Dr. Laurie Santos: How to Break Free from the Mental Traps Stealing Your Happiness | Mental Health | E372

Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing)

YAP Media Network

Education, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Business, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As a psychology professor at Yale University, Dr. Laurie Santos witnessed a severe mental health crisis among her students. One in four were too depressed to function on most days, and over 60% felt overwhelmingly anxious. This experience inspired her to create Yale’s most popular course, Psychology and the Good Life, which teaches evidence-based strategies to rewire one’s mindset and find true fulfillment. In this episode, Dr. Laurie dives into the science of happiness and shares practical, research-based techniques to break free from common happiness myths and mental traps that keep us from experiencing true joy. In this episode, Hala and Dr. Laurie will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:10) The College Mental Health Crisis (05:37) The Scientific Definitions of Happiness (07:34) How Culture and Mindset Shape Happiness (12:13) Debunking Common Happiness Myths (25:25) Savoring Relationships and Valuing Health (29:08) Turning What We Know Into Everyday Positivity (38:20) Overcoming the Social Comparison Bias Trap (41:43) Rewiring Your Mindset for Lasting Fulfillment (49:24) Expert Takes on Modern Happiness Concepts Dr. Laurie Santos is a cognitive scientist, psychology professor at Yale University, and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. Her Yale course, Psychology and the Good Life, became the most popular class in the university’s history and has reached millions worldwide. As a leading expert in the science of happiness, Dr. Laurie helps people understand why our brains mislead us and how to rewire our minds for overall wellness and genuine joy. Sponsored By: Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/PROFITING Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting. Mercury streamlines your banking and finances in one place. Learn more at mercury.com/profiting. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. Quo - Get 20% off your first 6 months at Quo.com/PROFITING Revolve - Head to REVOLVE.com/PROFITING and take 15% off your first order with code PROFITING Framer- Go to Framer.com and use code PROFITING to launch your site for free. Merit Beauty - Go to meritbeauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Pipedrive - Get a 30-day free trial at pipedrive.com/profiting Airbnb - Find yourself a cohost at airbnb.com/host Resources Mentioned: Dr. Laurie's Podcast, The Happiness Lab: bit.ly/THL-apple Dr. Laurie's Website: drlauriesantos.com/ YAP E197 with Scott Galloway: youngandprofiting.co/StrugglngGen YAP E247 with Arthur Brooks: youngandprofiting.co/Happiness YAP E342 with Mark Manson: youngandprofiting.co/HardTruth YAP E29 with Gretchen Rubin: youngandprofiting.co/Secret Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting Newsletter - youngandprofiting.co/newsletter LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Biohacking, Motivation, Manifestation, Brain Health, Life Balance, Self-Healing, Sleep, Diet

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Yeah, bam, as you may know, I'm a total fashionista. I love clothing. It is my favorite way to
0:08.7	express myself. I love putting together outfits. It is one of my favorite hobbies, fashion. I just love it.
0:14.5	And when it comes to buying my clothes, there's really only one place I shop for the last three or four
0:19.9	years. I literally have bought all of my clothes from Revolve, one place I shop for the last three or four years, I literally have
0:21.3	bought all of my clothes from Revolve, whether it's buying a gown for a wedding, work clothes,
0:26.6	going out, dancing clothes, bikinis for vacations, vacation outfits, all of my clothes are from
0:32.6	Revolve. And Revolve is so amazing because they've got so many brands. They've got 1,200 different brands
0:38.2	from really established labels to up and coming brands. And I just love discovering these new brands,
0:44.7	trying these clothes. It's always so high quality. Their shipping is just so fast. They've got
0:49.6	overnight shipping, two-day shipping. It's one of the best high-quality stores that I know of that
0:53.9	actually provide quick shipping. So if you need something in a pinch, Revolve is night shipping, two-day shipping, it's one of the best high-quality stores that I know of that actually
0:54.2	provide quick shipping. So if you need something in a pinch, Revolve is definitely your go-to.
0:59.9	Whether it's a weekend away or a big night out or a style refresh, your dream wardrobe is just
1:05.0	one click away. Head to Revolve.com slash profiting and shop my edit to take 15% off your first order with code profiting.
1:12.5	That's fast two-day shipping, easy returns. It's literally the only place you need to shop from.
1:17.1	It's the only place that I shop from. That's revolve.com slash profiting to shop my favorites and get
1:22.1	15% off your first order with code profiting. This offer ends November 9th, so happy shopping and get to it.
1:29.3	The world is like anxiety provoking and frustrating right now, especially for young people
1:34.8	thinking about moving into the working world. Dr. Lori Santos, Yale professor and host of the
1:40.9	Happiness Lab podcast, whose groundbreaking course on the psychology of well-being has transformed millions of lives. We often think that happiness is like a destination, like get the promotion, and then I'll be happily ever after. But of course, happiness is much more like a journey. It's much more changing over time. As soon as you get that good thing that you like, you might just get used to it. Studies show that, in fact, you wind up happier if you can focus on the journey rather than the goal at the end. Now, does that mean that we need to be like not goal-oriented at all? No, of course not, right? We always have to have goals. The key is... There's a big epidemic in terms of unhappiness with men. What is your perspective on some of the things that they specifically need to look out for?
2:21.9	I think a lot of the solutions that are presented to young men are very individual solutions.
2:26.8	Like treat yourself, do yourself, you, you, you.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from YAP Media Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of YAP Media Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.