#254 mit Dr. Robert J. Waldinger, Professor at Harvard Medical School, Director of “The Study of Adult Development”, TED

Today we are speaking to our guest about his lessons from the longest study on happiness. We will ask him: What brings us happiness and keeps us healthy as we go through life? Many people would think money and fame are the answer to a meaningful life. He will tell us: They are not! Our guest today is a Harvard psychiatrist, a Zen priest, and a psychoanalyst. He is the fourth director in history, of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which is possibly the longest study of adult life ever done. For more than 80 years, his team and their predecessors tracked the lives of 724 men. Year after year, they asked about their work, their home lives, and their health—trying to determine what we need for a meaningful and healthy life. About 60 of their original 724 men are still alive, still participating in the study, most of them in their 90s. And they are now studying more than 2,000 Baby Boomer sons and daughters of these men. Since I watched his TED talk, which is one of the most popular TED talks of all time (37 Mio viewers), I am a huge fan of his work and his personal story. We are so honored and proud to have him as our guest in our Podcast today. For almost exactly 4 years we are on our “way to new work”. How can a topic that plays such an important part in our everyday life create more meaning in our lives again? How do we get people to draw strength and motivation from their daily work again? And how can one succeed in living a happy, healthy, productive and fulfilling life even in such difficult times? We are looking for methods, role models, experiences, tools and ideas that bring us closer to the core of New Work! We are always concerned with the question of whether everyone can really find and live what they really, really want in their innermost being. You are at “On the Way to New Work” today with Robert Waldinger.