Happiness 101

How do we find happiness? The question is just about the oldest one out there, and we haven’t stopped asking it.

In this inaugural episode, hear from four BYU professors across campus who tackle the question of happiness. They offer diverse insights rooted in disciplines from experience design to comparative literature. Central to all their findings: the more we try to chase happiness, the less likely we are to find it. True life satisfaction doesn’t come from pursuing a sense of pleasure or comfort or even joy—instead, the experts all agree, we need to do our best to build habits and relationships that make life worthwhile.

Each professor will dive into how they’ve integrated these ideas into courses they teach at BYU—then they offer all of us some positive well-being homework. These activities, as well as some recommended reading, are included below.

This episode of the podcast is based on the article, “Let Joy Find You” by Emily Smurthwaite Edmonds (BA ’01, MA ’04) in the Winter 2023 issue of Y Magazine.

Recommended Reading:

• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
• mybestself101.org, an online training course designed by BYU professor Jared Warren
• How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute

Homework:

• Take steps to design your own life with intention and creativity; prioritize joyful experiences.
• Commit to a well-being practice for 21 days. Taking the quiz on mybestself101.org provides some good habit ideas.
• Plan to spend quality time immersed in nature; read The Anatomy of Peace and think about how you can heal your most important relationships.
• Trust other people.

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