A recent YouGov poll found that most Americans are at least somewhat happy. Twenty-one percent said they are “very happy,” 55% are “fairly happy,” 18% are “not too happy” and 5% are “not happy” at all.
Those numbers aren’t too bad, but they can always be better. So Upworthy’s Craig Jablin sat down with one of America’s foremost experts on happiness, Arthur C. Brooks, to discuss the misconceptions surrounding happiness and the lifestyle choices that can help us live happier lives.
Brooks is an academic, public speaker and author of 13 books, including the 2023 #1 New York Times bestseller, “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier,” with co-author Oprah Winfrey.
Brooks and Winfrey have continued their quest for greater happiness with their new “Build the Life You Want” podcast.
During the interview, Brooks reveals the 3 big misconceptions people have about happiness, in which he shares that perfect happiness is unachievable and undesirable.
“In other words, it’s not a destination; it’s a direction. The whole point is to get happier. If it were a destination, then you’d be saying, ‘I want to wipe out all of my negative emotions.’” Brooks says. “You’d be dead in a week because you need those emotions to stay alive. Negative emotions are incredibly important so you can perceive the outside world accurately. Negative experiences are the only thing that helps you learn and grow. And so you need those things and you don’t want to be perfectly happy. However, you can get happier.”