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The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work
Our most commonly held formula for success is broken.
Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work.
Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. Among the principles he outlines:
• The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—and seize—opportunities wherever we look.
• The Zorro Circle: how to channel our efforts on small, manageable goals, to gain the leverage to gradually conquer bigger and bigger ones.
• Social Investment: how to reap the dividends of investing in one of the greatest predictors of success and happiness—our social support network
A must-read for everyone trying to excel in a world of increasing workloads, stress, and negativity, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to reap the benefits of a happier and more positive mind-set to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.
From the Hardcover edition.
Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work.
Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. Among the principles he outlines:
• The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—and seize—opportunities wherever we look.
• The Zorro Circle: how to channel our efforts on small, manageable goals, to gain the leverage to gradually conquer bigger and bigger ones.
• Social Investment: how to reap the dividends of investing in one of the greatest predictors of success and happiness—our social support network
A must-read for everyone trying to excel in a world of increasing workloads, stress, and negativity, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to reap the benefits of a happier and more positive mind-set to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.
From the Hardcover edition.
272 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Shawn Achor
26 books719 followersShawn Achor is an American educator, author, and speaker known for his advocacy of positive psychology. He is best known for his research reversing the formula of success leading to happiness—his research shows that happiness in fact leads to success. Achor spent 12 years studying what makes people happy at Harvard University. He later authored The Happiness Advantage and founded the Institute of Positive Research and GoodThinkInc. His TEDx talk "The Happy Secret to Better Work" is one of the 20-most viewed TED talks.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,973 reviews
August 25, 2011
In summary, the book has 7 points:
1. Happy people has advantage; happier at workplace etc.
2. You can't change reality, but you can change how you process the world.
3. If one has a negative outlook on things that is a habit. A pattern that can be broken.
4. When facing crisis, one has to find a path that leads us from failure to a place of strength.
5. Limit your focus to small, manageable goals to gain greater control and power.
6. We can form new habits if we make it easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing.
7. Support of friends and family is important.
1. Happy people has advantage; happier at workplace etc.
2. You can't change reality, but you can change how you process the world.
3. If one has a negative outlook on things that is a habit. A pattern that can be broken.
4. When facing crisis, one has to find a path that leads us from failure to a place of strength.
5. Limit your focus to small, manageable goals to gain greater control and power.
6. We can form new habits if we make it easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing.
7. Support of friends and family is important.
July 4, 2021
There are huge loads of books that tell one how to be happy, mindful, but not why and don´t show in such immense detail the unbelievable impact of becoming the Buddha. Such a cool God, tells one to search for errors in his ideas he calls not perfect, that´s a rare occasion.
Buddhism, neuroscience, psychotherapy,... tell one quite the same as Shawn does, but he does it in such a thrilling, understandable and astonishing way and mixes all approaches together to a laughing amalgam.
Positive psychology is the interdisciplinary idea and new science field of not just using the, often criticized, methods of psychology and psychotherapy, but to substantiate and fuse the good ideas with meditation, mindfulness, introspection, and self(mind)control.
Of course there are limits, horrible things that happened to people can´t be laughed or meditated away, in those cases the self-help has to be accompanied and mixed with psychotropic drugs and therapy. But for each lucky person who hasn´t suffered or is suffering from abuse, violence, illness, mobbing, loss of loved ones, poverty, mental disease,... there is truly no reason to be something else than happy.
Not any other person, a memory, the world; the opposite, adversarial political, ideological point of view consensed in annoying humans, other drivers, whining kids, nagging partners, lazy workmates, parents-in-law, newspapers,... make one angry, unmotivated, hateful, misanthropic, disinterested,...
It´s oneself who cuts inside her/his own flesh by letting those outer impulses and past memories and future sorrows occupy the current state of mind and so the chain reaction kicks in.
Anger breeds hate, violence more violence,... What should a toxic person do it she/he recognized that you never get angry, stay calm and friendly, make them even angrier because you openly show them that you just smile at them, don´t care, ridicule them instead by not reacting in a negative manner to their provocations.
Leaving the circle is so easy by first just doing nothing and automatizing and perfecting the mantras and methods of meditation, mindfulness, autogenic training, laughter yoga,…
We are creatures of habit and cultivating the dark or light side hundred to thousand times a day forms a life. One can see the last time consequences and whose side they devoted their lives to in elder peoples faces and differentiate if the lively eyes bursting from creativity are outlined by laugher lines or if it are dull eyes with worry lines, making them look like a turned around joker face with huge labial angel wrinkles hanging as deep as possible. Both epic monuments of a life lived happily or miserably.
And because happiness comes with huge health benefits, it´s very possible that the positive grandpa may still be laughing while grumpy old men have already killed themselves a long time ago, by not just opening the doors to their minds for each negative emotion, but their physis for much more illnesses and directly self-induced stress-related health problems.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positiv...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
Buddhism, neuroscience, psychotherapy,... tell one quite the same as Shawn does, but he does it in such a thrilling, understandable and astonishing way and mixes all approaches together to a laughing amalgam.
Positive psychology is the interdisciplinary idea and new science field of not just using the, often criticized, methods of psychology and psychotherapy, but to substantiate and fuse the good ideas with meditation, mindfulness, introspection, and self(mind)control.
Of course there are limits, horrible things that happened to people can´t be laughed or meditated away, in those cases the self-help has to be accompanied and mixed with psychotropic drugs and therapy. But for each lucky person who hasn´t suffered or is suffering from abuse, violence, illness, mobbing, loss of loved ones, poverty, mental disease,... there is truly no reason to be something else than happy.
Not any other person, a memory, the world; the opposite, adversarial political, ideological point of view consensed in annoying humans, other drivers, whining kids, nagging partners, lazy workmates, parents-in-law, newspapers,... make one angry, unmotivated, hateful, misanthropic, disinterested,...
It´s oneself who cuts inside her/his own flesh by letting those outer impulses and past memories and future sorrows occupy the current state of mind and so the chain reaction kicks in.
Anger breeds hate, violence more violence,... What should a toxic person do it she/he recognized that you never get angry, stay calm and friendly, make them even angrier because you openly show them that you just smile at them, don´t care, ridicule them instead by not reacting in a negative manner to their provocations.
Leaving the circle is so easy by first just doing nothing and automatizing and perfecting the mantras and methods of meditation, mindfulness, autogenic training, laughter yoga,…
We are creatures of habit and cultivating the dark or light side hundred to thousand times a day forms a life. One can see the last time consequences and whose side they devoted their lives to in elder peoples faces and differentiate if the lively eyes bursting from creativity are outlined by laugher lines or if it are dull eyes with worry lines, making them look like a turned around joker face with huge labial angel wrinkles hanging as deep as possible. Both epic monuments of a life lived happily or miserably.
And because happiness comes with huge health benefits, it´s very possible that the positive grandpa may still be laughing while grumpy old men have already killed themselves a long time ago, by not just opening the doors to their minds for each negative emotion, but their physis for much more illnesses and directly self-induced stress-related health problems.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positiv...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
May 6, 2012
My goodness. What a polarizing experience!
Good - The material in The Happiness Advantage is good. I personally believe in most of the stuff the author ascribes. Hey, if you wake up, look yourself in the mirror and smile, then you're probably on your way to a pretty good day. Positivity!
Bad - The author's writing style and presentation of this material is brutal, straight out of an infomercial. Everyone is an "expert". The author has personally advised and guided every leader in the free world. Everything he's presenting is good because it's science (Science!). This approach is the 180 degree opposite of a book like Freakonomics where the authors are self-deprecating and take great pains to describe the limitations of the stuff they are presenting. In short, Freakonomics is fun to read. The Happiness Advantage is self-aggrandizing and barely readable.
This is a list from one of the author's world-renowned experts. I don't know why this struck me as funny, but it did. The 10 most common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.
The author's hook: be happy and success will follow.
QOTD
Happiness is the center, and success revolves around it
- Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage
Of course, if you're happy, then why is it necessary that success follows?
Other tidbits I liked:
1. Spend money on experiences, rather than things
2. Smiling tricks your brain into being happy... cha!
3. I've heard of this mirror neuron deal before, but it sounds hokey to me. "A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another."
I should have given this book 1 star, but then that wouldn't be very positive. Ha!
yow, bill
Good - The material in The Happiness Advantage is good. I personally believe in most of the stuff the author ascribes. Hey, if you wake up, look yourself in the mirror and smile, then you're probably on your way to a pretty good day. Positivity!
Bad - The author's writing style and presentation of this material is brutal, straight out of an infomercial. Everyone is an "expert". The author has personally advised and guided every leader in the free world. Everything he's presenting is good because it's science (Science!). This approach is the 180 degree opposite of a book like Freakonomics where the authors are self-deprecating and take great pains to describe the limitations of the stuff they are presenting. In short, Freakonomics is fun to read. The Happiness Advantage is self-aggrandizing and barely readable.
This is a list from one of the author's world-renowned experts. I don't know why this struck me as funny, but it did. The 10 most common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.
The author's hook: be happy and success will follow.
QOTD
Happiness is the center, and success revolves around it
- Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage
Of course, if you're happy, then why is it necessary that success follows?
Other tidbits I liked:
1. Spend money on experiences, rather than things
2. Smiling tricks your brain into being happy... cha!
3. I've heard of this mirror neuron deal before, but it sounds hokey to me. "A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another."
I should have given this book 1 star, but then that wouldn't be very positive. Ha!
yow, bill
January 15, 2011
There have, of late, been a spate of "anti-happiness-books books." I thought this was an excellent example of the kind of book that doesn't deserve the attacks. First, he explains why happy people are more successful, giving examples of psychological studies that have been done. Then he lays out his "Seven principles"--for each one he: a) backs it up with empirical evidence and b) gives practical strategies for making use of the principles. He never overstates his case. He is clearly not trying to produce fake-smiling-corporate-zombies. For those out there who think that this kind of book is always "selling out to the corporate man" they should read his examples, like the CEO who kept paying all his employees their salaries after their factory had burned to the ground. You honestly can not lump all happiness books together. I'm a believer in the central role of happiness studies to psychology having discovered Abraham Maslow when I was very young. It is no different from the modern emphasis on "wellness" programs over just treating sicknesses. Overall, this is a good, practical and realistic look at the role of happiness in success which also gives ways of achieving it.
September 20, 2022
Perhaps the most accurate term for happiness is the one Aristotle used: eudaimonia, which translates not directly to “happiness” but to “human flourishing.” ☁️🦋🌞
In the Happiness Advantage, Shawn talks about how happiness is the center around which success orbits. We often think happiness will come after success, but in fact, happiness leads to success. Did you know our brains are literally hardwired to preform at their best when they are positive? ✨ This is such a fascinating and uplifting book. I would recommend to anyone and everyone.
In the Happiness Advantage, Shawn talks about how happiness is the center around which success orbits. We often think happiness will come after success, but in fact, happiness leads to success. Did you know our brains are literally hardwired to preform at their best when they are positive? ✨ This is such a fascinating and uplifting book. I would recommend to anyone and everyone.
July 26, 2022
I listened to this audio book after seeing the author's TED talk online. I enjoyed the book so much that I've bought my own copy. There are some really great ideas in this book about simple, concrete things you can do to make yourself a happier person. And who doesn't want that?
March 17, 2020
I don’t usually give five star ratings but this is an exception. This book had a profound impact on me and is the reason why I have become so ambitious with my life goals. After listening to Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk on YouTube I decided to pick up this book from the library since I knew I would get a lot out of it. I wasn’t wrong. Shawn shows the reader how happiness produces success and not the other way around. Later, in chapters 5-11, Shawn shows the reader how to increase happiness and therefor increase success using several options. It’s worth mentioning that most of the research included in this book was conducted by Shawn and his colleagues at Harvard.
December 26, 2017
You can skip reading this book for a number of reasons.
His references are a mix of well-documented studies, random articles that themselves have no references, and dated psychology. For example; he gives the example of people who are "highly allergic" to poisoned ivy being rubbed with the plant but being told it is not the plant and then not having a reaction to it. For this claim 4 references are provided, all of which link to a New York Times article from 1998 without references. I even found a reddit post where someone wrote to the paper in 2003 asking for the science behind the claims and has yet to receive a reply. The sad thing is he is only trying to say "mind over matter", yet the best support he can gather for this is shoddy to say the least.
I also had problems with his stories. During the economic crisis a manager travelled to each branch to boost morale and later reaped the rewards. In turn the company came out of the crisis successfully... However, Coca Cola was the company he was talking about. Probably the world's leading softdrink, hardly a company that is likely to fall apart during an economic crisis. To me it simply said, don't worry if you're a multinational corporation with a monstrous hold on the market place, you'll be fine. Again, a weak argument for a simple statement.
The ideas are far from new or innovative. In 1999 I discovered Denis Waitley's Psychology of Winning, who compiled these ideas in a much more concise and believable fashion. Not to mention the work of Robert Sapolsky or Daniel Kehnemann who explain the studies in far more detail and provide credible scientific references.
I can see the reviews generally like his style of writing. I personally found it to be poor. Often dragging out a simple point with stories that sometimes don't do the point justice. And he uses a humorous edge that (though I'm sure it gives off a sense of how jolly he is) is infantile and seems to do little more than bulk out the word count. In the first 60 pages he makes one point that could be condensed into a short paragraph. In fact, I urge you to search the net for a summary of this book, you will save time and realise a lot of what he has to say is commonsense.
His references are a mix of well-documented studies, random articles that themselves have no references, and dated psychology. For example; he gives the example of people who are "highly allergic" to poisoned ivy being rubbed with the plant but being told it is not the plant and then not having a reaction to it. For this claim 4 references are provided, all of which link to a New York Times article from 1998 without references. I even found a reddit post where someone wrote to the paper in 2003 asking for the science behind the claims and has yet to receive a reply. The sad thing is he is only trying to say "mind over matter", yet the best support he can gather for this is shoddy to say the least.
I also had problems with his stories. During the economic crisis a manager travelled to each branch to boost morale and later reaped the rewards. In turn the company came out of the crisis successfully... However, Coca Cola was the company he was talking about. Probably the world's leading softdrink, hardly a company that is likely to fall apart during an economic crisis. To me it simply said, don't worry if you're a multinational corporation with a monstrous hold on the market place, you'll be fine. Again, a weak argument for a simple statement.
The ideas are far from new or innovative. In 1999 I discovered Denis Waitley's Psychology of Winning, who compiled these ideas in a much more concise and believable fashion. Not to mention the work of Robert Sapolsky or Daniel Kehnemann who explain the studies in far more detail and provide credible scientific references.
I can see the reviews generally like his style of writing. I personally found it to be poor. Often dragging out a simple point with stories that sometimes don't do the point justice. And he uses a humorous edge that (though I'm sure it gives off a sense of how jolly he is) is infantile and seems to do little more than bulk out the word count. In the first 60 pages he makes one point that could be condensed into a short paragraph. In fact, I urge you to search the net for a summary of this book, you will save time and realise a lot of what he has to say is commonsense.
July 15, 2019
با تشکر از آخرین دست آوردهای علم، الان اثبات شده که خوشحالی، پیش نیاز موفیت هست و نه نتیجه اون و خوشحالی مثل سوخت برای کارایی، و بازدهی بالا و دست آوردهای مختلف می مونه و مغز طوری سیم کشی شده که بیشترین کارایی و پتانسیلش زمان خوشحال بودن بروز پیدا می کنه.
حالا سوال اصلی، راهکارهای خوشحال بودن چیه؟
این هفت اصل در کتاب او��ده و شخصا در مورد هر کدومش می تونم با قاطعیت بگم که واقعا موثر و قدرتمند هستن.
