✍️ Last Updated: October 21, 2025

💃 Happiness is a skill

Here's the story. I was just walking and saw a mango rolling on the ground. There happened to be a stray cat nearby that I often interact with. So I recorded my daily method of 'creating happiness', which became the #LaughingGut series of videos that appeared on my IG feed in the past couple of days.

These videos have no views, no meaning, no commercial value, but they create happiness for me. When I watch them myself, I laugh like an idiot and gain a profound realization.

/ Happiness is not something you pursue, it's something you create /

So how do you create and feel happiness? Below I share my daily happiness:

• Play a game, trash-talk the enemy as a 'noob' (kid) after winning, happiness!
• Mom asks me if I want dinner? Happiness!
• Positive feedback and praise from friends and readers, happiness!
• Staying in bed for an extra ten minutes, happiness!
• Dancing like a weird alien to music in my room, happiness!
• Muting my mic during a video call and secretly singing, happiness!
• Seeing grandparents dancing enthusiastically at the park, happiness!
• Sharing my knowledge and thoughts, happiness!

You see, happiness is simple, right? (Not the same as fulfillment; I'll share the difference between happiness and fulfillment in the future). You don't need to earn a certain income, visit numerous countries, know wealthy people, or own a large house to be happy.

I simply hope you can create many nano-moments of happiness in your daily life.

🤔 There are definitely people in this world who can only see negative news. I hope that's not me.

Scrolling Reels, I saw a classroom of elementary school kids. When they heard their class won first place in the English singing competition, all the kids were so happy they jumped, hugged, screamed, and cheered. Seeing such a winning moment is truly touching.

But in the comments, someone replied: 'In such an excellent class competition, there must be classmates with better and worse abilities. Standing in the back as a supporting role must feel terrible.'

Think about it. Why would this person have this kind of thinking when seeing such a joyful scene? Was he always a supporting actor before? Did he want to be a lead role but kept failing? Can he only see the negative side?

This reminds me of 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' which mentions: 'When you judge a public figure, you're actually judging yourself, because your past experiences determine how you view others. This is the brain's basic operating principle.'

So whenever we're dissatisfied with an event, we can try to think: why do I have this thought? Might there be another positive side that we've overlooked?

📚 One-Minute Quick Notes

🧠 What Gut wants to share with you today is 'Barnum Effect'

Do you know why fortune telling, divination, astrology, and MBTI always seem to get your inner feelings right? When you think it's accurate! You might just be fooled 😨

Because you fell for the psychological trap 'Barnum Effect」！

People tend to rate generic personality descriptions as highly accurate when they believe these descriptions were personalized for them. They experience an 'Yes!! That's exactly how I am!' reaction, even though these personality traits are often vague and universal enough to apply to most people.

Do the sentences below feel like they're describing you?

1. You need to be loved and appreciated.

2. You often criticize yourself.

3. You have great potential but haven't fully tapped into it.

4. Your personality has a weakness, but you usually know how to compensate for it.

5. Others think you're excellent in your field, but actually you're full of anxiety and lack confidence.

6. You like a certain degree of change and diversity, and dislike constraints and restrictions.

7. Sometimes you're outgoing and talkative, but sometimes you're introverted and cautious.

8. Only you know the pressure behind your current achievements.

LOL, are you nodding along? I am—I feel like it's all about me XDD

I discovered this a long time agoBarnum Effectand after discovering the Barnum Effect's existence, I almost stopped believing in horoscopes. But when meeting new friends, I still discuss these topics because I know it's a great 'tool' to quickly bridge the distance with strangers.

💭 A Thought Question for You (feel free to reply)

Think about it—if you could apply the Barnum Effect toBarnum Effectwrite copy that makes people think 'Yes!! You're absolutely right, that's exactly how I am,' how would you write it?

📣 This Week's Heart-Warming Share

New Project: Sharing #EntrepreneurshipDiary of knowledge bloggers on Threads

has my daily task timings, which is truly very private, but also allows readers to quickly see how much effort my brand is putting into growth.

🌭 Really, all sorts of random thoughts show up here haha. If you can't wait for the newsletter, you can follow Threads.

01✦ Building an Efficient Input-Output Flow with AI / Blank Space Journey / Meditation Creativity Game is So Fun ✦ Gut Talk Newsletter

If you missed last week's newsletter, you can check it out. I hope it helps you get more used to my newsletter style (long-form XD)

【Heptabase】10 Must-Learn Tips! From Project Management and Travel Planning to One-Person Company—Everything Revealed

At the top of this article, I added a syntax box for 'Update Log,' and it's really cute—I love it.

🌭 Sneak peek: This article will be made into a free 'Heptabase 13 Use Cases Inspiration Pack' tutorial video, and we'll send it to you in the future!

💬 One sentence per week #Gut Talk Wisdom

🌭 Xiaochang's Gratitude & Blessings

I discovered that after I started sharing my 'Gratitude Journal' and 'Blessing Journal' publicly with readers, I became more diligent about practicing gratitude 🤩🤩 Announcing what you need to do 'to the whole world' really is one of the best ways to leave yourself no way back and push yourself forward. It's so useful!

Thank myself for chatting with Serena about Heptabase while scouting a location and showing her my Second Brain in just a few minutes—she became a fan instantly, joined all my communities, subscribed to the newsletter, and asked me to open a course~

And thank you to you for subscribing to the Gut Talk Newsletter ✨
Wishing you this week full wallets and better hair quality (?) 🤩

I hope this newsletter helps you learn something, feel more connected to the world, and grow a little!
If you have any feedback, suggestions, thoughts to share, or recommendations for me, please reply to this email. I'll respond to you thoughtfully.

See you next week in "Gut Talk Newsletter" again~ 😘
by KnowledgeGutfounder Xiaochang

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Xiaochang is meticulous about typography; if you spot typos or formatting issues, please reach out to Xiaochang's IG Contact! All articles come from Heptabase Xiaochang's Second Brain🧠 Content is purely human-written, never AI-generated.

If you have any questions about the article content, or if there are any parts you'd like me to elaborate on, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know～
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by Knowledge Management Mentor Xiaochang🌭