280 ‒ Cultivating happiness, emotional self-management, and more | Arthur Brooks Ph.D.

In this episode, we discuss: 0:01:11 - Happiness vs. happy feelings, and how happiness and unhappiness can coexist 0:04:55 - The six fundamental emotions 0:15:29 - The evolution and heritability of happiness, and the four personality patterns with respect to positive and negative emotions 0:22:15 - Navigating relationships: the power of complementarity over compatibility 0:24:28 - The importance of self-managing your mental habits 0:31:31 - Enjoyment: one of the three macronutrients of happiness 0:44:25 - Satisfaction: one of the three macronutrients of happiness 0:52:14 - The reverse bucket list, metacognition, and other techniques to protect yourself from your limbic system 0:59:15 - Meaning: one of the three macronutrients of happiness 1:07:55 - The four quarters of your life and how that relates to the meaning of your life 1:12:03 - Putting metacognition into practice 1:20:55 - What might explain the societal downdrift in happiness over the last few decades? 1:36:07 - Taking charge of your happiness: discipline, transcendent experiences, and other deliberate actions for happiness 1:49:17 - Tracking happiness: biomarkers and micronutrients behind the macronutrients of happiness 1:57:52 - The value in minimizing the self and looking outward 2:02:23 - How Arthur surprised himself with his ability to improve his happiness

"I need fewer opinions because I need more friends." Brilliant 😁

It feels even more debilitating hearing that joy and happiness come from having experiences with others when so many of us are alone and without good friends....

As a Christian, I absolutely love this podcast. I don't find faith to be in opposition to science. Truth is truth wherever it is found.

This guy speaks so fast and yet so clearly. It's funny how brilliant it is to break down a word like "happiness" and not conflate it with similar terminology like "The act of feeling Happy"

- Spend time with loved ones. Strong social connections are essential for happiness. Make time for the people who are important to you, and nurture those relationships. - Take care of your physical health. Eating healthy, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep are all important for your physical and mental health. - Practice gratitude. Take some time each day to reflect on the things you are grateful for. This can help you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. - Give back to others. Helping others is a great way to boost your own happiness. Volunteer your time, donate to charity, or simply do something nice for someone else. - Learn to forgive yourself and others. Holding on to grudges can weigh you down and make it difficult to be happy. Learn to forgive yourself and others for past mistakes. - Live in the present moment. Don't dwell on the past or worry about the future. Focus on enjoying the present moment.

Don’t think too hard Peter you are on a wonderful mission to help the people who care grow old healthy in the last decade of their life you have many devoted followers like me and more will join us! I love and appreciate you.

This is one of the channels that gave me the courage to start my YouTube channel 9 months ago about self development. Now I have 1,452 subs and > 1,000 hours of watch time. I know it’s not comparable with others but I’m still proud I started because I’ve been learning so many lessons that I could haven’t learned without getting started in the 1st place.

Firstly, thankyou! I listened to this podcast with rapt attention and really felt I was learning something of extraordinary value from Prof Brooks. But then, about halfway through, the wheels came off. This happened at about the point that the importance of answering two questions came up, The first question was was “what am I here for (ie why am I alive?)” and the second is “what would I die for?”. My answer to the first question is that I am not here for anything! Life exists, including my own life, because of random processes taking place in the universe. My life, life in general, has no meaning. The second question, was what would I die for? The answer is; I wouldnt die for anything! My death would serve no purpose whatsoever in an infinite universe. The second answer follows on from the first. By the way, neither answer cause me any shred of angst; I am not sad about either answer. Nor do I feel those answers are in any sense bleak (in the way that some, particularly those of a religious persuasion, might). To my mind, that’s just the way things are. Nonetheless, the answers to those questions (both blank) leave me with nowhere to go from a psychological perspective. Peter was far too diplomatic to say anything, but I feel those questions perplexed him too (?). To be frank, what really jarred was the story of Prof Brooks’s son, a marine sniper, who would die for God and country. If that attitude nourishes his soul then good for him. This may be a cultural thing, but what I found disturbing was that somebody trained, basically to kill other people, would feel he was doing God’s work in support of his country (whatever one’s ‘country’ means). That just struck me as naive, and, forgive me, from an englishman’s perspective, SO MAGA. In the UK that attitude became very unfashionable after 1918 when millions of young Europeans killed millions of other young Europeans in the most brutal manner imaginable for God, King and Country, for no net result. In the words of Rudyard Kipling “If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied”. Anyhow, these are observations, decidedly not criticisms (let’s not get all limbic about this). I only make these comments because those two questions stopped me in my tracks. Despite that, thankyou Peter and Arthur for bringing some of these concepts to light. I learned a great deal from what preceded those two questions, and will continue to listen to the last half in the hope of adding yet more skills to my life’s treasury. And, who knows, deeper introspection on my answers to those two questions, if even possible given their nihilistic leanings, might bear fruit. Kind Regards, Martin

This may be the best video I've watched in a long time. Incredible. Thank you.

Arthur Brooks is a beast. I recommend his book - it's a very comprehensive approach to happiness. Both inspiring and actionable.

Great nod to Dacker Keltner at 1:04:45. Another brilliant line of research that dovetails into Arthur’s work! Dacker would be a great guest on this podcast!

i am religious and still like this . I throw out what doesn’t apply to my faith. I listen to the science. God created it all.

A timely episode, just watched Huberman's podcast on journaling about negative/traumatic events to better mental and physical health..so glad the mental/physical connection is finally being taken seriously by the medical community! Great episode!

All Your podcast are good and I am always glad that I have teken one afternoon to listen, but this one is other level... Seems so transcendental knolage you are passing. Thank you

Thank for your time and for helping us understand and improve our lives. Much love.

It felt like a nice conversation between old friends. Really enjoyed it

The segment about putting metacognition into practice was particularly useful. I enjoyed this podcast immensely and have shared it with my loved ones. I also loved the remark about the donut 🍩!

Just discovered this podcast and randomly picked an episode. Extremely large well of knowledge, thank you for the work

Very actionable. I love the failure journal tied to three and six month reviews. Perspective is one of great gifts of aging, and this process seems to me to accelerate/broaden acquiring perspective. Thank you.