I. Happiness Advantage
توی این بخش نویسنده نتایج صدو پنجاه هزارتا تحقیق رو میاره که اثبات می کنن خوشحال بودنن و داشتن حس خوب باعث می شه به شدت کارایی و بازدهی شخص بالا بره و تکنیک هایی رو ارائه می ده که انجامشون قبل از کار، ذهن رو توی فاز مثبتی می بره مثلا:
Meditate فکر کنم کمتر کسی باشه که از اثرات معجزه آسای مدیتیشن ندونه. نویسنده می گه قبل از کار حتی پنج دقیقه مدیتیشن باعث آرامش ذهن و در نتیجه بالارفتن کارایی در کار و تحصیل می شه.
Find something to look forward to: کلا کارهایی که از انجامشون لذت می بریم ذهن رو خوشحال می کنن (به دلیل ترشح دوپامین) حالا این فعالیت ها می تونه تلوزیون نگاه کردن باشه یا خوندن یه کتاب یا خوردن یه فنجون چایی (شمالیش بهتره) یا قهوه. همین که به این موارد فکر کنید ذهن رو توی حالت مثبت قرار می دین.
Commit Acts of Kindness: این و حتما امتحان کنید، کمک کردن یا انجام لطفی در حق کسی بسیار آدم رو خوشحال می کنه. حالا بسیار هم نباشه عب نداره، کوچکترین میزان خوشحالی تاثیر زیادی توی کارایی و عملکرد آدم داره
Infuse Positivity into your surroundings: اگر با دیدن عکس، گل و گیاهی چیزی حال بهتری پیدا می کنید مطمئن شید موقع کار و فعالیت این چیزا در مجاورتتون باشه. گوگل کارمنداش رو تشویق می کنه با حیوونای خونگیشون بیان سر کار ...
Spend money not to by stuff شاعر می گه با پولتون تجربه بخرید نه کالا. با هزینه کردن پول روی فعالیت ها یا سفر یا هرچیزی که تجربه جدیدی به همراه داشته باشه خوشحالی زیادی به همراه میاد
Exercise a signature strength خفن ترین عامل خوشحال کننده همین هست که توی یه پاراگراف نمی گنه. یه ریویو در مورد کتابی که مشخصا در این خصوص صحبت کرده نوشتم می تونید به اون مراجعه کنید:
Authentic Happiness
II. The fulcrum and the lever
دیدین بین خودمون می گیم از یه زاویه دیگه بهش نگاه کن؟ این همونه، و دست کم نگیریدش. توی روانشناسی شناخت درمانی که موثرترین روش روان درمانی حال حاضر هست به شدت به این موضوع اشاره می کنه.
Either you think something is right or wrong, you're right.
در شرایط سخت لحظاتی رو به یاد بیارید که عملکردن بسیار توانمندی داشتین (این یکی از هسته های اصلی آموزش های آنتونی رابینز هست) چونکه شما حالت ذهن شما رو به اون وضعیت توانمند می بره و عملکردتون دگرگون می شه.
همچنین توی این بخش توصیه می کنه که مثلا اگر کارتون ناراضی هستین، بگردید ببینید کارتون چه معنای دیگه ای می تونه داشته باشه، چه طور می تونه به یک چیز بزرگتر کمک کنه و ...
این دوتا کتاب توی این زمینه عالین:
Payoff
Man's search for meaning
III. Tetris Effect نمی دونم نویسنده چه اصراری داره برای چیزای آشنا انقد اسمای عجیب غریب به کار ببره. منظورش از تتریس افکت همون عادت خودمونه که بر اثر تکرار یک سری رفتار ها شکل می گیره :D
ولی بسیار مهم هست. عادت خوش بینی. دو نفر می رن بیرون اولی می گه به به چه هوایی، چه خورشید خانوم قشنگی، دومی می گه آره و لی چقدر گرمه اه اه. هر دو راست می گن و نکته مهم عادت دیدن چیزهای مثبت هست که اولی در خودش شکل داده.
اگر به مغزمون یاد بدیم که توی هر شرایطی مسائل خوب رو ببینه کلا حس بهتر و توانمندی بیشتری خواهیم داشت (این به معنی غفلت از مسائل بد و مهم نیست البته) حالا یک سری تمرین هست که سیم کشی مغز رو به این حالت خوشبینی عوض کرد:
به طور روزانه یا صبح یا شب یک لیست از اتفاقات خوبی که در طول روز اتفاق افتاده یا مسائلی خوبی که در زندگیتون وجود داره تهیه کنید و هر روز چیز های جدیدی بنویسید. بعد 7-8 سال مغزتون عادت می کنه به دیدن چیزهای خوب و مثبت از اتفاقاتی که براتون میفته. نترنسید، بعد از یکی دوماه نتیجه می گیرید :D
IV. Falling Up
این مورد هم به نوعی همون ترکیبی از خوش بینی و تغییر زاویه دید منتهی در مورد شرایطی که یه اتفاق خیلی بد برامون میفته. تحقیق پشت تحقیق نشون می ده که اگر بتونیم شکست رو فرصتی برای رشد تلقی کنیم هر شکستی واقعا باعث رشدمون می شه. برای خود من بارها پیش اومده و بارها نقطه عطف زندگی من رو همین شکست ها شکل دادن.
صمیمانه می گم اگر این مهارت رو در خودتون پرورش بدین زندگیتون می شه آرامش مطلق حتی وقتی بهتون ممکنه خبر بدن شرکتتون ورشکست کرده یا یک بیماری خطرناک دارید. این کتابا توی این زمنیه به من کمک کردن:
1. How to stop worrying stop living
2. Your brain at work
3. The happiness Hypothesis
4. Being happy (by Andrew Matheius
V. The Zoro Circle همیشه یه کاری که می خوایم انجام بدیم، یا پروژه ای رو که می خوایم شروع کنیم اگر ابعاد بزرگی داشته باشه و به کل ماجرا یکجا نگاه کنیم دچار اضطراب و استرس می شیم. توی این بخش هم نویسن��ه می گه بیاید اون کار رو بشکنید به اجزاء کوچکرتش و دونه دونه اونا رو حل کنید. شدیدا کتاب زیر رو در این مورد پیشنهاد می کنم:
The Practicing Mind
همچنین می گه موقع داشتن حس بد، اسم گذاشتن روی احساساتمون باعث می شه حال بهتری پیدا کنیم و در نهایت می گه بین چیزایی که روشون کنترل داریم و چیزایی که کنترلشون در اختیار ما نیست، تمرکز رو باید بذاریم روی محدوده کنترلمون تا به آرامش برسیم که خوب درین زمینه کتابای زیر تقدیم حضور می شه :p
7 habits of highly effective people
و همچنین این ویدوی بی نظیر ار تیم فریس:
Fear setting instead of goal setting
VI. The 20 seconds rule اینم تکنیک خوبیه برای کمک کردن به شکل گرفتن عادتای جدید. خیلی خلاصه بخوام بگم قضیه به این صورته که اگر برای شروع کردن کاری بیشتر از 20 ثانیه زمان لازم باشه، احتمال اینکه انجامش ندیم خیلی زیاد می شه. از خودش مثال می زنه که دوست داشته روزانه گیتار تمرین کنه و بعد از چهار روز رهاش می کنه این کار رو چون فرایند رفتن و گیتار رو از کمد و کاور در آوردن بیش از 20 ثانیه طول می کشیده. کاری که می کنه خریدن یک پایه برای گیتار هست که توی سه سوته بتونه اون رو برداره و تمرینش رو شروع کنه.
این نکته خوبیه واقعا، مثلا اگر می خواین کار بدی رو کمتر انجام بدین کاری کنید که دست رسی بهش سخت تر بشه. مثلا اگر زیاد شکلات می خورید، ظرفش رو ببرید بذارید رو پشت بوم همسایه :D
نکته جالب تر اینکه اگر تصمیمات مهم رو قبل از مواجه شدن به دوراهی بگیریم کارمون خیلی راحت تر می شه. در مورد این شخصا تحقیقات زیادی از روانشناسای بزرگ خوندم که هر کدوم به نحوی یک نکته رو می گن: پیش بینی کنید کجا ممکنه دچار یه وسوسه بشید، تصمیم بیگرید اگر باهاش مواجه شدین چه کار می کنید. به همین سادگی. مثلا تصمیم بگیرید
VII. Social Investmentحتی سلام و احوال پرسی کوتاه با همکاران در محیط کار باعث خوشحالی و بالارفتن چشمگیر کارایی می شه. مثال های جالبی هم از تحقیقات توی محیطای به شدت رقابتی مثل دانشگاه هاروراد میاره و نشون می ده که موفق ترین ها همیشه دایره ای از دوستناشون دارن که مرتب با اون ها در ارتباط هستن.
کلام آخر
My rating for this book would be 2.5 and don't let it discourage you, this is a fine book indeed and the reason why I've given it merely two stars is that for each principle of happiness the author has provided (which are 7 in total) I've read 1-3 books at least, hence I found the material too shallow and not genuine; set aside that the writer's ego can't fit a whole library of books. If you're interested in the principle, you can refer to the books I've introduced or you can ask me further for more books.
حالا سوال اصلی، راهکارهای خوشحال بودن چیه؟
این هفت اصل در کتاب او��ده و شخصا در مورد هر کدومش می تونم با قاطعیت بگم که واقعا موثر و قدرتمند هستن.
I. Happiness Advantage
توی این بخش نویسنده نتایج صدو پنجاه هزارتا تحقیق رو میاره که اثبات می کنن خوشحال بودنن و داشتن حس خوب باعث می شه به شدت کارایی و بازدهی شخص بالا بره و تکنیک هایی رو ارائه می ده که انجامشون قبل از کار، ذهن رو توی فاز مثبتی می بره مثلا:
Meditate فکر کنم کمتر کسی باشه که از اثرات معجزه آسای مدیتیشن ندونه. نویسنده می گه قبل از کار حتی پنج دقیقه مدیتیشن باعث آرامش ذهن و در نتیجه بالارفتن کارایی در کار و تحصیل می شه.
Find something to look forward to: کلا کارهایی که از انجامشون لذت می بریم ذهن رو خوشحال می کنن (به دلیل ترشح دوپامین) حالا این فعالیت ها می تونه تلوزیون نگاه کردن باشه یا خوندن یه کتاب یا خوردن یه فنجون چایی (شمالیش بهتره) یا قهوه. همین که به این موارد فکر کنید ذهن رو توی حالت مثبت قرار می دین.
Commit Acts of Kindness: این و حتما امتحان کنید، کمک کردن یا انجام لطفی در حق کسی بسیار آدم رو خوشحال می کنه. حالا بسیار هم نباشه عب نداره، کوچکترین میزان خوشحالی تاثیر زیادی توی کارایی و عملکرد آدم داره
Infuse Positivity into your surroundings: اگر با دیدن عکس، گل و گیاهی چیزی حال بهتری پیدا می کنید مطمئن شید موقع کار و فعالیت این چیزا در مجاورتتون باشه. گوگل کارمنداش رو تشویق می کنه با حیوونای خونگیشون بیان سر کار ...
Spend money not to by stuff شاعر می گه با پولتون تجربه بخرید نه کالا. با هزینه کردن پول روی فعالیت ها یا سفر یا هرچیزی که تجربه جدیدی به همراه داشته باشه خوشحالی زیادی به همراه میاد
Exercise a signature strength خفن ترین عامل خوشحال کننده همین هست که توی یه پاراگراف نمی گنه. یه ریویو در مورد کتابی که مشخصا در این خصوص صحبت کرده نوشتم می تونید به اون مراجعه کنید:
Authentic Happiness
II. The fulcrum and the lever
دیدین بین خودمون می گیم از یه زاویه دیگه بهش نگاه کن؟ این همونه، و دست کم نگیریدش. توی روانشناسی شناخت درمانی که موثرترین روش روان درمانی حال حاضر هست به شدت به این موضوع اشاره می کنه.
Either you think something is right or wrong, you're right.
در شرایط سخت لحظاتی رو به یاد بیارید که عملکردن بسیار توانمندی داشتین (این یکی از هسته های اصلی آموزش های آنتونی رابینز هست) چونکه شما حالت ذهن شما رو به اون وضعیت توانمند می بره و عملکردتون دگرگون می شه.
همچنین توی این بخش توصیه می کنه که مثلا اگر کارتون ناراضی هستین، بگردید ببینید کارتون چه معنای دیگه ای می تونه داشته باشه، چه طور می تونه به یک چیز بزرگتر کمک کنه و ...
این دوتا کتاب توی این زمینه عالین:
Payoff
Man's search for meaning
III. Tetris Effect نمی دونم نویسنده چه اصراری داره برای چیزای آشنا انقد اسمای عجیب غریب به کار ببره. منظورش از تتریس افکت همون عادت خودمونه که بر اثر تکرار یک سری رفتار ها شکل می گیره :D
ولی بسیار مهم هست. عادت خوش بینی. دو نفر می رن بیرون اولی می گه به به چه هوایی، چه خورشید خانوم قشنگی، دومی می گه آره و لی چقدر گرمه اه اه. هر دو راست می گن و نکته مهم عادت دیدن چیزهای مثبت هست که اولی در خودش شکل داده.
اگر به مغزمون یاد بدیم که توی هر شرایطی مسائل خوب رو ببینه کلا حس بهتر و توانمندی بیشتری خواهیم داشت (این به معنی غفلت از مسائل بد و مهم نیست البته) حالا یک سری تمرین هست که سیم کشی مغز رو به این حالت خوشبینی عوض کرد:
به طور روزانه یا صبح یا شب یک لیست از اتفاقات خوبی که در طول روز اتفاق افتاده یا مسائلی خوبی که در زندگیتون وجود داره تهیه کنید و هر روز چیز های جدیدی بنویسید. بعد 7-8 سال مغزتون عادت می کنه به دیدن چیزهای خوب و مثبت از اتفاقاتی که براتون میفته. نترنسید، بعد از یکی دوماه نتیجه می گیرید :D
IV. Falling Up
این مورد هم به نوعی همون ترکیبی از خوش بینی و تغییر زاویه دید منتهی در مورد شرایطی که یه اتفاق خیلی بد برامون میفته. تحقیق پشت تحقیق نشون می ده که اگر بتونیم شکست رو فرصتی برای رشد تلقی کنیم هر شکستی واقعا باعث رشدمون می شه. برای خود من بارها پیش اومده و بارها نقطه عطف زندگی من رو همین شکست ها شکل دادن.
صمیمانه می گم اگر این مهارت رو در خودتون پرورش بدین زندگیتون می شه آرامش مطلق حتی وقتی بهتون ممکنه خبر بدن شرکتتون ورشکست کرده یا یک بیماری خطرناک دارید. این کتابا توی این زمنیه به من کمک کردن:
1. How to stop worrying stop living
2. Your brain at work
3. The happiness Hypothesis
4. Being happy (by Andrew Matheius
Things do not necessarily happen for the best,دو نماینده برای بازاریابی کفش هایی که کمپانیشون تولید می کنه به آفریقا می رن. یکیشون تلگرفا می گه اوه خیلی بد شد، اینجا هیچ کس کفش نمی پوشه، نفر دوم هم تلگراف زد اوه فوق العاده هست اینجا هیچ کس کفش نمی پوشه.
but some people are able to make the best out of things that happen.
V. The Zoro Circle همیشه یه کاری که می خوایم انجام بدیم، یا پروژه ای رو که می خوایم شروع کنیم اگر ابعاد بزرگی داشته باشه و به کل ماجرا یکجا نگاه کنیم دچار اضطراب و استرس می شیم. توی این بخش هم نویسن��ه می گه بیاید اون کار رو بشکنید به اجزاء کوچکرتش و دونه دونه اونا رو حل کنید. شدیدا کتاب زیر رو در این مورد پیشنهاد می کنم:
The Practicing Mind
همچنین می گه موقع داشتن حس بد، اسم گذاشتن روی احساساتمون باعث می شه حال بهتری پیدا کنیم و در نهایت می گه بین چیزایی که روشون کنترل داریم و چیزایی که کنترلشون در اختیار ما نیست، تمرکز رو باید بذاریم روی محدوده کنترلمون تا به آرامش برسیم که خوب درین زمینه کتابای زیر تقدیم حضور می شه :p
7 habits of highly effective people
و همچنین این ویدوی بی نظیر ار تیم فریس:
Fear setting instead of goal setting
VI. The 20 seconds rule اینم تکنیک خوبیه برای کمک کردن به شکل گرفتن عادتای جدید. خیلی خلاصه بخوام بگم قضیه به این صورته که اگر برای شروع کردن کاری بیشتر از 20 ثانیه زمان لازم باشه، احتمال اینکه انجامش ندیم خیلی زیاد می شه. از خودش مثال می زنه که دوست داشته روزانه گیتار تمرین کنه و بعد از چهار روز رهاش می کنه این کار رو چون فرایند رفتن و گیتار رو از کمد و کاور در آوردن بیش از 20 ثانیه طول می کشیده. کاری که می کنه خریدن یک پایه برای گیتار هست که توی سه سوته بتونه اون رو برداره و تمرینش رو شروع کنه.
