Introduction
Well-being, happiness, and success are terms often thrown around by dreamers, influencers, and life coaches. But these concepts are not only in the lexicon of the naïve. A rich scientific literature has empirically uncovered what contributes to well-being in a variety of contexts, including in our daily lives, romantic relationships, and professional journeys.
This course provides an overview of the science of well-being, happiness, and success and how this research can help people improve organizations, businesses, and their own daily lives. We will start by discussing the many misconceptions that exist about well-being, happiness, and success, followed by a deep dive into each of these fields. You will learn, for instance, about the cognitive and emotional biases that both hamper and heighten our well-being, how our predictions about future happiness are all upside down, about motivational strategies that have been scientifically shown to help people reach their goals, and about concepts like gratitude, schadenfreude, and awe. While doing so, we will incorporate numerous business topics, such as work-life balance, employee satisfaction, consumer experience, and human relations.
This is not your usual course. A significant portion of the course will involve learning about scientifically based strategies to improve well-being and applying these strategies to improve your own happiness. You will not only learn about the latest advancements in the science of well-being, but I will also teach you scientific tools that you can apply in your daily and professional lives. Taken together, the course will help you develop as an individual as well as teach you how to build and maintain content and sustainable communities and businesses.
Is this course for you? Are you curious about what determines people’s happiness—money, power, or social relationships? Do you think about how to increase the well-being and motivation of employees and professionals? Do you wonder what is the ideal work-life balance? Do you want to adopt data-driven tricks that improve your own well-being and chances of success? If so, this course is for you. I look forward to teaching you the ins and outs of the science of well-being, happiness, and success.