Алексей Оносов – Happynomics: The theory and practice of a happy life (страница 1)
Alexey Onosov
Happynomics: The theory and practice of a happy life
© 2026 by Alexey Onosov
© Electronic edition. ООО «Alpina Digital», 2026
INTRODUCTION
One day, a young man asked a sage, "What is truth?"
The sage said nothing. Instead, he led the young man to a large mirror covered with a heavy cloth. He pulled the cloth away, revealing the young man’s reflection.
"What do you see?" the sage asked.
"I see myself," the young man replied.
The sage covered the mirror again. "And now?"
"Nothing," said the young man.
The sage nodded. "That’s truth. It’s always right in front of us – but we often fail to see it. We cover it up with our fears, desires, and assumptions.
To truly see the truth, you must clear the mirror of your mind and be willing to look into it without distortion."
The young man stood in silence, thinking.
The sage continued, "Truth isn’t what we want to see. It’s what is. Only by accepting that can we begin to find real happiness."
Why does happiness matter so much?
If you’re not happy, chances are the people around you won’t be either. Our emotional state rubs off – especially on our kids. They pick up more than we think, and those feelings can echo through generations, creating a legacy of unhappiness. Is that really what we want to leave behind?
The idea for this book started taking shape back when I was helping run a business club. Over several years, I invited about a hundred successful entrepreneurs to speak at our events.
That’s when something strange occurred to me. Not all wealthy, successful entrepreneurs seemed genuinely happy. It made me wonder: are success and happiness really the same thing? And if they’re not, which one truly matters more? How do you achieve a lasting sense of happiness?
Looking at the sometimes tense or tired faces of our guest speakers, I wasn’t always sure I’d want to trade places with them.
I started asking these questions to every successful entrepreneur I met. After three years, one thing became obvious: there were way more questions than answers. It bothered me so much that I launched my own business club and put a lot of energy into it for about a year. But eventually, I became frustrated with how little real progress I was making. The process just didn’t feel effective.
For several years, I was on a mission. I tore through books like crazy. At my peak, I was reading up to 50 a year, sometimes even more. But strangely enough, the more I read, the less clarity I had.
What threw me off was that these respected, successful, and supposedly happy authors kept giving completely opposite advice. One would say "slow down, reflect." Another would say "push harder, never stop." It was all over the place. And honestly, it left me feeling more confused than inspired.
What bothered me most was that many of these books could be boiled down to a couple of short social media posts. To get to the one useful idea, I had to dig through layers of theory, case studies, and filler. And often, the gold nugget I was hoping for just wasn’t there at all.
That’s when I started dreaming about writing a book packed with value – no fluff, just concentrated insights that actually help.
Next, I turned to biographies of great people, thinking I might find some answers there. At first, it looked promising. But after going through about a dozen, I did the math. If one biography took 10 hours to read, and considering my schedule, I’d barely get through a few dozen a year. That just wasn’t going to cut it.
So, I started looking for short, high-impact collections of entrepreneur biographies. Something snappy and useful. To my surprise, I found nothing like that in Russia or abroad.
All I could find were collections of quotes from famous philosophers – some of them translated into more than 30 languages, by the way. And then there was Tim Ferriss’s
I spent a long time thinking about what to do next. Then, one sunny day in Sochi, it hit me: what if I just did it myself? What if I interviewed 100 or more successful Russian entrepreneurs, sat down with each of them for an hour or two, and asked the one question that really mattered – how do you become both happy and successful?
If I couldn’t find a condensed collection of real-life wisdom from high-level players, maybe I could create one.
At first, things went pretty smoothly. But after just 10 interviews, I realized the project was way bigger than I’d imagined. Still, I’m not the kind of person who gives up once I’ve started something. I decided to push through, no matter what.
Plenty of people told me I’d never be able to get in touch with these top-tier entrepreneurs. Their time, after all, could be worth millions of rubles an hour. Why would they talk to me about happiness?
But that’s what kept me going. Almost every person I interviewed was genuinely interested in the idea. They appreciated what I was trying to do and thanked me for it. That gave me the energy to keep pushing.
I kept the title simple:
A lot happened while I was working on the book – the pandemic, business crises, family challenges. Life didn’t just knock the wind out of me. It hit me with combinations – doubles, triples, even quadruples. More than once, I seriously considered quitting. The whole thing took a huge amount of time, effort, and money.
But after three years of sheer willpower, I finally published the book. It got great feedback from respected entrepreneurs and experts. Turns out, I really had managed to pack it with value. In fact, it’s not the kind of book you can binge-read. The best way to go through it is one story per day – reflect, take something away, and apply it.
After publishing, I made it a habit to keep meeting with successful entrepreneurs. To keep the momentum going, I launched a YouTube channel called
Once I found my stride, I put together another book – this time featuring members of a top-level business club. Then I got started on a project about something like Amazon in scale and reach[1]. Honestly, that one was pure luck. It all came down to the right connections, and somehow I managed to get in touch with the marketplace’s founder.
Over time, we ended up organizing nearly 500 meetings with entrepreneurs. And eventually, quantity started turning into quality. Slowly but surely, I began to realize something: happiness is actually a relatively simple thing – not easy, but simple. Like learning to play the saxophone or climbing mountains. It’s a skill. And like any skill, it can be learned. It just takes time and consistent practice.
The deeper I went, the more I felt the urge to write about happiness. But then came the classic excuse – no time.
Then came our long-awaited trip to Morocco. I brought my laptop along, just in case. And something clicked. I realized this was it – my window of opportunity. I knew another one like it wouldn’t come around anytime soon.
From that moment on, I was in full-on writing mode. Whether it was on a train, a plane, or a bus, I was glued to my laptop. I just kept going. In fact, almost the entire book was written during that trip to Morocco.
When I got back home, it hit me: I had to keep the momentum going. So, I told everyone I knew that the book would be out in a month. That was it – no turning back. I made a commitment I couldn’t walk back from.
Then I started calculating the time needed for editing, layout, printing. And I panicked a little. I realized I was seriously up against the clock. I had to shift into high gear and give it everything I had again.
But it was worth it. I managed to release the book exactly on schedule.
CHAPTER 1
ON YOUR MARKS
A patient walks into the doctor’s office and says,