WEBVTT FILE

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If I do my job,

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in the next few minutes,

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I’m going to give you
the secret to happiness,

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so that when you go home tonight,

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you can start living a happier life,

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and you can start sharing it
with more people

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so that they can have
a happier life too.

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So, let’s start with what
we know about happiness.

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There have been hundreds,
literally hundreds of studies.

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By economists and social scientists

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and psychologists about happiness.

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Hundreds over the past 30
and 40 years.

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And basically they all start by
asking the question: Who’s happy?

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In the United States, we know that
all the way back to the 1970s,

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a very stable proportion of
the population is very happy.

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About a third of Americans say
anonymously in accurate tests,

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and in accurate surveys,
that they are very happy people

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We have no reason to doubt
that this is true.

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A little over 50% say
they are somewhat happy.

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And about 10 to 15% of the population
is chronically depressed

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and say they’re not very happy.

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Ok now, that’s actually not the most
interesting question.

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The most interesting question is:
What brings happiness?

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And we know the answer to that, too.
It’s three things.

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Three things bring happiness.

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Genetics, big life events,
and choices.

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And I’m going to tell you about
all 3, starting with genetics.

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Now, a few years ago,

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social scientists
at the University of Minnesota

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constructed a wonderful database

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that included 75 pairs
of identical twins

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born between the mid-1930s
and the mid-1950s.

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Now they were separated at birth
and adopted to separate families.

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That’s like a social
scientist’s dream.

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It’s almost as if
the government had done this.

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[audience laughing]

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And at age 40 they were reunited

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and they were given
a personality test.

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So they were asked about the things

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that were going on in their lives

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and the way that they
viewed their lives.

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This is really interesting

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because you’ve got DNA
carbon copies of each other.

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And they have different upbringings

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so you can net out the parts
that are nature

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and the parts that are
nurture, statistically.

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And what did they find?

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They found that 48% of their
happiness is genetic.

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As a matter of fact,
they found that more of

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their personality was genetic

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than they ever understood before.

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Forty percent of how you
vote is genetic.

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Forty percent of how you
worship is genetic.

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So, this explains some things.

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Do you have somebody in your life
who is chronically happy?

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Do you have a coworker
who is happy all the time?

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It’s very irritating, by the way.

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[audience laughing]

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So sometimes you wonder, that
person is just happy all the time.

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What are they doing right?
What’s your secret?

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The secret is their DNA.

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Are you a grumpy person?
Are you dark and brooding?

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It’s your DNA, it’s not your fault,
you have lousy parents

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is basically what it comes down to.

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So if that’s the case,
does it really matter what we do?

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The answer is yeah, because if
half of it is taken away from you,

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you’d better get
the other half right.

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Now, 48% is genetic,
but there are other innate qualities.

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Other innate characteristics
that are really important.

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The most interesting of
which is gender.

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Who’s happier, men or women?
The answer is women.

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Most studies, the overwhelming
majority of studies find

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that women are happier than men
and always have been.

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Okay, I mean that’s too bad, guys.

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But I’ve studied this myself
and found the same thing.

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I've looked at the happiness of men
and women by marital status.

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Okay. And what do you find?

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Married women are happier
than married men.

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Single women are happier
than single men.

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Widowed women are way happier
than widowed men.

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[audience laughing]

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What’s so funny about that?

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I mean...

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[laughing]

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I told that one to my wife,
and she says: Huh, no kidding.

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[laughing]

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In general, women are
happier than men.

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Here’s another interesting mystery.

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What’s the average unhappiest
age in a man’s life?

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I had heard about this phenomenon
forever. So have you.

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I mean, this is the male
mid-life crisis right?

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When do you think it is?

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-Seventy. Seventeen.

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Seventy. Seventeen.
That doesn't count.

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Only grown-ups.

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-Forty-five.

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Forty-five! Forty-five.

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It’s forty-five,
that’s exactly right.

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Forty-five is the average
unhappiest age in a man’s life.

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And it goes something like this.

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The trajectory of life for
men is interesting

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and sometimes a little sad.

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See, when you’re in your
twenties and thirties,

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the life recipe is actually
kind of simple.

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Life is like a super highway

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and when you’re in
your twenties and thirties,

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if you want to get ahead,

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and you want to have a better life

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and you want to be happier and more
successful, just hit the gas.

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Just look for more money,
and look for a better career,

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and look for more promotions,
and it’s simple.

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The problem is, on the super highway,
guys get to age 45,

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and a bunch of them
stop and they say:

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I think I’m on the wrong road.

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I don’t want to be on
this super highway,

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but I can’t stop because
I’ve got the house payment

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and I’ve got all this stuff.

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It’s hard. I’ll get hit,

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I’ll get in an accident
if I stop, it’ll be bad if I stop.

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That’s what a lot of guys find.

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Now, okay, next question.
What do they want?

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Staying on the same metaphor,

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what they want is to be
on another road

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that they pick themselves.

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They want to be on a little dirt road,

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with a motorcycle on it,

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where the driver’s not
wearing a helmet.

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That’s what they want.

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So, who’s the guy on the motorcycle?
‘Cause the secret to happiness

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is being the guy on the motorcycle
without the helmet.

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So I want to know who he is.
Tell me about him.

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I know who he is. He's me.

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And I’ll tell you how it works.

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When I was nineteen,
I dropped out of college.

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Dropped out, kicked out.
Splitting hairs.

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[audience laughing]

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And, I ran off to play
music for a living.

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I was a French horn player.
That’s all I wanted to do.

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I wound up in the Barcelona Symphony
by my late twenties.

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It was great. I loved the music.
I still love the music.

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It’s the best music ever written.

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Seems like a dream, right?

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But I got a glimpse of
my 45 year-old self.

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I got a look in the crystal ball.

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It was all the guys working with me

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who were usually
20, 30 years older than me,

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who around 45 kind of,
kind of lost their happiness,

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and now they were drinking
a little too much

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and their marriages weren’t so good,

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and they didn’t like
the music so much.

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And I said, I don’t want
to be those guys.

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So I got lucky that I saw it,
and I hatched a plan.

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I hatched a plan to escape.

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And I decided to go back to college.

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And I called my Dad.
I said, 'Dad, I’ve got big news.

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I’m going to quit music.
I’m going to go back to college.

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I’m going to study,
I don’t know, literature

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or physics or poetry
or economics or something.

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It’s going to be great.
I’m going to use my brain.

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My dad said, 'What are you
talking about?'

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He said, 'You’ve started a family.
You’re doing fine.

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It’s very irresponsible
to just quit

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when you’re in your late
twenties. Why?'

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I said, ‘Dad, because I’m not happy

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and I don’t think
I’m going to be happy.’

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There’s this long pause and he says,

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'So what makes you so special?'

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[laughing]

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Today I’m doing what I love.

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Today, I’m doing what I feel
like I’m called to do.

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Today my job is to talk to you
about how to have a happier life.

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What a miracle.

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Now, it’s not good enough for people
to accidentally find the way.

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We need to find it on purpose.

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Okay, so, innate differences.

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Genetics: 48%.

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The next big one is big life events.

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This is what you think really
drives your happiness.

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You want to be happy.
Go for your goals.

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You’ve got these
big goals in your life,

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and avoid the bad stuff, right?

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You think about it all the time.

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If only I could graduate
from college with a good enough GPA

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and get a good job,
then I’ll be happy, right?

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If only I get into law school,
then I’ll be happy.

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If only that girl will marry me,
then I’ll be happy.

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And if I don’t get sick,
I won’t be unhappy, right?

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If I don’t have an accident,
I won’t be unhappy.

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We think in this way.
We’re very goal oriented creatures.

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Now, how much of our life happiness
at any particular point

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comes from the big
things, good and bad?

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The answer is 40%.

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That’s a lot!

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It seems like you’re absolutely right

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to be chasing the big thing
at any particular moment,

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trying to avoid the big bad thing

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at any particular moment.

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But that’s wrong.

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It’s 40%, but I’m going to tell you
why not to chase it.

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Two reasons.

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Number 1, is we’re very bad

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at getting the things
that we’re seeking,

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the big goals that we’re seeking.

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But more importantly,
the big things never last.

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How long will your mood be improved
if you get that dream house?

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Six months.

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If I double your pay, how long
will it improve your mood?

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Up to 6 months, no more.

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No matter what you do
it’s going to wear off.

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The big stuff wears off,

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but the costs of doing
these big things last forever.

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Don’t chase the big thing.

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There is one study that
really points this out.

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It’s the most interesting
study I’ve ever seen.

