When Life's Not Working, Don't Try Harder. Change Your Situation Instead. | Angela Duckworth
About this episode
How the people, places, and things around you can bring out your best. Plus, why willpower is unreliable, why AA works for so many people, and where to put your phone.
Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and the recently released Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why willpower alone rarely creates lasting behavior change, and why changing your situation is often the better move
- The Gallup study showing where teens keep their phones predicts their grades
- How to identify what's actually within your control versus truly fixed
- Angela's own marriage crisis during the 2008 financial collapse, and what saved it
- Why "trying harder" can sometimes make a bad situation worse, not better
- One reason Alcoholics Anonymous works for so many people in recovery
- How reaching out to strangers for advice can change your entire career path
- Why surrounding yourself with the right peers matters more than we admit
Related Episodes:
Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here
Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here
Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Additional Resources:
This episode is sponsored by:
BiOptimizers: Head to bioptimizers.com/happier and use code HAPPIER for 15% off your order.
Notion: Learn more about how Notion can support your business at notion.com/happier.
Square: Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/happier! #squarepod
Fitnexa: You can learn more about Fitnexa SomniPods 3 at go.fitnexa.com/n6PD9i, and use code HAPPIER10 for $10 off your order.
To advertise on the show, contact [email protected] or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris
Get every episode summarized
Each time 10% Happier with Dan Harris publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from 10% Happier with Dan Harris
Neal Brennan On: Talking Back to Your Inner Critic, Why Chasing Validation Doesn...
10% Happier with Dan Harris
Top 10 Practices for Resetting Your Time, Space, Body, Inner Critic, and Social...
10% Happier with Dan Harris
The Science Of Building The Life You Want | Arthur Brooks
10% Happier with Dan Harris
The Psychology Of Success | Guy Raz
10% Happier with Dan Harris