DeepSummary
In this episode of The Happiness Lab, host Laurie Santos celebrates World Happiness Day by speaking with fellow Pushkin podcasters about topics they would like to see included in the annual World Happiness Report. Maya Shankar discusses the negative impact of mental chatter and strategies for quieting the inner critical voice, such as using distance self-talk and practicing self-compassion.
Tim Harford shares insights from the work of psychologist Daniel Kahneman on the distinction between experienced happiness and remembered happiness, and how factors like how an experience ends can shape our memories of it more than the actual lived experience. He also reflects on his own experiences with medical procedures like colonoscopies.
Malcolm Gladwell argues against the common phrase "it's the journey, not the destination," proposing that for many meaningful pursuits like running or writing, the satisfaction and happiness comes from reaching the destination or end goal, despite the difficulty of the journey itself. He shares personal anecdotes about the different emotional stages he goes through while running long distances.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Mental chatter, or negative inner self-talk, can harm our wellbeing and performance, but strategies like distance self-talk and self-compassion can help quiet the critical inner voice.
- There is a key distinction between experienced happiness in the moment and how we remember and report on our happiness, which can be biased based on factors like how an experience ended.
- For many meaningful pursuits like running or writing, the real satisfaction comes from reaching the end goal or destination, despite the difficulty of the journey itself.
- Engaging in mindfulness practices can help us be more attuned to both the positive and negative moments of experienced happiness as we live them.
- Adopting a 'journey mindset' focused on the ongoing process rather than just the end goal can help sustain motivation for difficult long-term pursuits.
- Finding moments of awe and appreciation for human capabilities during difficult experiences can provide an added layer of meaning and satisfaction.
- Short-term friction and unpleasantness is often required to reach meaningful long-term happiness and fulfillment from an endeavor.
- Small adjustments like changing language patterns can potentially help shift negative thought patterns toward more positive and productive inner dialogues.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “So when I go for a long run, there's always a moment in a long run where, like in the middle where you're filled with this sense of awe. About what? Human. It's funny, in 50 years, I have always had this, always this moment where I think, holy mackerel. I can't believe people, it's never personal. It's all about the class of runners. I can't believe we're capable of doing this.“ by Malcolm Gladwell
- “So while our inner dialogue itself can be really adaptive, mental chatter is not. It kind of feels like crap. And then there's lots of evidence that it affects our performance negatively, too.“ by Laurie Santos
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Episode Information
Revisionist History
Pushkin Industries
3/20/24
To mark International Day of Happiness and the release of the annual World Happiness Report, Dr Laurie Santos talks to fellow Pushkin podcasters Dr Maya Shankar, Tim Harford and Malcolm Gladwell about the happiness topics that they would like to see raised on this day of global wellbeing awareness.
The discussion ranges from how to quiet your inner monologue; though the misery of running in a Canadian winter; to the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy.
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