این نکته خوبیه واقعا، مثلا اگر می خواین کار بدی رو کمتر انجام بدین کاری کنید که دست رسی بهش سخت تر بشه. مثلا اگر زیاد شکلات می خورید، ظرفش رو ببرید بذارید رو پشت بوم همسایه :D
نکته جالب تر اینکه اگر تصمیمات مهم رو قبل از مواجه شدن به دوراهی بگیریم کارمون خیلی راحت تر می شه. در مورد این شخصا تحقیقات زیادی از روانشناسای بزرگ خوندم که هر کدوم به نحوی یک نکته رو می گن: پیش بینی کنید کجا ممکنه دچار یه وسوسه بشید، تصمیم بیگرید اگر باهاش مواجه شدین چه کار می کنید. به همین سادگی. مثلا تصمیم بگیرید
VII. Social Investmentحتی سلام و احوال پرسی کوتاه با همکاران در محیط کار باعث خوشحالی و بالارفتن چشمگیر کارایی می شه. مثال های جالبی هم از تحقیقات توی محیطای به شدت رقابتی مثل دانشگاه هاروراد میاره و نشون می ده که موفق ترین ها همیشه دایره ای از دوستناشون دارن که مرتب با اون ها در ارتباط هستن.
کلام آخر
My rating for this book would be 2.5 and don't let it discourage you, this is a fine book indeed and the reason why I've given it merely two stars is that for each principle of happiness the author has provided (which are 7 in total) I've read 1-3 books at least, hence I found the material too shallow and not genuine; set aside that the writer's ego can't fit a whole library of books. If you're interested in the principle, you can refer to the books I've introduced or you can ask me further for more books.
April 12, 2021
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The full name of this book along with the subtitle is The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. And I think it is self explanatory with a title like that what the book is about. I am always on the fence when I read non-fiction books, specially when it is self help ones and I am not of positivity to the degree that it becomes toxic but I think I was overall satisfied with this one.
The author tries to discuss how happiness leads to success and prosperity and not the other way around. There are seven principles that he goes to discuss in depth after that to make it easier for the reader to achieve this happiness and therefore the improvement in the quality of life.
The writing is good and engaging, I am a fan of psychology and all those neuroscience experiments make me so excited. This had a lot of psychology in it because the author mentions that he is a fan of the subject too. When it comes to science however, it should be backed by evidence to convince me as a reader that it is significant and most of the time the author left references or even mentioned books so that the reader can expand later after finishing the book which I appreciate as a reader!
I am saying most of the time because there were a few examples where the author would mention something personal and obviously not backed by science which decreased the scientific value behind the book. For example, when he is explaining the effect of environment on us, he mentions that he was addicted to playing Vice City that after a few days, he was gonna rob a police car because it was as easy as pressing X. That really made me roll my eyes because -excuse me- it is a very stupid example. Also he mentions two students in the chapter highlighting the importance of social connections, one who would be isolated in the library and one who did study sections with friends and they had fun while doing it. The library student did not do as good as the other one according to him. Now, I can buy that story but not as a general rule, in the pyramid of scientific evidence this comes at the bottom because it is just an opinion. And in medicine school, the class valedictorian was the student who was always isolated and the rest of us social ones got good grades but not as much as she did because in both my example and the author’s example we are not taking into account the confounders into account. Like the IQ, the socioeconomic status…etc.
And one thing I also noticed is how non fiction books are starting to use the same examples and points the more I read of them. I felt I know most of those principles from other books but it was not bad being reminded of them.
Summary: I enjoyed this book and I am happy that it was not written in a toxic-positivity kind of way. It had scientific evidence most of the time and when it didn’t, it made me roll my eyes. I highlighted some things and I enjoyed the psychological theories discussed so overall a positive read!
“The best leaders are the ones who show their true colors not during the banner years but during times of struggle.”
The full name of this book along with the subtitle is The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. And I think it is self explanatory with a title like that what the book is about. I am always on the fence when I read non-fiction books, specially when it is self help ones and I am not of positivity to the degree that it becomes toxic but I think I was overall satisfied with this one.
The author tries to discuss how happiness leads to success and prosperity and not the other way around. There are seven principles that he goes to discuss in depth after that to make it easier for the reader to achieve this happiness and therefore the improvement in the quality of life.
The writing is good and engaging, I am a fan of psychology and all those neuroscience experiments make me so excited. This had a lot of psychology in it because the author mentions that he is a fan of the subject too. When it comes to science however, it should be backed by evidence to convince me as a reader that it is significant and most of the time the author left references or even mentioned books so that the reader can expand later after finishing the book which I appreciate as a reader!
