When we think of a good life, we usually think in two dimensions: happiness and meaning.
Happiness is joy, comfort, and stability. Meaning is about impact, coherence, and purpose.
But there’s a third dimension we often ignore: psychological richness.
It’s the flavour that comes from novelty, complexity, and shifts in perspective. The more variety you have in experiences, the richer your psychological life becomes.
If happiness is your batting average, psychological richness is the number of sixes you hit. You may not always be ahead on the scoreboard, but the highlights reel is spectacular. In a sense, this is related to creating EPIC moments that rise above the mundane.
This post distills my notes and key takeaways from Life in Three Dimensions by Shigehiro Oishi, a book that makes a case for adding psychological richness alongside happiness and meaning when thinking about what makes a truly good life.
| Type of Life | Core Features | Metaphors |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological Richness | Novelty, play, perspective change | Treasure box, home runs, dark chocolate |
| Happiness | Joy, comfort, stability | Balloon, batting average, chocolate |
| Meaning | Impact, coherence | Angel, activist, monk |
The sweet spot is a mix of all three. Hedonic pleasures keep us light, meaningful pursuits keep us grounded, and psychologically rich experiences keep us curious.
Modern life sells the idea that if you’re not happy all the time, something is wrong. But that pressure can backfire. Negative emotions are natural—pushing them away can lead to unhealthy coping, from binge watching to worse habits.
Happiness is actually easier to attain if you don’t overreach. Satisficers, who are content with “good enough”, are freer than maximisers, who are haunted by all the other options they could have chosen. The more you compare upward, the more happiness slips away.
A psychologically rich day isn’t just productive, it’s one where you experience something unfamiliar, feel a range of emotions, and gain a new perspective.
Examples:
Certain traits help: openness to experience, playfulness, and the ability to form strong social relationships. A bit of spontaneity also helps one choose exploration over responsibility every now and then.
Even adversity can add richness. Communities hit by disasters like hurricanes or COVID often form deeper bonds and emerge with richer social lives.
We often overestimate variety’s role while planning. The trip itinerary is filled with new things, but when the time comes, we slip into familiar choices.
We also underestimate how much we’ll enjoy the unfamiliar. Sometimes the real richness comes from pushing through that first bit of discomfort.
Try framing your life as a story: what would the table of contents look like? Are there enough interesting chapters ahead?
The book reminded me that you don’t want to die rich, you want to live rich. Psychological richness doesn’t mean a constant chase for novelty—it means collecting perspectives, emotions, and stories worth telling.
As the Japanese proverb Onkochishin says: “Warm from the past to learn something new.”
A good life isn’t just happy or meaningful, it’s three dimensional. And maybe it’s time we started playing for those sixes.
I run a startup called Harmonize. We are hiring and if you’re looking for an exciting startup journey, please write to jobs@harmonizehq.com. Apart from this blog, I tweet about startup life and practical wisdom in books.