Arthur Brooks: Unlock Lasting Happiness With These Science-Backed Strategies | Mental Health | YAPClassic
episode
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast
1h 10m
2 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Yap fam, some people chase happiness like it's a finish line. Hit the goal, buy the thing, get the title, and still feel weirdly empty.
What is the science behind building happiness?
That's why we're bringing back a Yap classic that cuts through the hype and gets to the real science of what actually makes life feel good. Arthur Brooks is a Harvard professor, bestselling author, and the Atlantic's happiness columnist. And today he joins us with powerful insights from his book, Build a Life You Want, co-written with Oprah Winfrey. In the conversation, Arthur breaks down the three components of happiness, enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning, as well as the four pillars that truly support a fulfilling life, faith, family, friends, and work that serves something bigger than yourself. If you're ready to build a life that feels rich on the inside, then this is a must listen. Yeah, fam, let's open the vault and dive into my conversation with Arthur Brooks.
Hey, Arthur, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast.
How did Arthur Brooks' career influence his understanding of happiness?
Thank you, Hala. It's great to be back with you again.
Yeah, I'm super excited for this conversation.
What is America's growing happiness crisis?
You are one of my favorite episodes and conversations from last year. And I brought up your name in so many different episodes, talking about fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. That was one of my favorite learnings of last year.
What are the three macronutrients of happiness?
So I'm incredibly happy to have you back. So when I was doing research, I found out that you're not naturally a happy person. You actually say that naturally you're anxious. and gloomy. And so you actually started looking into happiness to sort of solve your own problem. So can you talk to us about how you first got interested in the work of happiness?
Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Thanks, Hala. I appreciate that. I'm a college professor. I'm a social scientist. I study human behavior. My PhD is in behavioral economics, and I always applied it toward public policies and how to design systems that had good incentives and all that kind of stuff. But somewhere along the way, over the past 30 years, I realized that I'm kind of missing the boat. I read all this work on human happiness, but why don't I actually put a strategy together using my expertise so I can actually become a happier person?
Is happiness a choice according to Arthur Brooks?
You know, the truth is that I always kind of thought of happiness as something you observe like astronomy. You study the stars, but you can't affect the stars. But happiness really isn't like that. The truth of the matter is there's a ton of neuroscience and social science and a lot of evidence out there that shows that if you have some knowledge and if you change your habits, you can actually get happier as a person.
How can emotional regulation impact mental health?
So I thought, huh, you know, and that was really, I mean, it shouldn't have taken me this long. But what I did was I was, some years ago, I was a CEO of a big nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., and I wasn't very happy. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to throw all my intellect at this thing. I'm going to see if I can actually become a happier person. So I left my job. I quit my job. I moved back to the university. I took a job. I teach economics. happiness at Harvard University and I apply all these things to my life and I write about it every single week in the Atlantic that says, here's how you can use science to become a happier person. And you know what? I'm 60% happier than I was five years ago.
It actually works.
Wow.
What are the four pillars of a fulfilling life?
I love that. And so like you mentioned, you changed your career at 55 years old to focus on this work of happiness and to learn more about it and teach other people how to be happy. Talk to us about some of the work that you've done and the research that you've done in this area so far.
Yeah, so early in my career, I mean, I've done a lot of different things. And one of the things that, you know, this is a much younger audience, a lot of people who are real strivers starting out in their careers and they want to be really successful. One of the things that a lot of young people find, and I teach this in my happiness class at the Harvard Business School, is a lot of people think that their career is just going to be the straight line going up.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:11–0:19
2
What is the science behind building happiness?
0:19–1:06
3
How did Arthur Brooks' career influence his understanding of happiness?
1:06–1:12
4
What is America's growing happiness crisis?
1:12–1:24
5
What are the three macronutrients of happiness?
1:24–2:17
6
Is happiness a choice according to Arthur Brooks?
2:17–2:38
7
How can emotional regulation impact mental health?
2:38–3:16
8
What are the four pillars of a fulfilling life?
3:16–1:10:17
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast
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