The Science of Well-Being: Powerful Happiness Hacks That 5 Million People Are Using

What does the science really say, practically, that you can do to kind of feel better right now? You can actually become happier, somewhere between 5 to 15% happier. If I said, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life?" You're like, "Five out of 10." Wherever you're feeling right now on how happy you are with your life, you can kind of pop up a little bit. You're not going to go from zero to 100. Everyone wants to go from zero to 100. I think one of the disappointing things about happiness is that it takes constant work, like all good things in life, right? These are lasting effects where you really go up a small but significant amount, and then I think things are getting worse.

Wha- what do you mean things are getting worse?

Like rates of loneliness have nearly doubled, right, since we've been measuring these things. Like rates of depression and anxiety in the adult population are going up.

Is happiness the anecdote? Hey, it's your friend Mel. Welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. I am so excited that you're here. I'm so happy you hit play on the conversation today. First of all, it's always such an honor to be able to spend time with you and to be together. And if you're brand new, I want to welcome you to the Mel Robbins Podcast family, and you have picked one amazing episode to hit play on, and it tells me something about you. It tells me that you're the type of person who not only values your time, but you're also interested in learning about ways that you can be happier. And I am really fired up for today's episode because I've brought in the best of the best, someone who's going to guide you toward a happier life using the exact steps and research that will boost your happiness day-to-day. Dr. Laurie Santos is in our Boston studios. She is a cognitive scientist and professor at Yale who teaches the single most popular course that has been taught at Yale in 300 years. It's a course she created called The Psychology of a Good Life. It's so popular that 1,200 students signed up within three days of it being announced. Now, Dr. Santos has spent her entire career researching what truly makes you happy, and she has one of the most popular podcasts on the topic. It's called The Happiness Lab. And I personally, I love her research. I have used it, I've cited it, I've written about it, I've even taught it in online courses that I teach and in the work that I do with some of the world's leading global brands. That's how powerful her work is, and you're going to feel that power today, and that's why you can hear your friend Mel just bubbling over. That's why I can't wait for you and for the people that you love and for me to learn absolutely everything that she has to share with us today. So please help me welcome Dr. Laurie Santos to the Mel Robbins Podcast.