10% Happier with Dan Harris

Plus: the benefits of a "reverse bucket list"; clear formulas for happiness, enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose; and how to engage in the world's problems without being miserable.
Professor and writer Arthur Brooks on his recent book (co-authored with Oprah Winfrey): Build The Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier. Arthur has seen the themes of this book play out in his own life. He started his career as a classical French horn player, then got his PhD in public policy analysis, and went on to run a think tank called the American Enterprise Institute. He is currently a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. He also does work with The Atlantic, where he writes a column and hosts a podcast called How to Build a Happy Life. Arthur was formerly on Ten Percent Happier to discuss his book From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. 
In this episode we talk about:
Myth busting about happiness
The three macronutrients of happiness
The perils of pursuing pleasure
How to be effectively and wisely ambitious
How to ascertain if you have meaning in your life
How to manage your emotions
The difference between healthy and unhealthy envy 
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This episode is sponsored by:
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Master Class: Get 15% off any annual membership at masterclass.com/happier.
Northwest Registered Agent: Visit northwestregisteredagent.com/happierfree and start using free resources to build something amazing.
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A podcast pioneer on failure, resilience, luck, work/life balance, and the power of questions.
Guy Raz has been instrumental in creating some of the most iconic podcasts in the world, including Wondery's How I Built This, Wow in the World and TED Radio Hour. The New York Times has described him as "one of the most popular podcasters in history." 
We talk about:
The challenge – and gift – of failure
Getting comfortable with discomfort and risk
The notion of luck 
The balance between your relationships and your work 
Why scale isn't always the answer 
Success vs. happiness 
And much more
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How the people, places, and things around you can bring out your best. Plus, why willpower is unreliable, why AA works for so many people, and where to put your phone. 
Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and the recently released Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best.
In this episode we talk about:
Why willpower alone rarely creates lasting behavior change, and why changing your situation is often the better move
The Gallup study showing where teens keep their phones predicts their grades
How to identify what's actually within your control versus truly fixed
Angela's own marriage crisis during the 2008 financial collapse, and what saved it
Why "trying harder" can sometimes make a bad situation worse, not better
One reason Alcoholics Anonymous works for so many people in recovery
How reaching out to strangers for advice can change your entire career path
Why surrounding yourself with the right peers matters more than we admit

Related Episodes:
Angela Duckworth's first appearance on our show
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Additional Resources: 
Angela's new book Situated
This episode is sponsored by:
BiOptimizers: Head to bioptimizers.com/happier and use code HAPPIER for 15% off your order.
Notion: Learn more about how Notion can support your business at notion.com/happier.
Square: Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/happier! #squarepod
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There's a three-part framework for analyzing, breaking, or building any habit. There's also a simple way to identify which ones might be "keystone habits" for you. And the surprising discovery of the GLP1 "habit window" suggests that some people may be benefiting more from the drugs than others.
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on bestseller lists and has been translated into 40 languages; Supercommunicators, also a bestseller published in 2024; and Smarter Faster Better, a third bestseller. Mr. Duhigg writes for The New Yorker magazine and is a graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Business School. He previously wrote for The New York Times, and is a frequent contributor to CNBC, This American Life, NPR, and Frontline. He was also, for one terrifying day in 1999, a bike messenger in San Francisco.
In this episode we talk about:
The cue-routine-reward framework that underlies every habit, good or bad
The "golden rule" of habit change
What "keystone habits" are and how to identify them in your own life
Charles's 45-pound weight loss on a GLP-1 and what it revealed about "food noise"
The GLP-1 "habit window," and why some people may benefit from GLP-1's more than others
Kitchen-sinking: the habit where a fight about one thing becomes a fight about everything
Meta-conversations: asking your partner what they actually need before you respond
Related Episodes:
The Science of Effective Communication | Charles Duhigg
Weighing The Extraordinary Benefits And Disturbing Risks Of The New Weight Loss Drugs | Johann Hari
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Additional Resources: 
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
This episode is sponsored by:
Osea: Go to oseamalibu.com and get 10% off your first order with the code HAPPIER.
Fitnexa: You can learn more about Fitnexa SomniPods 3 at go.fitnexa.com/n6PD9i, and use code HAPPIER10 for $10 off your order.
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Plus: her complicated relationship with antidepressants, weathering fertility struggles, and aging in public.
Sara Bareilles joins Dan to discuss her new album Good Grief, a record she made after losing three close friends — Chad Joseph, Gavin Creel, and poet Andrea Gibson. The conversation covers grief as a transformative force, medication and mental health, fertility struggles and miscarriage, the creative process as spiritual transmission, aging without intervention, and patriotism as grief. 
In this episode we talk about:
Grief is a shortcut to the truth — it strips away distraction and forces presence
"Name it to tame it" — putting feelings into words reduces their power
Sara's fear that medication would suppress her artistry turned out to be the opposite: Lexapro felt like "a return to herself"
The creative process as clearing a channel rather than owning the output — music arrives, it isn't manufactured
"Nothing to fix" — acceptance as a countercultural act in an era of optimization
Acceptance isn't resignation — you can surrender to what is and still take compassionate action
Grief of country: loving America and mourning what it's becoming aren't mutually exclusive
Social media distorts your experience of reality — have your experience of the world in the world
Sara Bareilles is a two-time Grammy winner and Tony-nominated composer whose music and lyrics powered the Broadway hit Waitress — a role she later performed herself, both on Broadway and in London's West End. On screen, she earned an Emmy nomination for Girls5eva and for her performance as Mary Magdalene in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live! She has sold over three million albums and 3.5 billion streams worldwide.
Related Episodes:
Sara Bareilles: Anxiety, Anger and Art (2021)
How To Find Joy In an Anxious World (Sara Bareilles and Dacher Keltner, 2025)
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Additional Resources: 
Check out Sara Bareilles' website, including links to her new album Good Grief, and more info about the Good Grief documentary. 
This episode is sponsored by:
BiOptimizers: Head to bioptimizers.com/happier and use code HAPPIER for 15% off your order.
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