How to Design a More Meaningful Life (with Dave Evans and Bill Burnett)

How to Design a More Meaningful Life (with Dave Evans and Bill Burnett)

Author: Pushkin Industries February 2, 2026 Duration: 46:30

What does it mean to live a meaningful life? How do you find direction when you feel stuck or you’re unsure about your purpose? Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, co-founders of the Stanford Life Design Lab and authors of How to Live a Meaningful Life join Dr. Laurie to challenge our assumptions about where meaning really comes from. They share practical strategies from the world of design thinking to create a more purposeful and fulfilling life while making the most of your current circumstances.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are

"Overly Shallow?: Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversation"

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


We often chase after things we believe will bring us joy-the next promotion, a perfect vacation photo, a bigger house-only to find the feeling is fleeting. The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos digs into the surprising psychology behind why our instincts about happiness are so frequently wrong. Dr. Santos, a Yale professor, doesn't just offer vague self-help advice; she translates the rigorous research from her record-breaking university course into practical, actionable science. Each episode feels like a personal conversation, where she breaks down complex studies and shares stories from people who've applied these lessons, revealing how counterintuitive changes in our daily routines and mindset can have a profound impact. This Pushkin Industries podcast moves beyond the surface of wellness trends, offering a grounded look at what genuinely improves our well-being across our social lives, personal health, and cultural expectations. Tuning in, you'll hear not just theory, but the tangible steps you can take to rewire your habits, backed by evidence that often contradicts our modern chase for more. It’s a refreshing take that makes the science of a better life accessible and genuinely useful, episode by episode.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Podcast Episodes
Forget Small Talk: Go Deep Instead [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:37
Most of us default to small talk. It's polite, familiar, and feels like the safest way to start a conversation. But it may also be one of the biggest barriers to genuine connection. Dr. Laurie speaks with author and meta…
What We Still Get Wrong About Happiness (Live at Dartmouth) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:11
In this special live episode, Dr. Laurie takes the stage at Dartmouth College for a conversation with happiness historian Darrin McMahon. Together, they break down some of the biggest misconceptions about happiness in mo…
Why the “Pursuit of Happiness” Is a Bad Idea [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:36
The “pursuit of happiness” is one of America’s founding ideals. But what if chasing happiness is actually making us feel worse? In honor of the 250th anniversary of American independence, Dr. Laurie travels to Independen…
Why “No Regrets” Is Bad Advice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:57
We’ve all had moments we wish we could do over: the relationship we stayed in too long, the opportunity we didn’t take, the thing we said that we can’t unsay. Regret can feel awful. So it’s no surprise that “no regrets”…
Are Kids Today Really Worse Off? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:08
We hear a lot about rising rates of anxiety, depression, and fragility among kids today. But when Harvard researcher Alexis Redding uncovered a forgotten trove of interviews with college students from the 1970s, she foun…
The Surprising Case for Oversharing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:01
We’re kicking off a new season of The Happiness Lab with some happiness hot takes — bold claims that challenge conventional wisdom about what it really takes to feel happier. Today's hot take is all about oversharing. We…
How to Feel Happier in Your Body with Jessamyn Stanley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:46
As summer begins, many of us are bombarded with messages about how our bodies aren't good enough. But what if we embraced movement not out of self-criticism or shame, but self-compassion? To close out our series on how t…
What Your Negative Emotions Are Trying to Tell You [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:43
Negative emotions like sadness, anger, guilt, and anxiety can feel overwhelming. But what if those uncomfortable feelings aren’t problems to fix, but signals worth listening to? As part of our series on how to spring cle…
The Hidden Beliefs That Shape Your Happiness with Shawn Achor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:05
Our beliefs shape more than we realize. They influence what we notice, how we respond to setbacks, how connected we feel to others, and whether we take action to improve our lives. As part of our series on how to spring…
The Art of Doing Nothing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:17
Struggling to find free time? Feeling constantly busy or burned out? This episode is for you. Dr. Laurie explores the science behind “time famine,” the nagging sense that there’s never enough time in the day. Writer Tom…