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It is from 1978, actually.

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It’s an old study
but it’s still classic.

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And it compares two groups of people:

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quadriplegics, and people
who win the lottery.

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Okay now, what do these
people have in common.

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A huge punctuation to
their equilibrium.

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Boom. Bad or good, right?

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Now, quadriplegics.

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Six months after their
accidents, on average,

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their happiness has returned

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almost to its level
prior to their accident.

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That’s what the study shows.

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Not all the way.
But almost all the way.

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See how durable we are.
Six months later,

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they would - they still say
I would do almost anything

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to get - to be able to control
my arms and legs,

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to not be confined to a wheelchair.

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But their happiness is
something that's innate

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and has to do with other forces.

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Okay. That’s finding number 1.

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Number 2 is lottery winners.

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This one is actually even
a little bit more interesting.

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Six months after you hit the lottery,

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the average lottery winner has
permanent baseline happiness levels

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that are slightly below
where they were

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the day before
they bought the ticket.

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Literally the best thing that
can happen to you

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when you buy a lottery ticket,
is that you don’t win.

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00:10:14.345 --> 00:10:16.305
Why? We know this too.

244
00:10:16.345 --> 00:10:19.243
It’s because they’ve
blown their circuits.

245
00:10:19.283 --> 00:10:21.694
The little things in life
don’t make them happy.

246
00:10:21.734 --> 00:10:24.077
Think about what’s going to make
you happy this weekend.

247
00:10:24.117 --> 00:10:25.531
It’s hanging out with loved ones.

248
00:10:25.571 --> 00:10:28.550
It’s doing the things that give you
a little bit of gratification

249
00:10:28.590 --> 00:10:29.760
with the people who make you happy.

250
00:10:29.800 --> 00:10:31.370
You’re going to watch some sports.

251
00:10:31.410 --> 00:10:34.023
You'll probably go out to dinner.

252
00:10:34.063 --> 00:10:36.830
You’re going to be around people
who you’re comfortable with

253
00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:39.160
and you’re going to joke around
and have a great time.

254
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:40.701
Turns out the people
who win the lottery

255
00:10:40.741 --> 00:10:41.879
don’t get that anymore.

256
00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:43.879
All of their hobbies are dross.

257
00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.670
Their friendships are all different.

258
00:10:45.710 --> 00:10:47.948
They don’t enjoy the little things
they used to enjoy before.

259
00:10:47.988 --> 00:10:49.767
So they go in search
of more flavor.

260
00:10:49.807 --> 00:10:52.763
The truth is,
if you want to be happy,

261
00:10:52.803 --> 00:10:56.430
don’t spend your time obsessing
about the great big splash.

262
00:10:56.470 --> 00:10:58.837
What you need are habits

263
00:10:58.877 --> 00:11:01.769
that will give you the highest
likelihood of getting that 40%,

264
00:11:01.809 --> 00:11:04.799
that’ll drive these events
most likely into your life,

265
00:11:04.839 --> 00:11:08.848
and drive the bad things out of
your life in a regular framework,

266
00:11:08.888 --> 00:11:11.093
as a regular type of discipline.

267
00:11:11.133 --> 00:11:14.872
So, what are these
lifestyle elements?

268
00:11:14.912 --> 00:11:18.923
And this brings us to the last 12%.
Remember, 48% is genetics.

269
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40% is events.You’ve got 12% left.

270
00:11:21.795 --> 00:11:25.573
The 12% you have left are
under your control.

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00:11:25.613 --> 00:11:28.470
And, if you do
the things you need to do

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00:11:28.510 --> 00:11:30.254
to get the maximum from the 12%,

273
00:11:30.294 --> 00:11:33.640
you’re also going to raise the
likelihood of getting the 40%,

274
00:11:33.680 --> 00:11:36.077
'cause this gives you
the best lifestyle

275
00:11:36.117 --> 00:11:37.648
to give you the best luck.

276
00:11:37.688 --> 00:11:40.877
So what we need to know
now are the things,

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and there are 4 of them,
that will give you the 12%.

278
00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:45.869
And this is where the
knowledge is power.

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00:11:45.909 --> 00:11:48.110
This is where you get to
walk out of here

280
00:11:48.150 --> 00:11:50.865
ready to invest in your
happiness portfolio

281
00:11:50.905 --> 00:11:53.432
and be a happier person
starting tonight.

