What if everything racing through your mind right now – your endless to-do list, that low hum of urgency – doesn't actually matter as much as you think? Research shows that our dopamine-driven, checkbox mentality can become as addictive as a slot machine, keeping us productive but rarely fulfilled.
Arthur Brooks' groundbreaking happiness research reveals three pillars that create genuine meaning: coherence (why life unfolds as it does), purpose (why you're here), and significance (how you want to make a difference). When we shift from survival mode to intentional living, we discover that joy becomes both our North Star and compass.
In this episode, we explore:
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00:38) Why your current mental chatter might not matter as much as you think
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01:35) How our brains become addicted to the dopamine hit of to-do lists
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03:39) The life-changing shift from "to-do" to "to-be" thinking
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06:20) Arthur Brooks' three pillars of meaningful living
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07:58) Why having a framework for life's challenges protects mental health
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09:24) How joy becomes both your North Star and compass for authentic living
(
12:17) Powerful questions to uncover your coherence, purpose, and significance
(
13:52) The legacy-defining exercise of identifying your two core values
The JOY Journey
The JOY Journey is an online space for women ready to reconnect, reset, and grow – at your own pace or alongside a supportive community.
What you get:
- 10 emails each month with simple, research-backed tools
- Guided meditations, journalling prompts, and practical techniques
- Ongoing support designed to help changes actually stick
- Access to a dedicated app with all content anytime
Community option:
- Live sessions twice a month (1 hour)
- Reflect, write, and connect with others on the same path
- Fridays at 11:30 MT
If something in this episode resonated, this is your next step.
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What is Finding Joy?
Finding Joy is a podcast about what it means to truly live.
Because too many of us are building lives around who we think we should be instead of who we really are.
Hosted by speaker, leadership facilitator, coach, and author Leona deVinne, Finding Joy explores the conversations that help us reconnect with ourselves, find the courage to stop performing, and start living with authenticity, not apology.
Through honest conversations, powerful stories, and practical insights grounded in psychology, neuroscience, leadership, and lived experience, Leona explores what helps us live with greater clarity, confidence, courage, and meaning.
Some episodes feature ordinary people navigating extraordinary circumstances. Others unpack ideas around identity, resilience, burnout, confidence, boundaries, leadership, relationships and what it takes to create a life that actually feels like your own.
Because joy is not something we chase.
It is often what finds us when we finally own who we are.