The Tony Robbins Channel

The Happiness Formula: Retrain Your Brain to Be Happy with Mo Gawdat

The Tony Robbins Channel

Show Notes

Is happiness a choice? And if so, can it be engineered? Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X and founder of One Billion Happy, believes this is true. In fact, he's used his three decades of success in the tech industry to engineer his very own "happiness algorithm" to help all of us achieve this mind frame. Gawdat began his mission to conquer happiness after experiencing the ultimate tragedy. In 2014, Mo suddenly lost his beloved son, Ali, which thrust him into depression and an existential reckoning with life's fragility. Rather than succumbing to this ultimate despair, Gawdat turned his grief into a catalyst for transformation. He soon embarked on a profound journey of self-discovery and healing, driven by a newfound mission to spread happiness and well-being to the world. Drawing from his personal experience and extensive research, Mo has authored the international bestseller "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy" and continues to champion his message of happiness to millions worldwide. Via his writing, speaking engagements, and podcast, Gawdat offers practical tools and strategies for finding joy in the face of adversity. Mo's commitment to spreading happiness has touched millions of lives. He continues to inspire people from all walks of life to embrace happiness as a fundamental choice, as well as empower them to engineer their own paths to fulfillment. Tony and Sage Robbins are excited to share this special presentation from a 2022 private event with their Platinum Partners in Mexico. Let Mo Gawdat's poignant insights help you create your own happiness journey today! To watch this episode, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL7Cb2O6Lhk Show Notes: [00:15] Sage Robbins Intro [00:55] The luckiest man you'll ever meet [03:00] An ultimatum leads to a new path [04:05] How the birth of Ali gave Mo purpose [05:31] "The more life gave me, the more unhappy I became" [08:22] An engineering approach to creating happiness [10:45] Mo details the tragic passing of his son [11:45] Be everywhere and part of everyone [14:03] Create happiness by making others happy [15:09] The wisdom of Supertramp [21:10] Happiness is the absence of unhappiness [22:30] Mo's algorithm [23:45] Happiness is not a result of the events of your life [27:45] "Happiness is a choice" [28:43] The Happiness Equation [32:45] The problem with dopamine [35:45] Unhappiness is a survival mechanism [39:18] Matthieu Ricard: The world's happiest man? [46:00] Accept the things you cannot change [49:05] MIT Study [51:00] Accept that pain never goes away [53:56] Question #1 from audience: "How long did it take you to train your brain? [01:00:19] Question #2 from audience: How can I use meditation to get to the happiness state? [01:04:48] Question #3 from audience: How can I help someone else be happy? [01:07:56] Question #4 from audience: How Can I find happiness when I'm constantly focusing on what could go wrong? [01:14:47] Question #5 from audience: How can I best utilize your teachings with my children? [01:21:00] Sign off

More from The Tony Robbins Channel

Sep 23, 2026

At Date with Destiny 2024, Kaleem stood up in front of thousands of people for a live intervention with Tony Robbins, facing a question that could change the rest of his life: Should he stay in his marriage or leave? But when Tony guided him through an exercise that brought him back to the moments that made him fall in love with his wife, something shifted. What followed was a raw, deeply personal conversation about love, presence, trust, intimacy, and taking responsibility for the ways we contribute to disconnection in our relationships. Tony challenges Kaleem to stop waiting for his relationship to change and instead ask a harder question: What can I change in myself? Then Tony asks him to do something even harder: call his wife. Right there, in front of thousands of people. Listen to the full intervention and hear what happens next — a powerful reminder that love isn't only something we feel. It's something we choose, communicate, and consistently show through our actions. What would you be willing to change in yourself to experience more love in your relationship?

Aug 4, 2026

Steve Young won three Super Bowls. Then he built one of private equity's most distinctive firms on a completely different philosophy: partnership over transaction. In this episode of The Holy Grail of Investing, Tony Robbins and Christopher Zook sit down with Steve Young, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Co-Founder of HGGC, for a conversation on championship leadership, partnership investing, and the philosophy that connects winning on the field to winning in business. They discuss:

Jul 21, 2026

We all have a story about who we are and why our life has unfolded the way it has. But what happens when that story becomes the very thing holding us back? In this powerful live intervention from the 2024 Date With Destiny event, Tony Robbins works with a woman whose painful childhood experiences shaped the way she saw herself, her relationships, and her future. As the conversation unfolds, Tony reveals how unresolved pain can quietly become part of our identity and why true freedom begins when we stop letting our past define what's possible.

Jun 16, 2026

Few thinkers have shaped our understanding of the future as profoundly as Ray Kurzweil. An American inventor, computer scientist, futurist, entrepreneur, and bestselling author, Kurzweil is widely regarded as one of the most influential technological forecasters of our time. For decades, he has accurately predicted many of the innovations that now define modern life, from mobile computing and artificial intelligence to digital assistants and large language models often years before they entered the mainstream.

May 10, 2026

In honor of Mother's Day, we invite you into this deeply heartfelt conversation between Byron Katie and Sage Robbins — a moving exploration of motherhood, presence, healing, and the complicated, beautiful love shared between mothers and daughters. Introduced by Tony Robbins, this episode is more than a conversation — it is a living experience of "The Work," Byron Katie's transformative method of self-inquiry that has helped millions of people find freedom from anxiety, grief, fear, stress, and emotional suffering. After spending nearly, a decade trapped in severe depression and despair, Byron Katie experienced a life-changing awakening in 1986 that completely transformed the way she understood suffering. From that experience came "The Work," four simple yet profound questions designed to help people question the stressful thoughts that keep them stuck. In this deeply personal episode, Sage vulnerably shares how discovering Byron Katie's work transformed her own life during a painful season marked by repeated miscarriages, fertility struggles, grief, and being told she had less than a one-in-a-million chance of ever becoming a mother. But at the emotional center of this conversation is Sage's relationship with her mother, who is currently living with dementia. Rather than simply discussing "The Work," Byron gently guides Sage through a real-time inquiry surrounding an emotional experience with her mother — unpacking fear, sadness, guilt, projections, and the pain so many people experience while caring for aging parents or witnessing someone they love slowly change. What unfolds is raw, heartbreaking, beautiful, and ultimately freeing. As Byron guides Sage through the process, pain begins to give way to presence, clarity, grace, and even joy — revealing how much love and connection can be missed when we become trapped inside fearful thoughts.

See all episodes →