Hey there, good mornin’ and g’day!

It was another busy weekend at the Henderson household. We are in the midst of dance competition season, and my daughters Presley-Mae and Dilynn are likely dreading Monday more than most of us.

I am proud of my dancers. Without question, dance brings happiness to their well-being. I am elated to see how hard they work towards their enjoyment and fulfillment.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that happiness will come naturally if we follow our instincts. The idea is simple: if it feels good, do it. However, this is nature's cruelest hoax. While humans desire worldly rewards like money, power, pleasure, and admiration, they also want to be happy. But getting that worldly stuff does not ensure happiness. This is because nature only cares about whether we pass on our genes, not whether we enjoy doing so.

Arthur C. Brooks is a name that I’ve introduced to you before, a contributor to The Atlantic, a professor who teaches a happiness course at Harvard University, Brooks has been searching for the answers about what it means to be happy for decades, and he's arrived at some specific conclusions.

In his recent book co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, Brooks explains that the ultimate goal in life should not be to achieve happiness, but to constantly strive for it. He frequently emphasizes that happiness is not a destination, but rather a direction. It is something that one should aim to increase without any end goal in mind. “It’s not just, 'Go get happier.' That's too general," Brooks said on a new episode of the "Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris" podcast. "I talk about the sub-parts, the macronutrients of happiness."

"When I meet somebody, I can figure out pretty quickly where their 'diet' is not up to snuff, where they're lacking in their macronutrients of happiness and we can work on the subdimensions," he added.

The happiest people "enjoy their lives. They get a lot of satisfaction in their activities and they have a sense of meaning about why they're alive," Brooks said on the podcast. "These are the protein, carbohydrates and fat of happiness."

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius

3 Macronutrients of Happiness

Enjoyment

Satisfaction

Purpose

Enjoyment

People often assume that enjoyment is simply pleasure, Brooks said, which isn't an accurate way to think of it. Constantly chasing purely pleasurable experiences "is a terrible way to live a fulfilling life," he said.

"What we need to do, by the way is not to get rid of the sources of pleasure, but to add two things that will make them more human."

You can experience enjoyment when you take a source of pleasure and add people and memory to the mix, Brooks said: "If you're doing something that's pleasurable and can be addictive [and] you don't do it alone, then you can get enjoyment which is a source of actual authentic and enduring happiness."

There are experiences that you can enjoy solo like reading a book, meditating or listening to music, but he suggested engaging in social activities like going out for drinks or watching funny videos on social media with people you enjoy spending time with.

Satisfaction

"Satisfaction is the joy, the reward, that you get after you struggle for something," Brooks said. "We as humans, we need to struggle, we need to strive, we need to sacrifice, we even need pain in our lives, because that's actually how we earn something."

Brooks shared an analogy from his father-in-law that illustrates the concept of satisfaction: "The reason people aren't as happy as they should be is because they don't enjoy their dinner," he said. "Because they're never hungry."

He also used the example of how his students at Harvard wouldn't be as satisfied by acing a test if they cheated, compared to if they worked really hard to study for the exam. "We want to defer our gratification for real rewards," he explained.

Purpose

Purpose is the feeling that your life has a sense of meaning, Brooks said. Of all three "macronutrients," purpose is the one that you need to experience the most.

Brooks said that there are three sub-parts to meaning:

Coherence - Why do things happen the way they do?

Purpose - Why is my life unfolding the way it is? What are my goals, and what's my direction?

Significance - Why does it matter that I am alive?

And there aren't right answers to these questions, he said, because the answers are subjective for everyone. The only wrong answers to these questions are no answers, "which is not failure. It's actually a really good outcome if you fail because you know what to start looking for," Brooks said.

"It takes a lot of work" to find your purpose, he added, but it's really important to think about it and have a sense of direction.

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama

Henderson Family Wealth – New Discovery Tools

Some exciting news at Henderson Family Wealth…….as most of you know, our unique approach to wealth management involves a purpose-driven approach, an immersive process of continuous discovery that cultivates perspective and empowers personal growth, family harmony and prosperous wealth creation. Well, it’s with great pride that I can mention that we are introducing some new tools to our process. I’ve spent time creating new seminars and workbooks, a curriculum of sorts, that will help us approach some of life’s most challenging questions with intrigue, reflection, and dedication.

Now, let’s take a brief look at how happy the markets are making us lately, and then I’ll share a few thoughts for us to consider as we cruise into the week ahead.

"Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who you are.”

Chinese Proverb

And now, to the Markets…..

The past few weeks have seen more meaningful activity across global equity, fixed income, commodity, and currency markets, marked by an increase in volatility. Two developments were particularly noteworthy. The first is a significant shift in U.S. interest rate expectations due to recent inflation data. The second concerns heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, following the Iranian and Israeli attacks on each other, which has left investors pondering the potential impacts on financial markets. We discuss both below.

