{"id":11188,"date":"2026-08-11T07:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T07:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=11188"},"modified":"2026-08-11T07:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T07:09:27","slug":"yale-expert-shares-5-steps-to-rewire-your-brain-for-happiness-with-no-weird-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=11188","title":{"rendered":"Yale expert shares 5 steps to rewire your brain for happiness with no weird tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An easy guide to thwart the \u201cannoying features of the mind.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a human perspective, it might seem that happiness should come naturally. However, according to Dr. Laurie Santos, an expert on happiness and a professor of psychology at Yale University, happiness is a skill many of us have to develop because it\u2019s secondary to our basic survival needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNatural selection honestly doesn\u2019t care how we feel\u2014it really just wants us to survive and reproduce. And that doesn\u2019t necessarily involve being happier,\u201d Santos said in a YouTube video for Big Think. \u201cPeople are less happy than they ever have been. In the United States, around 40% of college students report being too depressed to function most days. We see the same kind of thing in older individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"student,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018annoying features of the mind\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Santos says there are \u201cannoying features of the mind\u201d that deceive us into looking for happiness where it doesn\u2019t exist or cause us to overestimate the joy certain things will bring. Often, our intuitions about what will make us happy are incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also tend not to think objectively; instead,\u00a0we compare\u00a0what we have to what other people have. As long as someone else is doing better, we feel worse. Further, some things that positively affect our happiness\u00a0stop working\u00a0over time, leaving us to chase the same experiences for diminishing returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing that our minds are constantly tricking us and sometimes working against our pursuit of happiness, Santos says we can rewire our brains to find lasting joy without resorting to strange tricks. All we have to do is practice five simple behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 ways to rewire your brain for greater happiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Social connection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery available study of happy people suggests that happy people are more social. They physically spend time around other people, and they tend to really prioritize time with their friends and family members,\u201d Santos said. \u201cOur lack of social connection really comes from the fact that we have this strong intuition that it kind of doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santos\u2019 point is backed up by Nick Epley, whose research explores \u201cundersociality,\u201d or our tendency to be less social than is optimal for happiness. His work also shows that we often misjudge how other people perceive us in social situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Be \u2018other-oriented\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnother behavior that we know really affects our happiness is doing nice things for other people\u2014trying to become a little bit more other-oriented,\u201d Santos said. \u201cThis is a spot where we have seriously incorrect intuitions. We often think that self-care is the path to happiness, but the evidence really suggests that happy people are much more other-oriented. They\u2019re donating more money to charity. They\u2019re spending their time volunteering for others. They give more compliments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Gratitude<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo we have a mindset of paying attention to all the negative things, all the hassles in life? Or do we have a mindset that focuses more on the blessings?\u201d Santos asked. \u201cLots of evidence suggests that happy people focus on the blessings. If you tend not to do that naturally, you can change that thought pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An easy way to develop an\u00a0attitude of gratitude\u00a0is to take a few moments each day\u2014whether you\u2019re in the shower, on your commute, or before bed\u2014to think of three to five things you\u2019re grateful for. It could be something as simple as your toaster working that morning or something as meaningful as the love you feel for a family member. Humans have a\u00a0negativity bias, which means the bad things in life tend to stand out more than the good. This simple practice can help counteract that. After all, if you aren\u2019t grateful for the blessings in your life, it\u2019s almost as if you don\u2019t have them at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"gratitude,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Savoring<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the reasons our good circumstances don\u2019t necessarily lead to happiness is we tend not to notice them,\u201d Santos said. \u201cWe\u2019ll buy a delicious latte that we should be paying attention to and savoring and really enjoying, but we just kind of chug it while we\u2019re checking our email. The act of savoring is moving towards paying attention to the good things in life a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you fully soak in\u00a0and savor a pleasant experience\u2014whether it\u2019s a delicious meal, the cool breeze on your face, or the joy of your dog sleeping in a funny position\u2014it has two positive effects. First, you can fully appreciate the moment. Second, it fosters a sense of gratitude for the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Exercise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe often forget that bodies are connected to minds, but they really are. And that means that a really quick way to change how we\u2019re feeling emotionally is simply moving our body a little bit more,\u201d Santos said. \u201cExercise is intricately connected to our mental health, and it\u2019s important to note that this isn\u2019t like running a marathon. This is simply just getting your body to move around a little bit more. Even as much as like 20 minutes a day can really improve your well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people go through life wondering why they just can\u2019t seem to maintain happiness. As Santos points out, a big reason is that we rely too much on our default mental settings, which often lead us astray. By practicing her five simple habits, we can all become a little happier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An easy guide to thwart the \u201cannoying features of the mind.\u201d  From a human perspective, it might seem that happiness should come naturally. However, according to Dr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/772707711_1786923138968881_8905898838346580810_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11190,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11188\/revisions\/11190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}