
6 Protocols to Find Meaning and Build a Happier Life
About this episode
Pre-order The Meaning of Your Life (out March 31).
This is the final episode in my 3-part series on meaning, and it begins with a question I couldn’t ignore when I returned to campus five years ago: why do so many successful, driven people feel anxious, depressed, and lonely?
In this episode, I share three real-life stories from my new book, The Meaning of Your Life. These stories reveal what’s missing—and why the problem isn’t a lack of enjoyment or satisfaction, but rather the third macronutrient of happiness, meaning.
I finish by sharing the six protocols from my book to help you move beyond distraction and build a more meaningful life in six months. If you want to go deeper, I hope you’ll consider the book.
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Where to find Arthur Brooks:
• Website: https://arthurbrooks.com/
• Newsletter: https://www.arthurbrooks.com/newsletter
• X: https://x.com/arthurbrooks
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthurcbrooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArthurBrooks/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-c-brooks/
• Email: [email protected]
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:52) Recap of Part 1 and Part 2
(07:56) Why I wrote The Meaning of Your Life
(14:37) The connection between lack of meaning, anxiety, and depression
(17:05) Why case studies matter
(19:43) Story #1: The garbage disposal
(24:13) Story #2: Just stay busy
(26:40) Story #3: A long hike to…somewhere
(30:02) What these stories reveal
(33:18) Six protocols from The Meaning of Your Life
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Referenced:
• The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness: themeaningofyourlife.com
• Why Your Perfect Life Feels So Empty (Sneak Peek): https://www.thefp.com/p/arthur-brooks-why-your-perfect-life-feels-so-empty
• The Happiness Scale: https://learn.arthurbrooks.com/the-happiness-scale
• The Pursuit of Happiness with Arthur Brooks: https://www.thefp.com/s/the-pursuit-of-happiness-with-arthur
• Self-inflicted pain out of boredom: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178116301524?via%3Dihub
• ...References continued at: https://www.arthurbrooks.com/office-hours
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/.
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