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Here’s the good news.

283
00:11:54.869 --> 00:11:59.339
Simple, available to everybody,
and easy to understand.

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Here are the 4: faith, family,
community, and work.

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Those are your big 4.
That’s your happiness portfolio.

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Don’t waste your time on other stuff,

287
00:12:12.395 --> 00:12:13.752
because if you do,

288
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you’re going to be going
in the wrong direction.

289
00:12:14.933 --> 00:12:18.152
Family - I mean, sorry,
faith is pretty obvious

290
00:12:18.192 --> 00:12:20.466
The interior life. I’m not going
to tell you which faith.

291
00:12:20.506 --> 00:12:22.190
But thinking about
the transcendental,

292
00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:24.190
thinking about the things that
are not of this world,

293
00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:25.780
and incorporating them
into your life.

294
00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:28.289
Family! Having solid
family relationships.

295
00:12:28.329 --> 00:12:30.735
These are the things that can’t
and shouldn’t go away.

296
00:12:30.775 --> 00:12:32.337
Community is a little bit
more complicated.

297
00:12:32.377 --> 00:12:35.839
The elements of community are
cultivating important friendships

298
00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.038
and being charitable in
your community,

299
00:12:38.078 --> 00:12:40.205
being a charitable person
toward others.

300
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That’s what it means to have
community in your life.

301
00:12:42.456 --> 00:12:43.655
Now I’m not going to spend my time

302
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on faith, family, and community.

303
00:12:45.157 --> 00:12:47.117
I’m going to spend the rest
of my time on work,

304
00:12:47.157 --> 00:12:49.117
‘cause that’s the
counterintuitive one.

305
00:12:49.157 --> 00:12:51.117
Work is such a big deal.

306
00:12:51.157 --> 00:12:52.915
You watch The Office.

307
00:12:52.955 --> 00:12:55.824
You read Dilbert cartoons, right?

308
00:12:55.864 --> 00:12:57.486
Work is just a drag, right?

309
00:12:57.526 --> 00:12:59.286
At least for others.
You probably like your job

310
00:12:59.326 --> 00:13:02.300
but other people, eh,
probably not so much.

311
00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:05.177
What percentage of Americans
like or love their jobs?

312
00:13:05.217 --> 00:13:07.536
What percentage of
Americans are satisfied

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00:13:07.576 --> 00:13:09.376
or very satisfied with their work?

314
00:13:09.416 --> 00:13:11.737
Okay, now think about it.
Get a number in your head.

315
00:13:11.777 --> 00:13:14.582
You’re thinking 20-25%.

316
00:13:14.622 --> 00:13:16.582
Eighty-nine percent.

317
00:13:16.622 --> 00:13:19.619
Eighty-nine percent of Americans
are either satisfied

318
00:13:19.659 --> 00:13:21.744
or very satisfied with their jobs.

319
00:13:21.784 --> 00:13:23.089
What an incredible thing.

320
00:13:23.129 --> 00:13:27.174
No other country comes even
remotely close. Why? Why?

321
00:13:27.214 --> 00:13:29.174
Because of money?

322
00:13:29.214 --> 00:13:31.154
No, that’s not one of the big 4.

323
00:13:31.194 --> 00:13:34.328
I didn’t say faith, family,
community, work, and money.

324
00:13:34.368 --> 00:13:35.775
No. Money is not on the list,

325
00:13:35.815 --> 00:13:38.525
and in truth, many
economists including me,

326
00:13:38.565 --> 00:13:41.268
we’ve studied the effects of
money on happiness.

327
00:13:41.308 --> 00:13:43.036
Money does bring happiness

328
00:13:43.076 --> 00:13:45.167
by relieving pressure
to people who are poor,

329
00:13:45.207 --> 00:13:46.956
up to the level of
the lower-middle class,

330
00:13:46.996 --> 00:13:48.824
then it flattens out a lot.

331
00:13:48.864 --> 00:13:49.839
Brings a little bit

332
00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.304
but it takes a lot of money
at higher income levels

333
00:13:52.344 --> 00:13:54.122
to bring any sort of satisfaction.

334
00:13:54.162 --> 00:13:57.015
Okay. So money’s really not it.
It’s something else.

