From the course: How to Train Your Brain For Happiness

The pursuit of happiness

From the course: How to Train Your Brain For Happiness

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The pursuit of happiness

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- Work is love made visible. Kahlil Gibran wrote that in the 19th century, but it applies to us today in the 21st century. Most Americans spend 13 years of his or her lifetime at work. What we're finding in the brain science research is that there are three fundamental human drives that we all are seeking to find that sense of purpose, value, meaning, a sense of happiness, if you will. And these three primal needs are the need to find value, the need for belonging, and the need for engagements. All of these three primal needs, value, belonging, and engagements, can be cultivated in work. It doesn't matter if you are self-employed, whether you are an entrepreneur who is beginning a startup, or an executive at a multinational corporation. All of us are driven by brain science and human behavior. In the Declaration of Independence, it actually says "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Now, what's interesting is that phrase, "pursuit of happiness." In the original draft of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, the word "pursuit" was absence. It was only in the final version that he wrote the word "pursuit of happiness." So this is what I reveal to you. Happiness is not a promise; happiness is a practice. We have to practice the pursuit of happiness. And so this is what brain science research now reveals. We can use the cutting-edge research in brain science to help you invest in happiness.

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