Today we welcome back Arthur Brooks to the podcast. Arthur is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column. A world-renowned speaker, he talks about human happiness, and works to raise well-being within private companies, universities, public agencies, and community organizations. His latest book, which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, is called Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier.
In this episode, I talk to Arthur Brooks about building the life you want. People often think that happiness is a static end goal. But in reality, life will always have its ups and downs. According to Arthur, we can make choices that can improve our well-being despite the presence of challenges. He talks about how to find satisfaction through family, friends, meaningful work, and faith. Arthur also shares actionable steps around managing emotions and habits that can help us create a better life. We also touch on the topics of neuroscience, transcendence, evolutionary psychology, and love.
Website: arthurbrooks.com
Twitter: @arthurbrooks
Topics
02:50 Build the Life You Want
03:55 Writing the book with Oprah
10:14 Extremes are unhealthy
15:35 Unhappiness is not your enemy
17:38 Faith and transcendental experiences
21:22 Look for real friends, not deal friends
25:09 Work is love made visible
27:27 Love your enemies
37:28 Conflict is not hatred
39:59 Patterns of happiness vs individual variation
44:04 Family as a source of growth
47:36 The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
49:07 Emotional substitution
51:13 Overcoming the negativity bias
55:40 Keep it simple
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