Nearly a week ago, Iran launched an attack on Israel using hundreds of drones and missiles, reportedly in response to an Israeli strike in Syria earlier this month that killed several members of Iran’s armed forces. While Israel successfully defended itself against the attack, it represented a notable escalation in tensions as it was the first direct attack by Iran on Israeli soil. More recently, Israel has reportedly retaliated with an attempted strike that appears to be confined to military targets in Iran. Oil prices, which tend to reflect the region’s geopolitical risk most closely, have not surprisingly been volatile over the past few weeks as investors try to gage the severity of this escalation and the risk of further destabilization in the region.

From a market standpoint, the more influential developments have been on the inflation and interest rate fronts. The U.S. inflation data for March showed that, for a third month in a row, the pace of inflation in the U.S. was no longer easing as it had for the most of last year, and in some areas was reaccelerating. The stubbornness of inflation pressures presents a dilemma for the U.S. Federal Reserve, which had earlier expressed growing confidence that it would be able to cut rates at some point this year. But over the past week, the tone has changed, with a number of Fed officials acknowledging a need for patience before taking any action on rates. Consequently, markets expectations have also changed dramatically from anticipating up to seven interest rate cuts in the U.S. just a few months ago, to now expecting as few as one to two. This recalibration has driven bond yields higher (and bond prices lower), while stock markets have also trended downward recently, albeit relatively calmly, as investors grapple with the prospect of prolonged higher rates potentially affecting growth and corporate earnings.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar has rallied against most other major currencies, including the Canadian dollar. There is a growing view that central banks in Canada and other regions may start cutting rates by the summer, while the U.S. may not act until later this year at the earliest. That would lead to a widening of the differences between interest rate levels across the regions, which has traditionally been a driver of currencies.

We haven’t been terribly surprised by the shift in interest rate expectations described above. And we’re not convinced it fundamentally alters the investment outlook. Our approach continues to lean on a few high-level views. First, higher bond yields have improved the return potential for bonds, providing us with a more useful tool for some of our client portfolios. Second, we believe equities face a range of outcomes over the next few years that is a bit wider than normal, stemming from the rapid series of interest rates hikes over the last few years. That said, it’s clear that the U.S. economy has demonstrated less sensitivity to interest rate increases than other regions thus far, supporting its equity market. Nevertheless, we are managing our asset allocation positioning more carefully than usual given the macroeconomic backdrop.

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity." Carl Jung

As we head into the week, take some time to reflect on your own happiness and how cultivation enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose can help lead to a more purposeful trajectory.

To help prompt some thought, I thought it might be interesting to share some life learnings that I’ve gleaned through the years, some notes I’ve gathered, and perhaps a few concepts that will prompt some introspection on what happiness means to you on the journey ahead..

17 Henderson life lessons and contemplations

1. When you focus on the potential and opportunities that lie ahead, you'll find more avenues to explore and succeed.
2. By keeping an open and optimistic mindset, you'll be able to see the possibilities that might have otherwise been overlooked.
3. Every encounter in life serves a purpose.
4. You have two choices: either you inspire others to transform their lives, or you become the catalyst for your own transformation.
5. Embrace the unknown and the unfamiliar. Life's greatest adventures often lie beyond the confines of our comfort zones. Don't be afraid to venture into uncharted territory, for it is in those moments of exploration and discovery that we truly grow and expand our horizons.
6. The true worth of a moment is often not fully appreciated until it has become a cherished memory.
7. When you start to take note of the things you are grateful for, your focus shifts to fulfilling perspective on life.
8. Mastering your speech is the key to shaping your destiny.
9. Life is an ocean, reflecting to the thinker the very thoughts they project onto it. What you see in the ocean of life is a direct result of the mindset and perspectives you choose to hold.
10. The world around you serves as a canvas, upon which your own inner landscape is painted. By cultivating positive, constructive thoughts, you can shape the reality you experience.
11. Life is a delicate balance of circumstances and choices. While we cannot control the events that unfold before us, we hold the power to shape our response to them.
12. Our mindset and resilience are the keys that unlock our ability to navigate life's ups and downs with grace and purpose.
13. The first person you encounter each day is the one staring back at you in the mirror.
14. Doing something from the heart is a deeply fulfilling experience that surpasses the satisfaction of any other accomplishment.
15. When you pour your genuine passion and care into a task, the resulting sense of meaning and purpose is unparalleled.
16. The people you surround yourself with have the power to influence your thoughts, actions, and the trajectory of your life.
17. Your ability to unlock your true potential is intrinsically linked to the depth of your self-understanding. The more you know yourself - your strengths, weaknesses, values, and aspirations - the better equipped you are to maximize your capabilities and achieve your goals.

I sincerely appreciate all the positive feedback from these morning musings, it’s a part of my process that not only allows me to tap into my creative nature but allows me to share some reflections that contribute to my own happiness and purposeful journey.

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." Dale Carnegie

Be well and enjoy the moments,

Derek