Digital Social Hour
Why Work-Life Balance Is a Lie (Do THIS Instead) | Arthur Brooks DSH #1159
03 Feb 2025
Is work-life balance holding you back? In this episode of the Digital Social Hour, Sean Kelly sits down with Arthur Brooks—a Harvard professor, happiness expert, and bestselling author—to uncover why work-life balance might be a myth and what you should do instead! If you’ve ever felt burnt out, stuck in a cycle of overworking, or unsure how to find true happiness, this conversation is packed with valuable insights just for YOU. Arthur shares his game-changing approach to work-life *integration*, offering actionable tips on how to make progress across all areas of your life—work, relationships, fitness, and even spirituality. Discover how to fight burnout, manage your happiness like a pro, and transform your mindset with practical advice backed by neuroscience and years of expertise. You’ll also learn why chasing more "stuff" might not bring you joy and how managing your wants can unlock lasting satisfaction. Don’t miss out on this eye-opening discussion! Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more powerful conversations on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! Join the conversation and take the first step toward creating a life of meaning, happiness, and true fulfillment. #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #Podcast #ArthurBrooks #WorkLifeBalance #Happiness #Burnout #Neuroscience #ApplePodcasts #Spotify #SelfImprovement #Entrepreneurship #happinessinadversity #thesecrettolivingahappylife #selfimprovement #positivepsychology #joyinadversity #proactivementalhealth #happinessinadversity #selfimprovement #joyinadversity #howtoavoidburnout CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 01:11 - Avoiding Burnout Strategies 04:58 - Work-Life Balance Myths 07:19 - Dangers of Addiction 08:49 - Reclaiming Mental Clarity 12:24 - Cultivating Happiness Skills 16:51 - Money and Happiness Connection 18:00 - Smart Money Management Tips 22:00 - Savings Impact on Happiness 22:58 - College Debt and Education 27:37 - Immigrants in Entrepreneurship 31:18 - Role of Department of Education 32:50 - Teaching Emotional Well-being 34:15 - Understanding Anxiety and Depression 36:25 - Overcoming Shame 38:48 - Managing Fear and Anger 44:45 - Dark Triad Personality Traits 46:18 - Impact of Cheap Entertainment 48:17 - Exploring Cancel Culture 49:34 - Arthur’s Final Thoughts APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Arthur Brooks https://www.instagram.com/arthurcbrooks/ SPONSORS: Specialized Recruiting Group: https://www.srgpros.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Full Episode
you know it's like i like that thing i'm gonna i'm gonna you know buy something that i want that's discretionary and i can't quite afford it yet so i'm gonna i'm just gonna run the credit card balance all that's doing is setting you behind the line of scrimmage and you're gonna be paying it back to get to zero that's gonna lower your happiness i've got the data that show that you will become less happy if you owe money really that's the bottom line
All right, guys, Arthur Brooks here today. Got him in Vegas. Welcome to Vegas, man. Thank you. Vegas is great. Yeah, you got some fun stuff planned this trip?
A little bit. I'm giving a bunch of talks, a bunch of lectures at the Venetian. Oh, nice. Yeah, the Venetian is not featuring happiness content, but... But a group is actually there, and they're having me talk to 5,000 or so of their employees. Nice. Venetian's one of my favorite hotels. It's a nice place. They got the best rooms, in my opinion. Yeah.
I knew Sheldon Adelson back when he was still alive. Yeah. I was running a big think tank in Washington, D.C. called the American Enterprise Institute, and he supported us a little bit. Nice. When was that? I ran that from 2009 through 2019. I just saw Miriam Adelson, as a matter of fact, in Abu Dhabi last week.
Nice. Small world. Yeah, it's a small world. We were just talking about working in our 20s. I want to dive into that because I'm 27 now. I feel like I've been grinding really hard, but I have felt like I lost a step recently. Really? Yeah. How come? Burnout. Yeah, burnout, it's classic. Well, I didn't take a day off for five years. I worked five years straight, 15 hours a day.
Well, nobody teaches you how to take a day off. If you're a natural grinder, if you're a striver, nobody teaches you how to take a day off. And so taking a day off feels like a waste and it feels like you're going backwards. You're the kind of guy probably, like most strivers, who feel like life is good when you're putting points on the board. Progress is everything.
And if progress is everything, when you're not moving forward, you actually start to drift backward. And that feels really, really terrible. The point is you've got to get a different kind of balance in your life and see progress across multiple domains, not just work.
Yeah. That's been a big thing for me this year. My fiance begs me to take weekends off, but then something always comes up. And I start working again.
Well, weekends off means drifting backwards is the whole problem. And so you setting up your weekends with your fiance so that you're making progress in a different kind of a domain mutually with her is the way to do that. And there are ways to do it.
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