Kelly McGonigal

speaker

787 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 24 Jul

Kelly McGonigal’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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The School of Greatness · The Real Reason Stress Is Hurting You | Kelly McGonigal · 24 Jul 2026 podcast

contradictory evidence is to volunteer to help someone.

There've been a couple of times in my life when I was struggling, where I re-engaged with not, not just like donating money when I can, but to show up to a place and help people.

Um, first was when I was in graduate school and, um, was working in a food kitchen and preparing food and serving food.

And then later on, um,

starting to work as an adoptions counselor for animal rescue organizations, where I would actually go and adopt out animals who otherwise might be homeless or even euthanized.

When you do that, the thing that is so great about helping others or volunteering is people see you differently in that role.

there already was in you that good.

Like whatever good is in you, often when you're in a situation of being able to help others, it just gets reflected back to you.

And the same thing is true for me in teaching as well.

I always say like, my students like me so much more than like my family members.

There's something about a role where you're trying to help others, where they see you differently.

It's such a gift if you have a voice in your head that says you have nothing to offer, nobody cares about you, there's no good in the world.

because you get this sort of reciprocity where you tap into your desire to do good.

You see, first of all, that you aren't the only one suffering.

That's another great thing about helping others is it makes visible what might otherwise have been invisible.

As you see how many other people are struggling with food scarcity, how many other people are struggling with addiction, whatever capacity you're able to volunteer or serve in, you start to realize you aren't alone.

even if that struggle is different than your own, you see the common humanity of it.

And again, that people see the good in you.

So I'm sure that sounds cheesy, but I'm going to stand in the truth of that.

And not only that, I mentioned this in my TED Talk.

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