Welcome to episode 179 of Live Happy Now.

This is your host, Paula Phelps, and today we have a special treat for you.

Live Happy CEO, Deborah Heys joins us to talk with author and happiness researcher Tal Ben Shahar,

who tells us about some very important lessons he learned, from his barber.

I am thrilled to have Al Jadiz Live Happy Now, one of our favorite people, one of the thought

leaders in the happiness space. He's someone we've talked to before. I've read his books. He's

really been an inspiration to many people around the world on their happiness journeys.

But we have Tal Ben Shahar who taught the historically largest course

at Harvard, which was called Positive Psychology and the third largest, the psychology of leadership,

teaching more than 1,400 students per semester, which is approximately 20% of all Harvard graduates.

So if you think about this, Talas had an influence on 20% of Harvard graduates for the time period he was there, which is phenomenal because hopefully he created a lot more happy Harvard graduates and happy Ivy League students than we typically see.

In addition, he's got his own BA and PhD from Harvard and for the last 15 years has been teaching leadership,

happiness, and mindfulness to audiences all over the world. He is the author of five books,

including the international bestsellers Happier and Being Happy, which if you haven't read,

you need to check out. And he's here with us today to talk about his latest book, Shortcuts to

Happiness, Life-changinganging Lessons from My

Barber. Welcome to the show, Patel. Thank you very much. Great to be back. So the obvious

question is, how is someone with a PhD from Harvard who's taught the largest course on happiness

ever? How does a person like that find life-changing lessons on happiness from their barber?

Yeah, so I must admit it came as a surprise to me, but let me share with you the minute I decided that, you know, there's a book in this.

I went for a haircut. I was just before a long trip. I didn't feel like getting on a plane. I was exhausted, not in a great mood. But I needed a haircut. So, you know, basic needs need to be fulfilled. So I went to the barber and sat down and I got out after 20 minutes feeling so much better. And it cost me $18, plus I got a free haircut.

And I was walking home, you know, it was just around the corner. I was walking home and I said,

...