In order to be happy you have to meet all of your needs.
Defining human need is tough, because we are complex beings. But luckily, many have already done this work for us. The original was Abraham Maslow. You have undoubtedly heard of his Hierarchy of Needs:
A caveat that the pyramid metaphor is a bit outdated. Happiness psychologist Ed Deiner points out that "Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don't have them, you don't need to fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others]... They're like vitamins. We need them all."
I like to think about happiness as a human need. Understanding the complexity of that need helps us to know what we should do about it.
