Evidence-Based Strategies for Being Happy | Laurie Santos | Knowledge Project 139

Can you accurately identify what aspects of life make you happy? Would you even know if you found true happiness? Leading psychology professor and happiness expert Laurie Santos dives deep on all the factors that contribute to our happiness, why we spend so much energy pursuing it, some evidence-based methods to boost your happiness, why it’s crucial to protect yourself from unhappy people, and so much more.
Santos is a Professor of Psychology and the Head of Silliman College at Yale University. Since 2018 she’s been teaching Psychology and the Good Life, which is one of the most popular courses at Yale and at one point included approximately a quarter of the school’s undergraduates. She has also turned her course into a popular podcast series, The Happiness Lab.
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00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Happiness misconceptions
02:26 - The Arrival Fallacy
08:50 - Happiness, defined
10:50 - Should we maximize happiness?
13:37 - Why do we think things will make us happier?
15:54 - On the origins of Laurie's happiness course
20:00 - COVID's impact on happiness
24:00 - On rituals & routines impact on happiness
26:10 - Personal connections and happiness
28:13 - Religion and happiness
32:57 - Social media and happiness
41:37 - Measuring happiness
43:26 - Long-term happiness vs. short-term happiness
45:21 - Cultural impacts on happiness
50:07 - On loneliness
53:59 - Evidence-based techniques for happiness
59:06 - Can we influence our kids' happiness?
01:01:01 - Parenting techniques that lead to problems
01:07:45 - How to protect ourselves from unhappy people
01:13:20 - What role do boundaries play in our happiness?
01:19:49 - Is solitude the right approach to problems?
01:25:18 - What leads to a happy relationship?
01:33:55 - Summary of evidence-based approaches to happiness
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[@tkppodcast]

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Happiness misconceptions
02:26 - The Arrival Fallacy
08:50 - Happiness, defined
10:50 - Should we maximize happiness?
13:37 - Why do we think things will make us happier?
15:54 - On the origins of Laurie's happiness course
20:00 - COVID's impact on happiness
24:00 - On rituals & routines impact on happiness
26:10 - Personal connections and happiness
28:13 - Religion and happiness
32:57 - Social media and happiness
41:37 - Measuring happiness
43:26 - Long-term happiness vs. short-term happiness
45:21 - Cultural impacts on happiness
50:07 - On loneliness
53:59 - Evidence-based techniques for happiness
59:06 - Can we influence our kids' happiness?
01:01:01 - Parenting techniques that lead to problems
01:07:45 - How to protect ourselves from unhappy people
01:13:20 - What role do boundaries play in our happiness?
01:19:49 - Is solitude the right approach to problems?
01:25:18 - What leads to a happy relationship?
01:33:55 - Summary of evidence-based approaches to happiness

[@sagarladhwani4287]

I participated in her Yale course during Covid. It is probably the best MOOC ever!

[@rameshb6404]

Thank you very much for sharing research on happiness🙏 These are really valuable lessons for all of us. One of the best podcast I have heard.

[@stevedesantolo6794]

Most of the USA could benefit from this class Laurie teaches. Well done, Shane.
Mood follows action.

[@turdzilla1675]

This helped me a lot. I've been dealing with many issues and I now have ideas to make things better.

[@riasattiash1569]

Thank you very much. It was a nice podcast. Very informative.

[@reply2skumar]

Practical Life lessons. Valuable

[@preputuallearning3227]

This is Gold. Amazing , thanks shane

[@dominikadrazyk1692]

Great conversation!

[@DJSTOEK]

Thank you

[@davidrivera79]

Great podcast. Where did you get the Munger/Buffet busts from?

[@ronkrate609]

Useful but some redundancy