335
00:13:57.055 --> 00:14:01.126
What is it that brings so much
happiness to so many people

336
00:14:01.166 --> 00:14:05.902
from work, besides the guys who
were bummed out at age 45.

337
00:14:05.942 --> 00:14:07.305
So what is it?

338
00:14:07.345 --> 00:14:10.095
We've looked, and we've looked
and we've looked and we found it.

339
00:14:10.135 --> 00:14:11.704
We found it.

340
00:14:11.744 --> 00:14:13.704
It’s earned success.

341
00:14:13.744 --> 00:14:16.449
It’s the belief that you are
creating value with your life

342
00:14:16.489 --> 00:14:18.449
and value in the lives
of other people.

343
00:14:18.489 --> 00:14:24.499
Earned success is truly the key
to happiness through work.

344
00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:27.115
If you believe that you’re
serving others

345
00:14:27.155 --> 00:14:29.210
and you are creating value
with everything that you do,

346
00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:30.708
I don’t care what you do because

347
00:14:30.748 --> 00:14:32.745
people who believe that they’ve
earned their success

348
00:14:32.785 --> 00:14:34.206
and are happy in their work

349
00:14:34.246 --> 00:14:36.354
are the same, whether they
have a college degree,

350
00:14:36.394 --> 00:14:39.062
or a high school degree,
or no high school degree;

351
00:14:39.102 --> 00:14:40.902
whether they have above
average incomes

352
00:14:40.942 --> 00:14:42.107
or below average incomes;

353
00:14:42.147 --> 00:14:44.613
so they classify themselves
as lower-middle class,

354
00:14:44.653 --> 00:14:46.809
or middle class, or
upper-middle class,

355
00:14:46.849 --> 00:14:49.099
it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.

356
00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:52.002
It matters whether or not they think
they are creating value

357
00:14:52.042 --> 00:14:53.304
with their lives,

358
00:14:53.344 --> 00:14:55.675
that they are earning their success.

359
00:14:55.715 --> 00:14:57.758
If you take two people that
are precisely the same,

360
00:14:57.798 --> 00:15:00.626
their data from the University of
Chicago, general social survey

361
00:15:00.666 --> 00:15:03.226
- the best survey database that
we have in the United States today -

362
00:15:03.266 --> 00:15:06.503
two people who are the same -
age, sex, race, religion,

363
00:15:06.543 --> 00:15:08.503
same level of education -

364
00:15:08.543 --> 00:15:10.968
and they both say that they
have earned their success,

365
00:15:11.008 --> 00:15:14.568
but one person earns 8 times
as much money as the second,

366
00:15:14.608 --> 00:15:16.074
they will be equally likely

367
00:15:16.114 --> 00:15:19.007
to say that they are very
happy about their lives.

368
00:15:19.047 --> 00:15:21.643
What an incredible thing!
Money doesn’t buy happiness.

369
00:15:21.683 --> 00:15:24.098
Earned success is it!

370
00:15:24.138 --> 00:15:28.547
And that’s what the guy
on the motorcycle has.

371
00:15:28.587 --> 00:15:29.886
That’s what he has.

372
00:15:29.926 --> 00:15:32.407
He’s earning his success.
That’s what we want.

373
00:15:32.447 --> 00:15:34.107
I want to be that guy. Why?

374
00:15:34.147 --> 00:15:37.463
I want to have life on my terms.
I want to build my life.

375
00:15:37.503 --> 00:15:41.232
I want my life to be my enterprise.

376
00:15:41.272 --> 00:15:43.859
That’s the spirit of
American entrepreneurship.

377
00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:45.486
That’s the American Dream.

378
00:15:45.526 --> 00:15:47.984
Enterprise is not
building a business.

379
00:15:48.024 --> 00:15:50.275
Enterprise is building your life.

380
00:15:50.315 --> 00:15:52.213
And if you do it and
you earn your success

381
00:15:52.253 --> 00:15:53.555
then you pursue your happiness.

382
00:15:53.595 --> 00:15:57.646
That’s the moral covenant
of our founders to us.

383
00:15:57.686 --> 00:16:00.363
When they talked about the fact
that we’re endowed by our Creator

384
00:16:00.403 --> 00:16:02.363
with the unalienable rights of life,

385
00:16:02.403 --> 00:16:04.061
liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

386
00:16:04.101 --> 00:16:08.119
they might as well have said...
and earning our success.