Chasing happiness directly might be one of the worst ways to find it.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin unpack why happiness is better understood as a byproduct than a destination. A lot of what shapes our happiness is either built into our baseline or fades faster than we expect. The part we can influence has less to do with perfect circumstances and more to do with how we think, what we protect, and where we put our attention.

From Disney World meltdowns to late-life reinvention, Cindi and Geoff make the case for three things worth chasing instead: meaningful relationships, a sense of purpose, and a little novelty.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “I’ll be happy when…,” this conversation offers a helpful reset: what are you building that happiness can come from?

Episode Highlights:

Why happiness is actually a byproduct of something else and the 3 things to chase instead
The 50/10/40 equation: what the science says actually determines your happiness level
What 85 years of Harvard research says about relationships and longevity
Why retirement can be harder than many people expect
The happiness “set point” and why people tend to bounce back to a baseline
Social comparison traps and how to break them

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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:

Waldinger, Robert J., and Marc Schulz. The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Simon & Schuster, 2023. https://a.co/d/00Zx1PXg
Lyubomirsky, Sonja, Kennon M. Sheldon, and David Schkade. "Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change." Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 2005. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111
Schkade, David A., and Daniel Kahneman. "Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction." Psychological Science, 9(5), 1998, pp. 340-346. https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/biases/9_Psychological_Science_340_(Schkade).pdf
Adam Sandler “Same Sad You” SNL Skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwlC2B-BIg

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