Ep 173: Arthur C. Brooks on How to be Happier

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SUMMARY 

Recorded live at last year’s Global Leadership Summit, Erwin Raphael McManus sat down to interview Harvard Business School Professor Arthur C. Brooks. Arthur takes us on a deep dive of science and physiology of happiness and gives us an introduction on how to leverage meta-cognition to start becoming happier people. As Erwin mentions in the interview, Arthur is a firehose of information, and you will definitely want to take notes as you listen in to this conversation. 

 

 IN THIS EPISODE 

00:00 Introduction. 

02:20 The connection between Harvard and “happiness.” 

06:00 Which came first: Arthur experiencing happiness or studying happiness?  

08:40 What drives Arthur to pursue expertise in the areas of his life?  

11:00 How meta-cognition relates to our inner world. 

18:00 The relationship between meta-cognition and emotional contagion. 

21:00 For people moving towards happiness, what is one of the most important and easily transferable ideas, and what is one of the most difficult?  

26:20 How is our view of happiness related to our view of work? 

29:30 What Arthur is working on now.  

33:30 Comments and Takeaways. 

  

LISTEN 

 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 

 

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  • “Discernment” is a structured process that begins in prayer, asking God to guide your path (and really meaning it). 
  • About half of our natural happiness is genetic.  
  • There is a three-part formula for becoming a happier person: learn it, practice it and teach it.
  • Excellence is its own reward.
  • All responsible adults need to know how to manage their emotions so that they are not managed by their emotions.
  • Emotions are nothing more than data, telling you that something is a threat or an opportunity.
  • There are only four negative emotions: fear, anger, sadness and disgust.
  • There are only three positive emotions: joy, interest and surprise.
  • There are no bad feelings; you simply want to learn to manage your emotions so that they don’t become maladaptive.
  • Your emotions aren’t a switch; they are a dial, and you should learn to control the dial.
  • Meta-cognition helps people become less “limbic”: to give them a set of techniques to help move their emotions into their pre-frontal cortex and to give them time and opportunity to reflect on those emotions, decide what they mean, and make conscious decisions that make sense for their lives.
  • Journaling and prayer are also forms of meta-cognition.
  • Emotions are contagious: the closer you are relationally to somebody, the more likely it is that you will pick up on their emotions and start feeling similarly.
  • You can’t simply be “happy;” you will experience negative emotions. However, you can become happier. You can make progress. 
  • Olympic gold medalists are very likely to suffer a clinical depression in the month following their victory. They were convinced that winning would make them happy.
  • Happiness doesn’t come from arriving anywhere; it comes from progress.
  • Work, faith, family and friends are all necessary ingredients for a happier life.
  • Work was present in the garden before the fall.
  • We are wired to enjoy and appreciate complex problems, but the world enjoys giving us complicated solutions to complex problems.  

 

LINKS MENTIONED 

The post Ep 173: Arthur C. Brooks on How to be Happier appeared first on Global Leadership Network.

 

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