The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos The Hidden Beliefs That Shape Your Happiness with Shawn Achor

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 clean your wellbeing, Dr. Laurie sits down with happiness expert Shawn Achor, author of The Power of Beliefs, to explore how our beliefs about time, work, relationships, and self-worth shape happiness, success, and long-term wellbeing.

And if some of your beliefs are holding you back, Shawn shares practical ways to start shifting them. Plus, we learn one delightful fact about fireflies.

Experts Mentioned:

• Shawn Achor, positive psychology researcher and author
• Richard Wiseman, professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire
• Henry Beecher, anesthesiologist at Harvard Medical School who pioneered research on the placebo effect

Resources Mentioned:

• The Power of Beliefs: How Strengthening Seven Core Beliefs Predicts Greater Success and a Better Life, by Shawn Achor (2026)
• The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, by Shawn Achor (2010)
• The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind, by Richard Wiseman (2004)
• “From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior,” by John M. Darley and C. Daniel Batson (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973)

Related Episodes:

• “Grateful Expectations“
• “How to Adopt a Growth Mindset”
• “Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Buddha”
• “Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Socrates and Self-Knowledge“