Imagine your happiest life. Are you married to the perfect spouse? Are you excelling in your career? Are you traveling the world? When most people think about happiness, it’s these types of images that come to mind. Fantasies of bliss, excitement, and perfection. Now imagine these dreams never came true, and that your life was ok, but far from what you thought would make you happy. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Gregory Scott Brown has worked with thousands of patients who are chasing their idea of what happiness should be. More often than not, it’s an impractical fantasy that they just can’t seem to access. Like his patients, and perhaps like you, he's been there. That’s until he realized that there’s a lot we get wrong about happiness. First, we put too much value in it. Studies have shown that overvaluing happiness – by assuming that the only way to experience it is when life is perfect – causes you to feel less happy. Second, we pay too much attention to so-called hedonic happiness, the kind of happiness you experience on your wedding day or after getting a big promotion. Eudaimonic happiness, on the other hand, priorities the experience of finding joy in purpose and community. Third, we undermine the importance of fulfillment – that’s when you accept who you are, are grateful for what you have, and are optimistic about the future. If you want to access true happiness in your life, it’s time to focus on what will bring you true and lasting joy – fulfillment. Gregory Scott Brown, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, author, and educator. A nationally-recognized leader in mental health advocacy, Dr. Brown writes and speaks about mental health in a way that is informative, relatable, and fun. His first book, The Self-Healing Mind: An Essential Five-Step Practice for Overcoming Anxiety and Depression, and Revitalizing Your Life, outlines evidence-based self-care strategies for reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. For five years, Dr. Brown co-hosted the popular Instagram Live series, Friday Sessions, that welcomed over one hundred prominent guests who are changing the way we think about and talk about mental health. Dr. Brown is a committed educator and he serves as a faculty member at the University of Houston College of Medicine where he teaches psychiatry courses to medical students. His work has been featured in several major media outlets including the Washington Post, the PBS News Hour, and NPR. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx