ARTHUR C. BROOKS: Success Won’t Make You Happy — Here’s What Will

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Education, Science

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Arthur C. Brooks is an unlikely happiness guru. He’s not a psychologist, philosopher, or mystic. He’s an economist and public policy analyst who, for years, ran a prominent think tank. But rubbing shoulders with heads of state and titans of industry made him miserable. Confronted with the sobering realization that for too long he’d privileged work over connection and status over happiness, he left the c-suite and set about renovating the mission of his life. Before long, Arthur was teaching at Harvard Business School. But he wasn’t teaching hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts. He was teaching happiness. From a scientific perspective. Now, the pursuit of happiness might not seem like your typical business school fare. But Arthur’s got a good line on this. As he writes in his new book, The Happiness Files: “Your life is the most important management task you will ever undertake. It is, in fact, like a startup, where you are the founder, entrepreneur, and chief executive. And if you treat your life the way a great entrepreneur treats an exciting startup enterprise, your life will be happier, more meaningful, and more successful than it otherwise would be.” So that’s what today’s show is all about. What does it mean to live your life like it’s a startup? What you’ll learn: Why smart people are often less happy The simple test that reveals your biggest weakness How exercise and diet affect mood Why we should live in “day-tight compartments” ——— Want to connect with us? 🔗 Follow Rufus on LinkedIn 📖 Subscribe to our daily newsletter, Book of the Day ✉️ Send us an email: podcast@nextbigideaclub.com ——— Ready to reach 300,000 curious listeners and readers? Promote your brand, book, or product to an audience passionate about big ideas. 📩 Request our sponsor kit

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Rufus Griscombe, and this is the next big idea.
0:05.0	Today, your life is a startup.
0:08.0	Here's how to run it. Arthur C. Brooks is an unlikely happiness guru.
0:35.6	He's not a psychologist or a philosopher or a mystic.
0:39.7	He's an economist and public policy analysts.
0:43.4	For years, he ran the American Enterprise Institute,
0:46.9	a conservative think tank that advocates for private enterprise and small government.
0:52.3	That job, rubbing shoulders with heads of state and titans of industry, it made him miserable.
0:59.6	Confronted with the sobering realization that for too long, he'd privileged work over connection,
1:05.1	status over happiness, he left the C-suite and set about, as he put it in the conversation you're about to hear,
1:12.3	renovating the mission of his life.
1:15.7	Before long, Arthur was teaching at Harvard Business School,
1:19.0	but he wasn't teaching hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts.
1:22.5	He was teaching happiness from a scientific perspective.
1:27.4	As he writes in his new book, The Happiness Files,
1:30.2	which is drawn from the weekly column he's written for the Atlantic since 2020,
1:34.3	my classes cover a lot of neuroscience, social psychology, and behavioral economics to help my
1:40.2	students build happier lives and understand how happiness science can serve them in their
1:44.8	management careers. The pursuit of happiness might not seem like your typical business school fair,
1:50.8	but Arthur's got a good line on this. Your life is the most important management task you will ever
1:56.4	undertake. It is, in fact, like a startup where you're the founder, entrepreneur, and chief executive.
2:03.6	And if you treat your life the way a great entrepreneur treats an exciting startup enterprise,
	...

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