My college roommate’s mother went to high school with Billy Joel. A long-time patient of mine was Robert Downey Jr.’s first-grade teacher. Personally, I always wondered what it would be like to know someone before they hit it big. Now I know. Meet my friend Dr. Laurie Santos.

It’s All in Who You Know

Yale Professor Laurie Santos is one of the top psychologists in the field. She gave a popular Ted Talk on “monkeynomics” and threw the dogs a bone when she opened Yale University’s Canine Cognition Center. Regardless of the species, her research looks closely at the innate biases, intuitions, and behavior patterns of primates. Now she brings her knowledge and skill set to the most evolved primate of all, man.

Watching her students struggle with stress and worry, Laurie decided to do something about it. What followed thrust her into the headlines. Her Yale course “Psychology and the Good Life” is not only the most popular class ever offered at the University, it has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Oprah, The Today Show, and media sources around the globe.

I cannot say I’m surprised.

Laurie always had a knack for drawing people in. There is an aura about her — open, honest, and kind. We met in elementary school but were separated for a time when I transferred to a different school system. New Bedford High School brought us back together six years later. We have been the best of friends ever since, and it is with great pride, that I share her success story with you.

Psychology and the Good Life

A course on how to be happier couldn’t have come at a better time. We are surrounded by political turmoil and have relentless pressures to succeed in whatever we do. Far too many people struggle with depression and anxiety. Our walls are up, and it can be hard to believe that there is help out there. It was time to find happiness like people in other countries do.

That’s where Laurie Santos flies in like a superhero.

We think that happiness is built in, that it’s part of our genes, but really it’s much more under our control than we think.

Laurie Santos

What Laurie offers us is a practical and research-based look at our own biases and the strategies to overcome them. Understanding where we get caught up, learning to prioritize the things that really matter, and developing habits that put us on a better path, we can learn how to be happier.

We think we know what will make us happy, but our instincts are usually wrong. She says, “When we’re unhappy, we think we need to lose weight or get a new job or make more money or buy a new house, car, or dress to be happier. But our minds are lying to us. That stuff is not what gets us to happiness. Instead, happiness comes from our active practices, it comes from what we do and how we think.”

Find Your Happiness

The Yale course teaches you to focus on social connection, gratitude, savoring, and setting aside time for the things you enjoy. Healthy practices like a good night’s sleep, meditation, and regular exercise come into play too.

Not that it is always so easy to do. Knowing what to do and actually doing it are different things. Old habits can be hard to break.

It’s really, really hard to actually do this stuff, even for the professor who teaches these things.

Laurie Santos

Still, it is hard not to be inspired. The course offers hope to us all, hope that life can be better.

When asked about her happiest moments, Laurie replies, “Seeing my husband get his PhD degree was up there. But a lot of them are quieter, less over the top moments. Being in the moment enjoying a corn muffin at my favorite coffee shop.” That’s what it is all about. Those precious moments together make a meaningful life.

To be honest, Laurie has always been a much-needed spark of hope in my life. My mother always encouraged me to work hard and get a good education, but it was Laurie who inspired me to chase after my dreams, no matter how serious or silly. She stood by me as I pushed to become a doctor. We danced to mixes together, we wrote stories together, we went to red carpet premieres, and we made magic happen for a friend of ours who had cancer. Our friendship opened up the creative part in me that I see as the real me. Thank you, Laurie, for all you’ve done for me and for others. You truly make the world a better place.

Time to Take Action

Want to find happiness? Maybe it’s time to make some simple changes in your own life. Not sure how to get there or what steps to take? There’s help!

Yale students are not the only ones who can benefit from “Psychology and the Good Life”. A shorter version of Laurie Santos’ course, re-named “The Science of Well-Being”, is now available free to the public on Coursera. Yes, I have taken it, and yes, it is fabulous. Not that I’m biased or anything.

Want to track your happiness progress? There’s an app for that too and it’s free! Inspired by “Psychology and the Good Life”, the ReWi app has reminders and tips on how to stay tuned to what makes you happy.

If you are a fan of Podcasts, hear what Laurie Santos has to say on The Happiness Lab from Pushkin Industries. These fun and aspiring talks include interviews with people from all walks of life, psychologists, celebrities, and even her own family. I enjoy listening to them while I walk on the treadmill, getting some endorphins while I support a friend. If that’s not finding happiness, I don’t know what is!