Should We Aim to Be Happy?

We hope to live a life filled with joy, excitement, contentment, purpose, love, meaning and transcendence. Whereas sadness, pain, grief, loneliness, anger, jealousy and anxiety, aren’t so much fun. And when things take a turn for the worst, we can fall into a number of clinical disorders, including depression, which are sadly all too prevalent. But we’re lucky to live in a society where there’s real expertise to help us through these difficult emotions; clinical psycho therapies, medicine, even evidence-based life hacks like exercise, sleep and the right diet. And if we want to move from just surviving to thriving, we have a whole movement in positive psychology to help define the tools needed to really live our best lives. For who doesn’t want to be happy? It’s not just that happy people tend to be more successful (and yes, recent studies show that causation in fact moves in that direction rather than the other way). It’s that it feels better to be happy, than sad. And we’re hard wired to choose pleasure over pain. But do we need to challenge the assumptions that sit behind our cultural obsession with happiness? If we put all our energy into improving our wellbeing and happiness, are we missing out on hugely valuable and potentially transformative experiences that lie in those less pleasant shadow emotions? Should we lean into, rather than avoid feelings of sadness, anxiety, fear and loneliness? Rubin Naiman Rubin Naiman, PhD, FAASM, is a psychologist, Fellow in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, clinical assistant professor of medicine and the sleep and dream specialist at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in the U.S. He is the leader in the development of integrative medicine approaches to sleep and dream disorders, integrating sleep science with depth psychological perspectives. Dr. Naiman is the author of groundbreaking works on sleep, including Healing Night, The Yoga of Sleep, Hush, and pivotal medical book chapters as well as scientific and consumer articles on sleep and dreams. Sue Langley Sue is the founder and CEO of the Langley Group and Academic Director of the Langley Group Institute which offers the world's first government accredited Diploma in Positive Psychology. Sue's passion for positive psychology, emotional intelligence and neuroscience and her unwavering belief in the ability of individuals to thrive and flourish have made her a prominent figure in the field. The Langley Group is a consultancy specialising in transforming organisations and their people through the science of human flourishing. Sue's experience shows that the theoretical understanding and practical application of neuroscience, emotional intelligence and positive psychology research will inspire leaders and teams to build positive cultures and optimal performance. CREDITS Your hosts are Lloyd Vogelman and Emile Sherman This podcast is proud to partner with The Ethics Centre Find Lloyd @LloydVogelman on Linked in Find Emile @EmileSherman on Linked In and X This podcast is produced by Jonah Primo and Sabrina Organo Find Jonah at jonahprimo.com or @JonahPrimo on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Should We Aim to Be Happy? is an episode from Principle of Charity by Emile Sherman, Lloyd Vogelman.

This episode is 53:52 long.

This episode was published on Mar 24, 2025.

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