Are you doing “all the right things” and still feeling like happiness keeps slipping through your fingers? In this episode, Dr. Diana Hill talks with Yale psychology professor and The Happiness Lab host Dr. Laurie Santos about the biggest mind traps that block joy—and the small, research-backed shifts that help you feel better in real life. Together, Diana and Laurie unpack why mind-wandering, hedonic adaptation (getting used to the good), and comparison quietly drain wellbeing—and how practices like mindfulness/savoring, treating negative emotions as helpful signals, radical acceptance, and “time affluence” can bring you back to what matters most.

Key takeaways you’ll learn in this episode:

1. The three biggest “happiness traps” (mind-wandering, adaptation, and comparison) and how to work with them.
2. Why chasing “good vibes only” can backfire—and how to redefine happiness as flourishing.
3. How to use negative emotions as signals (like a dashboard light) instead of problems to eliminate.
4. Why more money and achievement often don’t move happiness much—and what tends to help more (sleep, friends, free time, and presence).

Press play, then share this episode with a high-achiever friend (or anyone feeling stuck in the comparison spiral) who could use a science-backed reset on what actually creates joy.

Get enhanced show notes for this episode

• Order my book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.
• Want to become more psychologically flexible? Take Diana's "Foundations of ACT" course.

• Reserve your spot in Diana's Costa Rica retreat in 2026!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

• Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.
• Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.
• Become a Wise Effort member to support the show.
• Follow Diana on YouTube, Instagram,