Protocol 1: Ask big unanswerable questions

Pre-order The Meaning of Your Life (out March 31).

This is the final episode in my 3-part series on meaning, and it begins with a question I couldn’t ignore when I returned to campus five years ago: why do so many successful, driven people feel anxious, depressed, and lonely?

In this episode, I share three real-life stories from my new book, The Meaning of Your Life. These stories reveal what’s missing—and why the problem isn’t a lack of enjoyment or satisfaction, but rather the third macronutrient of happiness, meaning. 

I finish by sharing the six protocols from my book to help you move beyond distraction and build a more meaningful life in six months. If you want to go deeper, I hope you’ll consider the book.

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Where to find Arthur Brooks: 

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:52) Recap of Part 1 and Part 2

(07:56) Why I wrote The Meaning of Your Life

(14:37) The connection between lack of meaning, anxiety, and depression

(17:05) Why case studies matter

(19:43) Story #1: The garbage disposal

(24:13) Story #2: Just stay busy

(26:40) Story #3: A long hike to…somewhere

(30:02) What these stories reveal

(33:18) Six protocols from The Meaning of Your Life

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Referenced:

• The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness: themeaningofyourlife.com

• Why Your Perfect Life Feels So Empty (Sneak Peek): https://www.thefp.com/p/arthur-brooks-why-your-perfect-life-feels-so-empty 

• The Happiness Scale: https://learn.arthurbrooks.com/the-happiness-scale 

• The Pursuit of Happiness with Arthur Brooks: https://www.thefp.com/s/the-pursuit-of-happiness-with-arthur 

• Self-inflicted pain out of boredom: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178116301524?via%3Dihub

• ...References continued at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.arthurbrooks.com/office-hours⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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