The Simple Truth of Happiness: Rediscovering Joy Through Contentment & Connection
Discover why lasting happiness isn't found in more — it's uncovered through contentment, genuine connection, and timeless wisdom that transforms how you see everyday life.
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Identify the root causes of chronic discontentment in your own life and break free from the comparison-and-striving cycle
- Apply the biblical principle of 'godliness with contentment' as a daily, practical framework — not just a spiritual idea
- Cultivate a gratitude practice that rewires how you perceive ordinary moments and circumstances
- Strengthen your most meaningful relationships by learning how connection fuels lasting joy
- Develop a personal 'contentment anchor' — a set of values, habits, and mindsets that stabilize your happiness regardless of external conditions
- Distinguish between fleeting pleasure and deep, durable joy — and make choices that prioritize the latter
- Create a simple, sustainable daily rhythm that supports peace of mind, spiritual growth, and emotional well-being
- Leave with a written personal Happiness Blueprint you can return to and build on for years to come
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 16 lessons
The Happiness Myth — Why More Is Never Enough
Students confront the cultural and psychological lies driving chronic discontentment. By examining their own 'more' cycles — more money, status, achievement, approval — they begin to see how striving has quietly robbed them of peace. This module lays the honest, reflective foundation that makes every subsequent shift possible.
- 1.1The Treadmill You Never Signed Up ForIncluded
- 1.2Comparison — The Silent Thief of JoyIncluded
- 1.3What Happiness Actually Is — Separating Pleasure from JoyIncluded
The Biblical Framework — Godliness With Contentment as a Daily Practice
This is the theological and philosophical core of the course. Students move 'godliness with contentment is great gain' from a verse they admire to a living framework they apply. Each lesson unpacks a dimension of this principle — godliness as alignment, contentment as trained discipline, and gain as a redefined measure of wealth — and gives students concrete tools for daily practice.
- 2.1Godliness — Living in Alignment With What You BelieveIncluded
- 2.2Contentment Is Learned — Paul's Secret and YoursIncluded
- 2.3Redefining Gain — What Does It Mean to Be Truly Rich?Included
The Gratitude Reset — Rewiring How You See Ordinary Life
Students move from knowing gratitude matters to actually experiencing it as a daily perceptual shift. This module uses neuroscience, spiritual practice, and behavioral tools to make gratitude a lens — not just a list — that transforms how ordinary moments register as meaningful, sufficient, and even beautiful.
- 3.1Why Your Brain Defaults to Lack — And How to Rewire ItIncluded
- 3.2Building a Gratitude Practice That Actually SticksIncluded
The Connection Imperative — How Relationships Fuel Lasting Joy
Students confront the loneliness epidemic hiding behind busy social lives and digital connection. Drawing on the Harvard Study of Adult Development (the longest study on happiness in history) and biblical community principles, they learn that deep, authentic relationships are not a luxury component of a happy life — they are the engine of it.
- 4.1The Harvard Secret — What 80 Years of Research Says About HappinessIncluded
- 4.2From Surface to Substance — Deepening the Relationships You Already HaveIncluded
- 4.3Community, Faith, and Belonging — The Forgotten Dimension of JoyIncluded
The Contentment Anchor — Values, Habits, and Mindsets That Hold You Steady
Students build their personal 'Contentment Anchor' — the integrated set of values, daily habits, and mental frameworks that keep them stable when external circumstances shift. This module is the most practical and personalized in the course, translating everything learned into a daily rhythm that is simple, sustainable, and spiritually rooted.
- 5.1Identifying Your Core Values — The Anchor Points That Don't MoveIncluded
- 5.2Designing Your Daily Rhythm — A Simple Structure for PeaceIncluded
- 5.3Protecting Your Peace — Boundaries, Inputs, and the Art of EnoughIncluded
Your Happiness Blueprint — Integrating Everything Into a Life That Lasts
The culminating module brings every thread together. Students synthesize their learning into a written, personalized Happiness Blueprint — a living document capturing their values, daily rhythms, gratitude practices, relationship commitments, and contentment anchors. They leave not just inspired but equipped, with a concrete plan they can return to and build on for years.
- 6.1From Insight to Identity — Becoming a Content Person, Not Just Knowing About ContentmentIncluded
- 6.2Writing Your Personal Happiness BlueprintIncluded
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
David Clilverd
Hi, I'm so glad you're here. I wrote The Simple Truth of Happiness because I needed it — not because I had it all figured out. I went through a season of life where I had checked most of the boxes that were supposed to make me happy, and yet something felt hollow. It was in returning to a very old truth — that godliness with contentment is great gain — that things began to shift for me, quietly but profoundly.
This school is the natural next step from the book. It's where I get to walk alongside you, not just hand you ideas on a page. Everything I teach here I have tested in my own life and in conversations with others who were hungry for the same thing: a happiness that doesn't evaporate when life gets hard.
I believe joy is not a personality trait you either have or don't. It's a practice. And I can't wait to help you build it.
— David Clilverd
Start your journey today
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- 6 modules, 16 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
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