Our minds, it turns out, are very good at persuading us to follow intuitions about happiness that turn out to be entirely wrong. We are inclined to assume that circumstances play the biggest role in our happiness, when research suggests they play the smallest role. We grossly underestimate the extent to which changing our behaviors, rather than our circumstances, can significantly increase our well-being.
In this session, TTN NNJ members Donna Ward and Ellen Campeas will lead a discussion and group exercises based on the work of Dr. Laurie Santos, who teaches the most popular undergraduate course at Yale, “Psychology and the Good Life”. Dr Santos' work has helped determine what makes people truly happy. As we head into 2023, this is a great time to take our own personal happiness inventory and discuss ways we can be happier, even if we are familiar with some of the concepts, it's always good to get a refresher and share new ideas.
Please view Dr Santos’ Ted Talk before the Zoom session to familiarize yourself with her work.
You might also take the Authentic Happiness inventory test from the University of Pennsylvania to see how your happiness score compares to the thousands of Americans in their database.