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You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life… more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You’re dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale -- the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history -- Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.


The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy. But all too often, the darker, colder days of winter, and even the stress of preparing for the holidays themselves, can lead people to feel something else: rushed, stressed, lonely, or even hopeless. How can you make sure this year is bright?
 
Dr Laurie joins Dave DeSteno on his show How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality to unpack the psychological secrets of celebrations from Christmas, to Hanukkah, to Yule, and more. They’ll also discuss how we can put that wisdom into practice, whatever our beliefs, to make this season a happier and healthier one for all.

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Finding Holiday Happiness (Dr Laurie on the How God Works podcast)

Perfectionism isn't just wanting to be perfect... it's the feelings of failure and shame when we simply can't perform at a superhuman level all day, every day. To be happy, we have to accept the reality that perfection is impossible. So this episode is... How to Feel Like You're Enough. 
 
Dr Laurie is joined by fellow recovering perfectionist Dr Ellen Hendriksen - who is a clinical psychologist at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and author of “How to be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists”. 

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Feel Like You're Enough

Stress can suck, but it's part of life - it’s normal and even useful. Many of us drown in our stress - worrying about past events and fearing upcoming challenges. We even stress about feeling stressed. So how can we reset our relationship with stress - benefitting from its positives and avoiding those negatives? 
 
Dr Jenny Taitz has some effective tips to help you greet stress more healthily. A clinical psychologist and the author of Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes, Dr Jenny explains that if we think differently about challenges and tough situations and take action, then stress can become a friend rather than a foe.

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Stop Stressing About Stress

Do you go on endless dates hoping to find the perfect partner only to be endlessly disappointed? Or have you stopped meeting people because you've decided that you're undateable? Maybe you need to start dating like a scientist. 
 
Behavioural scientist Logan Ury has studied the common mistakes we make when looking for love - and thinks science can shows us a better way. 
 
Logan is the director of relationship science at the dating app Hinge. She’s also the dating coach for the new Netflix showThe Later Daters and author of How to Not Die Alone.
 
Check out Logan's website at loganury.com

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Date Like a Scientist

In the absence of better advice, we learn a lot about love and dating from rom com movies - but is the depiction of relationships in these films leading us in the wrong direction? Let's find out. 
 
Eli Finkel of Northwestern University and Paul Eastwick from UC Davis are both accomplished relationship experts - but for fun they’ve launched a podcast called Love Factually exploring what the makers of rom coms get right and wrong about how humans really find love. 
 
 

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How to Learn from a Rom Com Movie

Love Factually is a new podcast looking at what "rom com" movies get right and wrong about relationships. Dr Laurie Santos joined the hosts Eli Finkel of Northwestern University and Paul Eastwick from UC Davis to talk about her favorite 80s teen movie, Say Anything.
 
In this episode, they discuss what Cameron Crowe's 1989 film tells us about what constitutes stalking; and the transition when romantic partners supplant our parents as our closest relationships. 

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Dr Laurie Talks Romance, Parents and Stalking on 'Love Factually'

To improve your life you might decide to prioritize your own personal happiness, or find meaning in helping the people around you. Few of us consider pushing ourselves well beyond our comfort zones. It might take a lot of effort and risks pain or disappointment. 
 
University of Chicago professor Shige Oishi thinks to live fully we all need to push ourselves to find "psychological richness". He tells Dr Laurie that we should look for daily opportunities to explore, get lost, mess around and have random encounters that challenge our routines and expectations. 
 
Read more about Shige's work in Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life.

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How to Lead the Richest Life Possible

Leaders aren't just generals, presidents and CEOs. You're probably a leader too! Someone in your home, school or workplace might look to you for guidance - and that's leading. So how do you inspire the people around you and make yourself the best leader you can be?
 
Columbia Business School's Adam Galinsky (author of Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others) reckons we can all learn simple lessons that will make us better and more encouraging colleagues, parents and friends.

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How to Inspire the People Around You

Hell is other people. They can upset us, depress us and infuriate us. Their bad moods can bring us down. And their achievements can make us feel like failures. But it doesn't have to be this way. 
 
Psychologist Ethan Kross says there are simple things we can do to make our daily interactions a source of fulfilment and joy. 
 
Ethan's the author of Shift: Managing Your Emotions So They Don't Manage You and founder of the Emotion and Self Control Lab at the University of Michigan
 
Recorded before a live audience of teen students at Choate Rosemary Hall.

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Harnessing People Around us to Feel Happier (Live with Ethan Kross)

Earth Day is coming on April 22, but the whole month is seen as an opportunity to think about environmental issues and what we as individuals can do to help out. 
 
It seemed like a good time to rerun an episode we made with Harvard professor Dan Gilbert about why we humans are great at tackling immediate threats, but find it harder to motivate ourselves to address problems that seem a longer way off. It's why we often don't save for our retirements, and why we're finding it difficult to take action on climate change. 

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Why We're Better With Some Threats Than Others (An Earth Month Re-Run)

Accept our gift of happiness this holiday season! It can be a hectic and stressful time of year... but it's also full of opportunities to feel happier. Dr Laurie Santos brings you science-based tips so you can have yourself a merry little Christmas.

AlSO: The Happiness Lab returns with four special New Year shows to take you into 2020 - beginning 6 Jan.

To sign up to our newsletter visit happinesslab.fm

 
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BONUS: A Happier Christmas

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