Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier

Oprah Winfrey, who is popularly known simply as Oprah, is an influential figure in the realms of media, philanthropy, and personal development. Born in rural Mississippi in 1954, Winfrey endured a challenging childhood marked by poverty, adversity, and abuse. Winfrey’s trajectory—overcoming a difficult childhood to become a global media mogul and one of the wealthiest women in the world—likely influenced the perspectives and philosophies that she shares in Build the Life You Want. Her life story supports the belief that one can pursue happiness despite experiencing difficult external circumstances, and this is a belief that both Winfrey and Brooks explore through the theme of Individual Agency as a Key to Happiness. Winfrey is most well-known for her acclaimed talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. In describing the process of writing Build the Life You Want, Winfrey notes that her talk show exposed her to countless stories of the human experience, and that she drew upon these stories as she contemplated the concepts of happiness and unhappiness. Oprah is also known for her philanthropic endeavors. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls focuses on education and empowerment, particularly for young women facing adversity. This dedication to helping others dovetails with the ethos of Build the Life You Want. One of the book’s core pieces of advice is to focus less on oneself and more on caring for others, and Winfrey’s philanthropic efforts reflect this principle.

Arthur C. Brooks, an economist, author, and social scientist, co-authored Build the Life You Want with Winfrey. As a happiness researcher and a professor at Harvard Business School, Brooks brings an academic and evidence-based approach to the topics in the book. An author of several self-help books, he uses his writing to present a well-considered blend of research and practical guidance.

Apart from his experience as a professor, Brooks also has a background in conservative advocacy and policy research; for a decade, he served as the head of a center-right thinktank called the American Enterprise Institute. However, despite his extensive work in the political sphere, Brooks downplays the presence of politics in Build the Life You Want, claiming that politics are unimportant and that political differences should not interfere with personal relationships. Within the text, he argues that The Importance of Interpersonal Connection should transcend the issue of clashing values and political views.

During the pandemic, Winfrey became an avid reader of Brooks’s popular column in The Atlantic, in which he writes weekly musings about happiness. Her interest in his writing and research led to their collaboration on Build the Life You Want, a work in which Brooks strives to complement Winfrey’s life advice with data-driven insights on the nature of happiness and well-being. Both Winfrey and Brooks are both accustomed to addressing wide audiences—Winfrey through her talk show and other media endeavors, and Brooks through his self-help books, political advocacy, and weekly column. Thus, Build the Life You Want is written to reflect this far-reaching appeal, for the authors strive to address happiness in simple, straightforward language and to outline practical techniques that can easily be implemented. Additionally, both authors speak from a spiritual perspective; Brooks considers himself a devoted Catholic with a Protestant upbringing, and Oprah is known for suffusing her advice with teachings drawn from Christianity, spirituality, and metaphysics. Brooks and Winfrey explore these views in Build the Life You Want, primarily in Chapter 8: “Find Your Amazing Grace.” In it, authors propose spirituality as a core component of a happy life.