Stanford Psychologist: 7 Small Things You Can Do Right Now to Enjoy Life More

Mel Robbins welcomes Dr. Kelly McGonigal, a world-renowned health psychologist and award-winning lecturer at Stanford University, to discuss how to feel like yourself again and get your spark back. Dr. McGonigal, who has been at Stanford for over 20 years and whose TED Talk on stress is one of the most popular of all time, shares her insights on joy, resilience, and how to navigate life's challenges.

What is Joy?

Dr. McGonigal clarifies that joy isn't about perfection or the absence of problems. Instead, it's about how you navigate the moments in between challenging and amazing periods. Joy is having a day with both a sunrise and a funeral, a breakdown and a belly laugh. It's about finding moments of uplift even when things are hard. She defines joy as the opposite of despair: when something good happens, your heart lifts, you feel lighter, and your gut tells you it's a moment that matters. You feel like you can breathe, and you have a more positive outlook on life.

Dr. McGonigal identifies three common categories of joy:

• Feeling connected or close to someone: This often happens when people laugh with someone.
• Doing something that makes you feel good about yourself and who you are: This could be making progress on a goal, doing something you've been putting off, or helping someone.
• Noticing something wonderful or beautiful in the world: This is often found in nature, like hearing a bird sing.

She emphasizes that joy is a fundamental human need, a survival instinct that makes you want to be alive and push through difficulties. It's why we have the capacity to be uplifted by good things and to connect with others, even when life is hard.