Mo Gawdat has reported:

Mo Gawdat says happiness depends on the gap between what happens and what a person expects, rather than on events alone. Rain, he explains, can be welcome when someone wants to water plants and unwelcome when they want to sunbathe.

“The event is neutral. The expectation is everything,” Gawdat says. He frames happiness as equal to or greater than the difference between an event and the expectation, with the brain making that comparison constantly as circumstances change.

Gawdat describes gratitude as a way to remind the brain that life is exceeding expectations. He says the practice is not simply about saying things are fine, but about reinforcing the sense that events have surpassed what was predicted. He recommends making gratitude a daily practice, describing it as recalibration rather than ritual.