New Podcast Release: Mercedes and Anastasia Korngut
Two teenage girls are our guests in the latest episode of Lives Well Lived, the podcast I co-host with Kasia de Lazari-Radek.
We speak with Canadian sisters Mercedes and Anastasia Korngut, 17 and 15 years old respectively, but already the founders of Small Bits of Happiness, a company and podcast devoted to helping people of all ages find more joy in daily life.
We begin by discussing a statistic from the World Happiness Report that surprised me: among people under 30, Canada ranks 58th in the world for happiness, and the United States 62nd, far below most European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and several in Latin America. I asked Mercedes and Anastasia why they think their generation is struggling so much with unhappiness.
They speak about growing up through COVID, and about the impact on teenage wellbeing of social media and constant bad news. But more positively, they tell us how, despite the “culture of comparison” that they’re living in, they’ve learned to protect their peace of mind. They also reflect on how focusing on small, good moments helped them through lockdowns, and how that insight led them to found Small Bits of Happiness as a means of helping their classmates and teens with similar problems everywhere.
Our conversation moves from science to philosophy, exploring what happiness really means and what the research says about it. Mercedes and Anastasia share lessons from psychologists they’ve interviewed, including Sonja Lyubomirsky and Ethan Kross, and explain why social connection and simple daily habits matter more than most people realise.
We also talk about pressure and perfectionism. Both sisters speak candidly about competition, comparison, and what it means to do your best without measuring yourself against others. As Anastasia put it, “A rose doesn’t take away from the beauty of a daisy. You can both be beautiful. You can both be successful at the same time.”
Finally, they reflect on their values, what they’ve learned from philosophy classes, and the importance of courage — including the courage to start something new when others might judge you for it. “Be open to change,” Mercedes says. “Be open to adaption and evolution — it’s the best way to grow, by doing and learning.”
Below are some highlights from our conversation, edited for clarity. You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform.
Why are young people in rich countries so unhappy?
PETER SINGER: On your website, Small Bits of Happiness, you cite a statistic from the 2024 World Happiness Report in Canada. People under 30 rated 58th in the world for happiness. That level seems very low, especially for a high-income country like Canada... Are you puzzled that the happiness of your own group under thirties seems to be so low in Canada and in the US?
MERCEDES KORNGUT: Yeah, I think it’s sad and I think that’s what a lot of our work focuses around... we’re just trying to help people of our age group, older, younger age groups find more happiness in the small good things that happen in every day...
ANASTASIA KORNGUT: Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like what we really try to share is that we have so much more power over our own happiness than we might even know.
Social media and the burden of awareness
KASIA DE LAZARI RADEK: The World Happiness Report states that since 2019 in high-income countries, life satisfaction has declined for those aged 10 to 15, particularly for girls... Do your own observations of your friends around the same age support what the report suggests?
MERCEDES KORNGUT: From what I’ve noticed within my peers... it’s a struggle. Social media has definitely played a part that didn’t exist prior to our generation growing up, in terms of comparison and wanting to have a certain lifestyle but not really knowing how to achieve it...
We have so much access to information... a lot of that information can be all the different issues going on in the world... I think maybe we’re more aware of that at a younger age than we would’ve been in the past... that also perpetuates that feeling of hopelessness.
ANASTASIA KORNGUT: Yeah, I would have to agree... it’s that double-edged sword. It’s a really nice way to connect with other people, but at the same time, there can be a lot of that negativity or even creating comparisons between each other that you probably wouldn’t have thought of before.
The origins of Small Bits of Happiness
KASIA DE LAZARI RADEK: I wanted to ask you about the beginnings of Small Bits of Happiness. How did you realise that there is need or that you can help your friends and other teenagers?
MERCEDES KORNGUT: Yeah, so I was 13 when COVID started, and Anastasia was 11... as we were both on the early teenage years... attending school online and not knowing what’s happening in the world or not feeling like the future might be like how our whole lives have been... what I started to notice was that focusing on the small and the good things that happen every day... brought us happiness...
And so we wanted to share that with our peers because we were not the only ones struggling.
What the science of happiness reveals
KASIA DE LAZARI RADEK: Now I’m interested in what you really found surprising from the research you’ve read. What was something that made you go, wow — I didn’t know that?
MERCEDES KORNGUT: We spoke with a happiness psychologist from the University of California Riverside, Sonja Lyubomirsky — and she shared with us that social connection is really the key to happiness. That’s also why COVID was so challenging, because social connection is so important. Even introverted people, we still need connection with others. It’s a fundamental part.
Competition, comparison, and the pressure to succeed
KASIA DE LAZARI RADEK: It seems that a lot of struggle among young people is the feeling of competition, the need for achievement, striving, struggling for this achievement. How do you balance that with joy?
MERCEDES KORNGUT: Comparing your best to other people’s best is something that we do a lot... I really struggled when I took math last year... I did everything I could and I did good in the class, but not as good as some of my friends who got A-pluses because they just love math.
But in my philosophy class I’ve been doing really well because I love it. It’s okay if I’m not the same as another person — I’m going to hone in on my strengths while they hone in on theirs.
ANASTASIA KORNGUT: Another person’s success doesn’t take away from your own. A rose doesn’t take away from the beauty of a daisy. You can both be beautiful. You can both be successful at the same time.
Advice to other teenagers
PETER SINGER: I wonder if you have advice to other teenagers who might be thinking of trying to do something like you are doing.
MERCEDES KORNGUT: If someone were comparing themselves to me, I would say don’t, because all of our work has come through so much effort and intention. It’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out yet. Be open to change, be open to adaption and evolution — it’s the best way to grow, by doing and learning.
ANASTASIA KORNGUT: When we first started, we worried about what our friends at school would think. But people are going to think something whether you do something or not.
If you’re doing what makes you happy and pursuing something that excites you every day, then it’s worth it.