Derek! 😊

Wow, what a great way to actually prioritize things in my life! Thanks, Derek, for sharing this!

This really hit home as I have probably spent time in a few of the spots. I think I have been trying harder to combine the three or see the modt effective and beneficial way more recently.

This was timely for me. As an educator I think we don't spend enough time helping students figure out what makes them happy. Or rather, we don't allow them enough time to be happy during their day in the 'here and now'. I'm working at a small school that is trying, but reading this and dealing with a recent student complaint are making question our priorities a bit.
Thanks for helping my challenge my own priorities.

While I agree with Mr. Sivers that a measure of expedient "usefulness" is an essential requirement for entrepreneurial success, I submit his three rings are too confining for broad success as a human being and wholly prohibitive for becoming one of those remarkable people who, in pursuit of a unique vision and widely disparaged by their contemporaries, doggedly press on toward a goal they alone can see, and upon achieving it, turned the tide of human history.

Expanded thoughts can be found here:

http://dancetodeathafterlife.com/never-say-never/

Wow,I discovered this article at just the right time, because it really hit close to home. I'm an artist in the Athens, Georgia, music and art scene, and it's long been my aim as an artist to create art that's happy, smart, and useful.
Case in point: Many of my friends are musicians in bands of varying levels of success, but band expenses are always an issue and not all gigs prove to be lucrative. Most of these bands donate their talent to various local charities at their own expense, as well.
As an appreciator of the Athens flavor of rock music, I've pitched in with my talents as a painter to create whimsical portraits of my musician friends. I then issue prints of these portraits, or have the artwork printed on t-shirts. Then I use the profits, after expenses, to invest back into these musicians and bands, thus giving these guys some much needed cash flow to keep making that music that makes Athens the unique music scene it is.
I just started doing this several months ago and have already helped one solo-artist and am currently helping a three piece old-school rock band.
So, I'm doing the smart thing by investing in the long-term health of my hometown music scene; the useful thing by creating images that people like and can be reproduced onto all sorts of collectable media like posters, and wearable art like t-shirts, etc.; and the combination of me doing something both smart and useful has generated a lot of happiness so far for all the musicians I've painted, and for best of all, myself.
I was formerly a painter of flower, critters, and other natural subjects. Although I was pretty good at these, I wasn't quite fulfilled.
Then one day I painted a goofy, cartoonish portrait of one of my musician friends, and *POOF!* Instant hit with my friends. Thus began the idea of feeding profits from my art back into the music scene. Been happy ever since now that my art has taken on a new sense of purpose and meaning, and not just something pretty to hang in a bathroom.
Thanks for posting this awesome article and for reading my rather long comment!

Intuitive. Quite interesting. You'd make a good preacher.

This is what IKIGAI means too . The Japanese concept of finding the common thread of what makes you excited to get up in the morning , that which is useful to others and that which can earn you a living ! :)

I found the article very useful. thanks much! i know its been a while but just cause you don't see me doesn't mean I'm not there!!! ill be checking in more often.

These are three perspectives of setting out ideas

Makes so much sense. Thank you

So what's an example of happy, useful, and smart?

Great post, Derek. You have me asking if I've put enough thought into what's useful to others.

Many thanks, Gil

Authenticity is what you described to me in your very fun article. I like the eye catching graphics and the simplicity of your post. To me authenticity merges all three ideas into one powerful force the force of you (we). Thanks for putting it out there...

These are good points. It is difficult to know what is exactly useful for others at the beginning since at least in my case I always start with what I love. I couldn't do something I do not love.

Also due to financial pressures we tend to make wrong decisions.

I guess we need to keep asking these questions over and over again like a process. I tend to want to just think of a final solution but I think you are right Derek, this is a process. How do we focus?

Kind Regards,

Estela

I share a different one with my friends if or when the opportunity arises. It's a matrix of sorts with 4 quadrants. And the axes are sad to happy and wrong to right. So of course the 4 quads would be happy/right, happy/wrong, sad/right and sad/wrong. Clearly any decision or situation that leads to or is in happy/right you don't have to change. Just enjoy it to the fullest and be the best you can be or learn to appreciate every moment of it. On the flip side anything that is sad/wrong should be discontinued immediately. The other 2 in between well one just has to figure it out maybe push it to the 2 extremes and take action thereafter.

I LOVE THIS!!! I haven't read your blog from it's beginning hence now and then I'll find something here and read it, and almost always I finish reading saying "FYEAH!". And I'm starting to see that your blog probably has all the insights I'm looking for for the questions and ideas that are all good in their own right but sometimes conflict with one another and I haven't figured out how to piece them together. This post is one them! Thank you Derek!
☺ — Derek

Wow. My future plans lie smack in the middle of that diagram! Thank you very much!

BRILLIANT!!!!

Superb insights

I really like the way you think and out up these thoughts together.
It surely provided me with a new way to look life with

Derek, thanks. It reminds me that helping is a way to be happy, its just working on the income next. It always feels good to help others. It reminded me to carry out another video to help others. Thanks again vinnychoff

Yup, so well said and elegantly simple, thanks Derek!

I enjoyed this. But I find myself second guessing "smart."

Thanks for the food for thought!

These kinds of profiles are completely observable and the tradeoffs are predictable.

The clarity is hard to get but worth working for. I think based on personality or principles, people devalue one of the qualities vs. the others. Lifestyle design, for example, is a strong focal point for someone who really wants to be happy and smart for themselves as opposed to adding that extra care of being useful.

The tool works. Thanks, Derek!

Japanes call this Ikigai. Modern version also have venn diagrams between what you love, what the world needs, what you're good at and what you can get paid for.

https://medium.com/thrive-global/ikigai-the-japanese-secret-to-a-long-and-happy-life-might-just-help-you-live-a-more-fulfilling-9871d01992b7

But yours is simpler and maybe more efficient to start with.

Best
Robert

Words of Wisdom...and I know they don't come cheap. You've been through the fire and are a soul searcher. Time to put you on my def read list!

This is just too damn good.

This was a great explanation of why lifestyle design without being useful to others is short of the ultimate goodness you can achieve in life. Thanks Derek! //Omar 🧙

Derek,
What a great approach to it.
It was a mind blowing to me, I saw myself clearly. Now it's much more easy to craft my path and what I was missing. (useful)

Thank you!
Hugo.

I'm running through some life-sized decisions and collecting my thoughts using this tool.

Thinking about what each of these mean - Happy - Smart - Useful

Happiness is the oil. Without it, the friction kills the engine.
You must be lifted by those around you.
Smart... I hear the absence of it in your thoughts Derek, and I am pondering on what the presence of it look like.

Lame strategies -> great strategies: Use a strategy that works well with who you are and with the world

This really resounded for me. I have difficulties making decisions so this encouraged me.

Hi, I like this short topic, I'd like to use this and share with it my coworkers for team building in our meeting. Do you have another example to give for Happy and Useful but not happy? I feel like not a lot of people do get the references you provided. Thanks so much
Feel free to use it anywhere, and feel free to make up another example. — Derek