ELIMINATE SELF DELUSION ABOUT LIFE

Much of humanity's suffering and mental anguish comes from people's tendency to expect more from others than is warranted by past history. If people learn more self-reliance, they will cease having mental pain due to disappointments in this area. A new emphasis on self-reliance must be developed.

If you want people to be mentally healthy and happy, you must remove the chief causes of their anxiety. People become most anxious when they make erroneous assumptions about the way their futures will develop based on their mistaken expectations of the behavior of others that doesn't fit reality. If people learn to have reasonable expectations of others and of the world, their disappointment will cease and they will learn to depend more on themselves. The shift in emphasis from dependence on others to provide happiness to depending on one's self, will change not only what humans demand of others, but also, when scaled, will allow humans to be more satisfied with what they have.

I am not advocating the end of hope, just the tempering of hope to include the possible and the likely instead of the miraculous and the unlikely. 

The problem my solution solves concerns the prevalence of worldwide mental illness and unhappiness which often occur when people feel that they have been let down by others or by God. 

My evidence is anecdotal based on my own experiences and my observations of others. Often, my observations have been of parents who are bitterly disappointed in their children's life choices. I also observe people whose friends or relatives have 'let them down'. In many cases of the above problems, the problem lies with unrealistic expectations of others' behavior.

People have to learn to develop internal resources for happiness. Instead of relying on others to make their dreams come true, they need to rely on themselves and their own goals.

The target impact of my solution will be more domestic tranquility among people. Everyone will benefit because they will spend more time and energy setting their own goals and earning their own solutions. 

The way I would deploy my solution would be to include the message in books, songs, and other vectors of mass media. By using the Overton Window strategy, the ideas underpinning my philosophical tool will become accepted.

By using various national agencies that have developed measurements of mental health of large populations. - The national indices of mental health will show an improvement.

Refer to before and after measurements of happiness indices. - People will become happier.

Use statistics developed by local and national law enforcement. - Domestic violence will decrease.

Although my solution is based on multiple existing sources, the solution is unique in that it places far more emphasis on self-reliance and self-discipline than other solutions do. This is not accidental. Most religions and many social movements fail to place the individual in charge of their own behavior or actions because that individual will no longer be reliant on the religion or movement. Such a religion or movement would soon evaporate for lack of membership because it would be too successful.

As people adopt the value system which places individuals in charge of determining their own goals and happiness, more people will be free to look toward volunteer work for self-fulfillment. Then, instead of looking for material wealth and superficial achievement, people will become more interested in improving the world for all.

People will be able to get the message the solution develops by any mass media device, including books, radios, cell phones, and TVs. Every community will be able to access the messages.