Go for a Walk
What I learned about transcendence from a very boring 100-mile trek
Stop Waiting for Your Soul Mate
Love isn’t destiny. That’s what makes it so sweet.
The Secret to Happiness at Work
Your job doesn’t have to represent the most prestigious use of your potential. It just needs to be rewarding.
The Real Reason Kids Don’t Like School
Loneliness is a far bigger problem than a distaste for hard work.
Fake Forgiveness Is Toxic for Relationships
Accepting an apology or brushing off a slight can benefit the offender and the offended alike—but only if you really commit to it.
The Link Between Happiness and a Sense of Humor
A little laugh goes a long way.
Which Pet Will Make You Happiest?
A pandemic puppy can increase your well-being—if you choose one for the right reasons.
What Immigrants Know About Happiness
The act of migration involves taking risks in pursuit of a meaningful reward and having faith in the future. Everyone should try to live more like that.
Those Who Share a Roof Share Emotions
Feelings are contagious—but you can help your loved ones when they’re sad without sacrificing your own good mood.
Different Cultures Define Happiness Differently
Well-being is far from universal. Here are four models to help you understand the world—and your own mind.
The Link Between Self-Reliance and Well-Being
Individualism is about having the freedom to be who you are—not going it alone.
The Happy Patriot, the Unhappy Nationalist
Having pride in your country can lead to greater well-being, but only if you do it right.
Plan Ahead. Don’t Post.
And seven other rules for a happy vacation
Dads Just Want to Help
Sacrificing for their kids makes fathers happier. Acknowledging that sacrifice will make everyone happier.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Going to Bed Early
To get better sleep, stop treating it like a chore.
How to Escape the Happiness Guilt Trap
There’s plenty wrong in the world. Acting gloomy won’t fix any of it.
Don’t Approach Life Like a Picky Eater
Try new things. Not too much. Mostly experiences.
What Introverts and Extroverts Can Learn From Each Other
Going against your instincts can help make you happier.
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance to Start Over
It’s time to prepare for a new and better normal than your pre-pandemic life.
How Adult Children Affect Their Mother’s Happiness
Plenty of moms feel something less than unmitigated joy around their grown-up kids. Make sure yours feels that she’s getting as much out of her relationship with you as she gives.
Stop Spending Time on Things You Hate
Your time on Earth is precious and limited. Here’s how to waste it.
Don’t Wish for Happiness. Work for It.
If you want to improve your well-being, you need to make a plan and act on it.
How to Buy Happiness
The joys of money are nothing without other people.
The Best Friends Can Do Nothing for You
If your social life is leaving you unfulfilled, you might have too many deal friends, and not enough real friends.
The Hidden Toll of Remote Work
Switching to Zoom forever might be convenient, but it’s a recipe for loneliness.
Are You Dreaming Too Big?
Lifelong, hard-to-achieve goals might not make you happier. Small steps will.
Here’s 10,000 Hours. Don’t Spend It All in One Place.
Evidence shows that hyper-specialization is not the best strategy for happiness.
Changing Your Mind Can Make You Less Anxious
Humans are programmed to think we’re right at all costs. Fighting that instinct will set you free.
A Counterintuitive Way to Cheer Up When You’re Down
When you most need to get happier, try giving happiness away.
Go Ahead and Fail
Perfectionism can make you miserable. Here’s how you can muster the courage to mess up.
What You Gain When You Give Things Up
Voluntarily sacrificing pleasurable things resets your senses and makes you master of yourself.
The Type of Love That Makes People Happiest
When it comes to lasting romance, passion has nothing on friendship.
The Subtle Mindset Shift That Could Radically Change the Way You See the World
The Dalai Lama teaches that we are all interconnected and inseparable from one another. Acknowledging that can make us less lonely, more compassionate, and better investigators of the truth.
There Are Two Kinds of Happy People
Some of us strive for a virtuous life. Others strive for a pleasant one. We could all use a better balance.
Stop Keeping Score
She who dies with the most checked boxes wins, right? Wrong.
Find the Place You Love. Then Move There.
If where you live isn’t truly your home, and you have the resources to make a change, it could do wonders for your happiness.
New Year’s Resolutions That Will Actually Lead to Happiness
Set goals to improve your well-being—not your wallet or your waistline
Don’t Isolate Yourself This Holiday Season
The pandemic makes it dangerous to gather in person, but for the sake of your well-being, find connection however you can.
Measuring Your Happiness Can Help Improve It
Are you a Mad Scientist, a Cheerleader, a Sober Judge, or a Poet?
Sedentary Pandemic Life Is Bad for Our Happiness
The times when we most want comfort and rest may paradoxically be the times we most need to move, for the sake of our well-being.
How to Cope With Election Agony
In presidential elections, the happiness losers lose more than the winners win.
Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?
As society gets richer, people chase the wrong things.
Reading Too Much Political News Is Bad for Your Well-Being
Obsessing over politics could hurt your happiness and your relationships.
What to Do When the Future Feels Hopeless
Humans like to feel optimistic about and in control of where their life is headed. The pandemic has made it very hard to feel that way.
The Clocklike Regularity of Major Life Changes
Transitions feel like an abnormal disruption to life, but in fact they are a predictable and integral part of it.
Why It’s So Lonely at the Top
Work friendships are crucial to happiness. What happens when you can’t make them?
How to Navigate a Midlife Change of Faith
When we think of our identities as fixed and unchanging—I am this kind of person; I am not that kind of person—we’re shutting ourselves off from many of life’s possibilities.
‘Success Addicts’ Choose Being Special Over Being Happy
The pursuit of achievement distracts from the deeply ordinary activities and relationships that make life meaningful.
Love Is Medicine for Fear
Life, especially pandemic life, is full of threats and uncertainty. When we feel afraid, bringing more love into our lives can help.
A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life
Higher education is often described as an investment. But it’s still unclear if it pays off in happiness.
Sit With Negative Emotions, Don’t Push Them Away
If we want a life full of deep meaning, true love, and emotional strength, it’s going to involve the risk (and often the reality) of discomfort, conflict, and loss.
The Best Way to Handle Your Decline Is to Confront It Head On
Much like contemplating death can neutralize the fear of it, it can help to acclimate yourself to the idea of losing professional skills before it happens.
4 Rules for Identifying Your Life’s Work
What shape your professional path should take depends on how you define success.
Why So Many People Are Unhappy in Retirement
Too often, we imagine life to be like the hero’s journey, and leave out its crucial last step: letting go.
Two Errors Our Minds Make When Trying to Grasp the Pandemic
Disappointment and uncertainty are inevitable. But we don’t have to turn them into suffering.
The 3 Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic
“How to Build a Life” is a new column that aims to give you the tools you need to construct a life that feels whole and meaningful.