The Taste of Happiness

Arthur Brooks acknowledges that, as a specialist in the science of human happiness, it would be safe to assume that he’s a naturally happy person. But, he admits, he’s not. 

On December 5, Brooks, bestselling author and a professor at the Harvard Business School where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness, spoke to a standing-room-only Jordan Auditorium at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. His talk, “Managing Your Happiness,” started with a story about how the self-described “high-strung, anxious guy who finds it tricky to enjoy life fully,” uses evidence to achieve happiness.

Brooks’ journey to the stage began seven years prior, at the age of 55. After a decade-long stint as the CEO of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., he found himself at a crossroads — too old to keep up the 80-hour weeks, but too young to disappear. He discerned a new mission by embarking on the 500-mile European pilgrimage trail known as the Camino de Santiago.

By the last mile, he decided he wouldn’t just study human behavior; he would link people together in bonds of happiness and love using science. Today, Brooks is the author of 15 books, including the No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, “Build the Life You Want,” co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, and “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”

To the group of students, faculty, staff and visitors packing the auditorium, he explained that happiness isn’t a feeling, but rather like the “smell of the turkey”—  evidence of the meal, but not the meal itself. Feelings are just information, signaling threats or opportunities. Real happiness, he argued, is a complex “dinner” made of three distinct macronutrients: enjoyment, satisfaction and meaning.

First, enjoyment. He warned against the “paleo-mammalian life strategy” of chasing pure pleasure. Pleasure is a function of the limbic system, the ancient part of the brain we share with other mammals. Enjoyment, however, is a uniquely human experience located in the prefrontal cortex. It requires taking a pleasurable act and adding two ingredients: people and memory.

“If you’re doing it alone,” Brooks said, “you’re probably doing it wrong.”

He used the example of a beer commercial. They never show someone drinking alone in a dark room; they show friends making a memory. That is the shift from a base impulse to a happiness macronutrient.

Next, satisfaction. Brooks defined this as the joy of accomplishment after struggle. The problem, he explained, is a biological trap called homeostasis. Whether it’s a new toy or a 10% raise, the human brain is wired to return to a baseline of dissatisfaction within months.

“The biggest lie Mother Nature tells you,” Brooks said, “is that if you get that thing you want, you’ll enjoy it forever.”

He offered a “happiness arithmetic” to combat this. Most people try to increase satisfaction by increasing what they have. Brooks argued that the secret is to decrease the denominator: your wants. True satisfaction comes not from a “bucket list” of more, but from a “detachment list” of less.

Finally, meaning, which he called the antidote to the “psychogenic epidemic” of the 21st century. Meaning is the sum of coherence (which answers the question, “why am I alive?”) and purpose (knowing “what am I willing to die for?”). He shared the story of his son, Carlos, a U.S. Marine. When Carlos was asked why he was a Marine, he didn’t talk about benefits or career paths. He spoke of faith, family and being willing to die for his fellow Marines.

“You need to be willing to die for the answer,” Brooks said. “That is what gives you life.”

Brooks addressed the “set point” theory, which is the idea that 50% of our happiness is genetic and 40% is circumstantial. This leaves only 10% under our control. Brooks challenged this, asserting that through “happiness retirement planning,” we can manage about 25% of our overall wellbeing through four daily habits: faith, family, friends and meaningful work.

He defined meaningful work not by the paycheck, but by two factors: earning your success through value creation and serving others. He defined friendship not as transactional utility, but as “love friends” who hold you to a higher standard.

These three macronutrients – enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning – are all just different dialects of the same language: love. Love of the divine, love of family, love of friends and love for the world expressed through work. He challenged attendees to take his slides, remove his name, and go teach these principles to someone else.

“The day you explain this,” he concluded, “is the day you own it.”

The Dean’s Speaker Series is a leadership-focused series featuring respected senior executives from top global companies across diverse industries. Through engaging discussions, the leaders share their unique insights on careers, global trends, effective leadership and emerging issues affecting business and society. The series is sponsored by the Burns Family endowment.