Dr. Christine Whelan - Dr. Christine Whelan - Finding Your Purpose: What Actually Leads to a Meaningful Life?

from Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby · host Dr. Christine Whelan, Dr. Daniel Crosby

Tune in to hear: Why does Dr. Whelan think that purpose is something we build rather than something we discover? Also why, as a culture, do we view purpose more like an epiphany rather than something we actively construct? How are happiness and purpose distinguished and how should we optimize for one or the other? How did Plato’s philosophy separate the two and did he believe they were mutually exclusive on some level? Does Dr. Whelan think that we, as a society, over optimize for short-term, hedonic happiness and don’t focus enough on long-term eudemonic flourishing? How can we better recognize the purposeful things we are already doing in our lives? Why is taking a moment to acknowledge this so powerful? How do we keep this from becoming just another item on an already too full to-do list, another weight on our backs or another form of perfectionism? On the one hand, we know that service and living for others can bolster our purpose, but we also know this can be overextended at the expense of ourselves. How does Dr. Whelan propose that we better balance these two facets of purpose? When our values seem to be at odds with each other, how should we ascertain which values we should be prioritizing? Is there anything about happiness and living with purpose that Dr. Whelan has had a 180 on since dedicating herself so deeply to this research? Links Dr. Whelan’s Website Finding Your Purpose Dr. Christine Whelan on LinkedIn Dr. Christine Whelan on Instagram Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2081-U-26196

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 30, 2026

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This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Dr. Christine Whelan. Dr. Christine B. Whelan is professor and keynote speaker who is passionate about translating research into evidence-based strategies for daily thriving. Students know her as the “purpose professor” at Emory University, where she leads Advances through the Emory Purpose Project, and the “happy professor” at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she is a fellow. She teaches classes on happiness and well-being, inspiring and guiding groups and individuals to build a life of purpose, brick by brick, in small daily actions. Dr. Whelan knows purpose and happiness aren’t just for those in the C-suite and works to close the “purpose gap” between front-line workers and executive leadership. She is the author of five books from Simon & Schuster and Templeton Press and the bestselling Audible Original lecture series, Finding Your Purpose, currently featured on American Airlines in-flight entertainment. She’s been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times, among other national outlets and serves on the board of several non-profits. Dr. Whelan earned a master’s and doctorate from the University of Oxford and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. She does her best to practice what she preaches, embracing Seneca’s motto, “Not for school, but for life we learn.” She lives in Madison with her husband, their five children, and their bernadoodle, juggling the chaos (most days) with a sense of humor…on purpose.