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Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness | Dr. Robert Waldinger

Jan 16, 2023

Dr. Robert Waldinger, a Harvard psychiatrist and director of the longest scientific study on happiness, shares insightful lessons on well-being. He discusses the crucial role of social connections in achieving lasting happiness and why you can't be happy all the time. Waldinger emphasizes the idea of 'social fitness' and the importance of sharing worries rather than shouldering them alone. He also highlights the transformative power of friendships at work and reassures listeners that it’s never too late to find happiness.

01:02:02

Creator website

Episode guests

Robert Waldinger

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Impact of Friends on Stress

00:46

The Main Findings of the 1938 Study of Sublimation

01:11

The Importance of Spending Time with the People You Love

01:03

Why You Should Have a Best Friend at Work

01:08

Intro

3min

Insights from the Longest Study of Happiness

4min

Exploring Happiness Through Adaptation and Sublimation

2min

The Power of Connection: Health, Happiness, and Loneliness

17min

Navigating Relationships and Stress Through Connection

2min

Navigating Complex Relationships

18min

The Power of Connection and Compassion

20min

Promoting Personal Growth and Connection Through Literature

2min

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Today’s guest is the man in charge of the world’s longest scientific study of happiness, a study that has been running since 1938.

Dr. Robert Waldinger is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-founder of the Lifespan Research Foundation. He is also a Zen master and teaches meditation in New England and around the world. His TED Talk is one of the most viewed of all time, with over 43 million views. He’s the co-author, along with Dr. Marc Schulz, of The Good Life.

In this episode we talk about:

What the Harvard Study of Adult Development is and how it got started
How much of our happiness is really under our control
Why you can’t you be happy all the time
The concept of “social fitness”
Why you should “never worry alone”
How having best friends at work can make you more productive
And why, in his words, it’s never too late to be happy

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/robert-waldinger-549

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