554: Laurie Santos | Practical Lessons from The Happiness Lab

Learnable Traits

Laurie Santos, a Yale psychology professor, emphasizes that happiness is a skill that can be learned, rather than a fixed trait. While genetics and circumstances do play a role, they are not the sole determinants of happiness. Laurie explains that negative emotions are not merely burdens but serve as signals for change, akin to notifications alerting us to areas needing attention 1. She also highlights that happiness is not solely dictated by our genes or circumstances, offering hope that through mindset and behavior, we can enhance our happiness 2.

It's not that circumstances don't matter at all. It's that 99.999 percent of the people listening to this podcast right now are probably in circumstances where changing them drastically isn't going to matter for their happiness as much as they think.

--- Laurie Santos

This perspective encourages a proactive approach to cultivating happiness, focusing on what can be controlled 3.

   

Practical Tips

Practical strategies to boost happiness include gratitude exercises and delight collection. Jordan Harbinger shares how acknowledging three amazing things daily transformed mundane conversations into joyful exchanges 4. Laurie suggests training the brain to notice positive aspects, countering the natural negativity bias 5.

If gratitude feels too cheesy, you can try a different technique... which is to pay attention to delights.

--- Laurie Santos

She recounts personal experiences of finding delight in everyday moments, illustrating how this practice can shift focus from life's stresses to its joys 6.