Candace McLean

Dan Buettner

Listen to the Interview

"Thrive": Uncovering Happiness Secrets from Around the World

Research shows that, on average, 50 percent of our happiness is influenced by our genetic makeup, 10 percent is influenced by our life circumstances, and 40 percent is influenced by how we think and act every day. In THRIVE, Buettner reveals that the secret to achieving happiness lies in making subtle changes in your surroundings to create gentle but ever-present nudges. He highlights six distinct domains of life that we can shape to actually boost our chances for happiness for the long term. They are community, workplace, social life, financial life, home, and self.

About Dan Buettner:

Dan Buettner is an internationally recognized researcher, explorer, and author. He founded Blue Zones®, a lifestyle brand specializing in individual health products and community well-being programs. As a pioneer in exploration and education, he has traveled the world to find the best practices in health, longevity and happiness. Buettner's National Geographic cover story on longevity, "The Secrets of Living Longer" was one of the top-selling issues in history and a made him a finalist for a national magazine award. His 2008 book, The Blue Zones, hit the New York Times bestseller list.

In Thrive, Buettner reports on the surprising findings from his five-year global study on the keys to personal happiness. In addition to sharing his extraordinary accounts of the happiest people on the planet, Buettner details how to incorporate these powerful characteristics into our daily routine so that we, too, can thrive.

In 2010, Dan Buettner and his partner, Healthways, began applying the principles of The Blue Zones and Thrive to the Beach Cities of South Los Angeles to measurably increase life expectancy and well-being. Buettner's previous community health program, the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project won nationwide praise. Writing in Newsweek, Harvard University's Dr. Walter Willet called the results "stunning."

Buettner has appeared as a longevity and happiness expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, ABC World News, CBS’s The Early Show, Dateline and CNN.

Accomplishments

National Magazine Award finalist: “The Secrets of Living Longer”
Featured in an hour long The Oprah Winfrey Show
Appearances on CNN, Nightline, Late Night with David Letterman, ABC’s Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, Primetime Live, and the NBC Today Show
Emmy Award-winning documentary producer
Three Guinness World Records for cycling six continents
Writer for Outside, LIFE, and National Geographic magazines
Profiled in People, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and USA Today.

Website

www.bluezones.com