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Talk38 min

Why pursuing happiness makes you ... less happy

Emily Esfahani Smith · TED

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About

Drawing on clinical research and psychological studies, writer and psychotherapist Emily Esfahani Smith shows why pursuing meaning — the experience of connecting to something beyond yourself — creates a deeper sense of well-being than comes from chasing happiness. Learn about the steps you can take to move from feeling stuck to living with intention. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)

The talk

  1. Why pursuing happiness makes you ... less happy 38 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED Membership
Speaker
Emily Esfahani Smith
Year
2026
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Psychology and the brain
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed