At 18, Arthur C. Brooks was certain his life\u2019s purpose was the French horn.<\/p>\n
At 61 \u2014 with a Harvard professorship, a decade of think-tank leadership and 14 books on self-help, conservative policy and the arts \u2014 he\u2019s not so sure that was true.<\/p>\n
In May, Brooks will take the stage as Lafayette College\u2019s 191st commencement speaker, aiming to offer the bicentennial class<\/a> a measure of calm about the unknown.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody feels like there\u2019s something they\u2019re meant to do, but they don\u2019t know what it is,\u201d Brooks said. But not knowing is \u201cperfectly OK,\u201d he added, citing a common Zen Buddhist refrain: \u201cNot knowing is the most intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA life well-lived is one in which you are progressively figuring out what you\u2019re meant to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Brooks speaks from experience.<\/p>\n After a decade of French horn playing across Europe, he pivoted into a career as a prodigious conservative thinker. Brooks spent a decade at the helm of the American Enterprise Institute<\/a>, a conservative think tank in Washington, and published books championing free markets and warning against political polarization. Over time, his focus shifted from systems to behavior, and Brooks has been on a happiness kick ever since.<\/p>\n Today, he leads the Leadership and Happiness Lab<\/a> at Harvard University. His four most recent books, including one co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, center on meaning and well-being. He\u2019s a podcast host, a columnist for The Atlantic<\/a> and The Free Press<\/a> \u2014 described by several media outlets as an anti-woke alternative to legacy media \u2014 and a professional speaker. A month before speaking at Lafayette, he\u2019ll also deliver commencement addresses at the University of Utah<\/a> and Vanderbilt University<\/a>.<\/p>\n