These Popular Happiness Hacks Didn't Work For Me (+ The Science-Backed Tricks I Use Instead)

The Liz Moody Podcast

Liz Moody

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health

4.8 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You all LOVED my episode on the 4 happiness hacks that actually work for me, so today I’m going to share the popular, common happiness tips you’ve all likely heard before that DON’T work for me, and what I do instead to feel good day to day. And of course, we get into the science and research to back it all up. Check out the previous episodes of The Liz Moody Podcast discussed today: I’ve Tried Hundreds of Happiness Hacks—These 4 Actually Work The Seven-Minute Secret To Happiness That No One Is Talking About with Dr. Dacher Keltner Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at www.lizmoody.com. Subscribe to the substack by visiting https://lizmoody.substack.com/welcome. To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast. Use our discount codes from our highly vetted and tested brand partners by visiting https://www.lizmoody.com/codes. This episode is brought to you completely free thanks to the following podcast sponsors: AG1: visit DrinkAG1.com/LizMoody and get your FREE year supply of Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs today. LMNT: go to DrinkLMNT.com/LizMoody to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order. The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy. Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 358. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Liz Moody podcast. Today, we are doing a fun little episode
0:05.0	that is based on an episode that you loved. It was called I've tried hundreds of happiness hacks.
0:10.6	These four actually work, which of course begs the question. What are the hacks that didn't work?
0:16.6	So we are going to get into those today. I'm going to share things that people commonly tell you
0:21.3	that you should be doing for your happiness and why the science might not necessarily support those
0:26.1	things and why they didn't work for me. And of course, because I really try my absolute best
0:31.5	to never leave you high and dry on this podcast, I'm going to share what I do instead.
0:37.1	The first happiness trick people commonly tell
0:39.7	you to do that did not work for me is having a traditional gratitude practice. I have tried to do
0:45.4	this for literal years. I have heard so many experts talk about how gratitude is one of the key
0:51.0	secrets to happiness in life. And the research behind gratitude is impressive.
0:56.2	It has been shown to stop rumination. It's been shown to reduce cortisol levels. It's been
1:00.8	shown to create positive feedback loop. So our brain is more likely to think happy thoughts in the
1:06.2	future. Which all sounds amazing in theory. But when I've tried to do more traditional gratitude practices
1:12.9	in the past, like listing three things a day that I'm grateful for in my journal, or trying to make
1:18.2	Zach do three things a day with me, which you really loved when I like, we're both flying
1:23.3	to sleep in bed and I'm like, okay, time to say three things that we're grateful for. When I try to do it like
1:28.8	that, a few different things happen. First of all, Zach gets annoyed with me. But then it also has sparked
1:36.1	comparison and feelings of lack. As I'm trying to focus my brain on the things that I have,
1:43.2	it drifts to things that other people have that I wish that I had or just things that I would trying to focus my brain on the things that I have, it drifts to things that other people
1:45.2	have that I wish that I had or just things that I would like to have that have generally
1:50.7	evaded me. And then instead of feeling fuller and happier, I feel envious and I feel sadder.
	...

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