I Built a System for Happiness. Starts June 1.

Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is off to a great unofficial start of summer.

I’ve been speaking more on the topic of happiness — and I’m now launching a coaching cohort. We’re rolling out the website soon; here’s the six-page slide deck.

The objective? Help high performers figure out what they actually want out of life — and then build the system to execute it.

Going forward, the pricing will be $2,000. I’m offering this first cohort for $900.

It starts June 1 and runs every Monday for six weeks. There are six spots. I guess I like the number six.

Want in? Or not sure and wanna chat about it? Simply reply to this email.

Reply to me now and we can get you locked in.

Milestones are going through my head.

This Saturday, 30 May, marks exactly 20 years since I moved here to Los Angeles.

As everyone in the English-speaking world knows, I turned 50 in March. In the show I did in Las Vegas for my friends, I talked about how the Super Bowl turned 60 and America will turn 250. What did not occur to me at the time is that I’ve been alive for 20% of American history. Now I feel old. Crazy to parse things that way, though, isn’t it? A 100-year-old has been here for 40% of our nation’s duration.

May 8: We did a small Puja here at home to commemorate the two-year anniversary of my Dad’s passing.

June 4: Our son will graduate from daycare. Yep, that’s a thing. We enrolled him in April 2021, when he was eight months old. That’s four years, the same length of time he’ll spend in high school, in college, and in med school.

Here’s another path to happiness.

Trending recently was the idea of creating your Top 10 or Top 100 songs of all time.

Listen on Spotify:

Observations, some by me and some by my best friend ChatGPT:

Mode Year: 1994. Not surprising to anyone who knows it’s my favorite year ever.

Median Year: 1984.

Mean Year: 1982.

Most Represented Artist: Led Zeppelin.

And boy, did I grow up in 1980s Ohio.

Here’s the entire thing:

1. Ain’t No Sunshine — Bill Withers (1971)

2. Always on My Mind — Pet Shop Boys (1987)

3. Angie — The Rolling Stones (1973)

4. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You — Led Zeppelin (1969)

5. Back to Black — Amy Winehouse (2006)

6. The Beauty of Gray — Live (1991)

7. Billie Jean — Michael Jackson (1982)

8. Bizarre Love Triangle — New Order (1986)

9. Black — Pearl Jam (1991)

10. Bole Chudiyan — Jatin-Lalit, et al. (2001)

11. Borderline — Madonna (1983)

12. Born on the Bayou — Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)

13. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You — Frankie Valli (1967)

14. Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You — Lauryn Hill (1998)

15. Closer — Nine Inch Nails (1994)

16. Come and Get Your Love — Redbone (1974)

17. Creep — Radiohead (1992)

18. Dammit — blink-182 (1997)

19. The Dance — Garth Brooks (1990)

20. Danza Kuduro — Don Omar & Lucenzo (2010)

21. A Day in the Life — The Beatles (1967)

22. Daydream Believer — The Monkees (1967)

23. Don’t Dream It’s Over — Crowded House (1986)

24. Don’t Look Back in Anger — Oasis (1995)

25. Downtown — Petula Clark (1964)

26. D’yer Mak’er — Led Zeppelin (1973)

27. Forever Young — Alphaville (1984)

28. God Only Knows — The Beach Boys (1966)

29. Good Times — Sam Cooke (1964)

30. Hit ’Em Up — 2Pac (1996)

31. Hotel California — Eagles (1976)

32. How Will I Know — Whitney Houston (1985)

33. Ice Ice Baby — Vanilla Ice (1990)

34. Imagine — John Lennon (1971)

35. Interstate Love Song — Stone Temple Pilots (1994)

36. Into the Mystic — Van Morrison (1970)

37. It Never Rains in Southern California — Albert Hammond (1972)

38. It Takes Two — Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock (1988)

39. It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday — Boyz II Men (1991)

40. Jailhouse Rock — Elvis Presley (1957)

41. Jump — Van Halen (1984)

42. Just a Friend — Biz Markie (1989)

43. Laid - James (1993)

44. Landslide — Fleetwood Mac (1975)

45. Layla — Derek and the Dominos (1970)

46. The Lemon Song — Led Zeppelin (1969)

47. Love Song — Tesla (1989)

48. Lovesong — The Cure (1989)

49. Misled — Kool & the Gang (1984)

50. My Way — Frank Sinatra (1969)

51. Never Tear Us Apart — INXS (1987)

52. New York State of Mind — Billy Joel (1976)

53. Ni**as in Paris — JAY-Z & Kanye West (2011)

54. Nightswimming — R.E.M. (1992)

55. No Need to Argue — The Cranberries (1994)

56. No Sleep Till Brooklyn — Beastie Boys (1986)

57. Nothin’ — N.O.R.E. (2002)

58. Nothing Better — The Postal Service (2003)

59. Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang — Dr. Dre & Snoop (1992)

60. N.W.O. — Ministry (1992)

61. One — Metallica (1988)

62. One — U2 (1991)

63. Only in Dreams — Weezer (1994)

64. Only You — Yazoo (1982)

65. Operator — Jim Croce (1972)

66. Part of Your World — Jodi Benson (1989)

67. Party and Bullshit — The Notorious B.I.G. (1993)

68. Please Mr. Postman — The Marvelettes (1961)

69. Possum Kingdom — Toadies (1994)

70. Romeo and Juliet — Dire Straits (1980)

71. Runaway — Kanye West feat. Pusha T (2010)

72. Santeria — Sublime (1996)

73. Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes (2003)

74. She Loves You — The Beatles (1963)

75. She’s a Lady — Tom Jones (1971)

76. Simple Man — Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)

77. Since I’ve Been Loving You — Led Zeppelin (1970)

78. Dock of the Bay — Otis Redding (1968)

79. Smack My Bitch Up — The Prodigy (1997)

80. Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana (1991)

81. The Sound of Silence — Simon & Garfunkel (1964)

82. Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin (1971)

83. Stand By Me — Spyder Turner (1967)

84. Stay — Jackson Browne (1977)

85. Strawberry Fields Forever — The Beatles (1967)

86. Sunglasses at Night — Corey Hart (1983)

87. Sunny Afternoon — The Kinks (1966)

88. These Eyes — The Guess Who (1969)

89. This Magic Moment — The Drifters (1960)

90. Tonight, Tonight — The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)

91. Train Kept A-Rollin’ — Aerosmith (1974)

92. Two Step — Dave Matthews Band (1996)

93. Under Pressure — Queen & David Bowie (1981)

94. The Way I Am — Eminem (2000)

95. When a Man Loves a Woman — Percy Sledge (1966)

96. When Doves Cry — Prince (1984)

97. When You Were Young — The Killers (2006)

98. Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd (1975)

99. Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi — Manna Dey & Lata (1956)

100. Your Song — Ewan McGregor & Alessandro Safina (2001)

Listen on Spotify.

This exercise was a trip down memory lane. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I’d love to see yours!

Rajiv Satyal is a (non-ironic?) comedian. He has resided in Los Angeles for 20 years.