I am saying most of the time because there were a few examples where the author would mention something personal and obviously not backed by science which decreased the scientific value behind the book. For example, when he is explaining the effect of environment on us, he mentions that he was addicted to playing Vice City that after a few days, he was gonna rob a police car because it was as easy as pressing X. That really made me roll my eyes because -excuse me- it is a very stupid example. Also he mentions two students in the chapter highlighting the importance of social connections, one who would be isolated in the library and one who did study sections with friends and they had fun while doing it. The library student did not do as good as the other one according to him. Now, I can buy that story but not as a general rule, in the pyramid of scientific evidence this comes at the bottom because it is just an opinion. And in medicine school, the class valedictorian was the student who was always isolated and the rest of us social ones got good grades but not as much as she did because in both my example and the author’s example we are not taking into account the confounders into account. Like the IQ, the socioeconomic status…etc.
“..the more you believe in your own ability to success the more likely it is that you will.”
And one thing I also noticed is how non fiction books are starting to use the same examples and points the more I read of them. I felt I know most of those principles from other books but it was not bad being reminded of them.
Summary: I enjoyed this book and I am happy that it was not written in a toxic-positivity kind of way. It had scientific evidence most of the time and when it didn’t, it made me roll my eyes. I highlighted some things and I enjoyed the psychological theories discussed so overall a positive read!
May 9, 2012
I feel I should preface this 5-star review by saying that you will only get out of it what you put in. While it's not a workbook per se, this is definitely a manual. I picked up the book after I saw Shawn Achor's TED Talk on positive psychology. It rang true on a lot of elements, most of all the idea that success does not lead to happiness, because the next success is always on the horizon. So, what if happiness is the first step, and not the goal?
I think I found this book at exactly the right time. Investing socially at work, finding the positive aspects of setbacks and challenges, and viewing tedious tasks as contributing to the greater good don't come naturally to me. With the right set of mind hacks and simple alterations to my day, I'm already beginning to see the benefits of Achor's advice.
That said, this isn't just a program for people who are unhappy. The science behind Achor's advice, and the field of positive psychology, is fascinating. A healthy bibliography at the end of the work will keep me busy for a while. Also, just having the knowledge of these different elements makes me more aware of what I'm doing, and how it affects my work mood, and helps me to look back as what I've been doing, and understand where things may have gone awry.
I think I found this book at exactly the right time. Investing socially at work, finding the positive aspects of setbacks and challenges, and viewing tedious tasks as contributing to the greater good don't come naturally to me. With the right set of mind hacks and simple alterations to my day, I'm already beginning to see the benefits of Achor's advice.
That said, this isn't just a program for people who are unhappy. The science behind Achor's advice, and the field of positive psychology, is fascinating. A healthy bibliography at the end of the work will keep me busy for a while. Also, just having the knowledge of these different elements makes me more aware of what I'm doing, and how it affects my work mood, and helps me to look back as what I've been doing, and understand where things may have gone awry.
January 22, 2012
This book is one of a growing library of research that supports what I've believed for the past few years: that happiness is a skill you can develop. What's great about this book is that it doesn't make the assumption that something is inherently wrong with the reader, and gives readers practical advice on small things they can do to get their brains more tuned in to being happy. It's a state of mind—one that does come more naturally to some than others—but it's also a muscle that can be exercised. And there's no "secret" to it, as many so-called self-help books suggest. It's just doing small things, such as writing three good things down every night, whether it's three good things that happened over the course of a day (no matter how small) or three things you're grateful for. Doing this can help rewire your brain to see more possibilities, more insights, and help you see and seize upon opportunity when it arises. It's a book that's geared more toward helping leaders and business people make their workplaces happier, but I think anyone could benefit from reading this. Also, he's funny.
January 5, 2018
Self-help books have a stigma to them, to be sure. And there's plenty of reasons to be bitter about how happiness has become a corporate commodity. Meaning that high-level executives will pay big dollars to have people with findings ranging from half-baked to mildly sophisticated tell them exactly what they want to hear. This practice of giving a "empowering" (read: complacency-inspiring) talk to these executives is known around the world as TED talks. High-profile academics, scientists, and entertainers act as "suit whisperers," and we are all there to watch. But remember: it is "Ideas worth spreading," not "Facts worth knowing."
That all being said, I understand that Shawn Achor is presenting this information from a business and management standpoint, because that is the only platform anymore by which positive psychology and the social sciences can really get due attention or make money for its practitioners. In order for it to somehow get attention or reach the masses, it has to mean something to the corporation as well. So Achor manages to do the following in a scant two-hundred pages:
(1) Give as clear-cut, brief, and yet thorough a survey on research and findings in positive psychology I have ever seen;
(2) Not just show you the common sense, but the means of actions by which one can act upon that "common sense"; and
(3) Apply those findings to a workplace environment.
Remember: if the audience of your book is an office manager, it will get a TED talk. Quiet did something similar in that it imbued office solutions for productivity-enhancement into its narrative while maintaining a core value system that is important for all to know and understand. I see that not as a demerit of the book so much as Achor's savvy in marketing himself.
There's still a faint glimmer of stigma, I guess, in approaching anything that looks like a self-help book. They are smut compared to that artistically infallible mainstay called fiction. But the fact of the matter is: this book will take a couple hours of your time and gives you the tools ready at your disposal to parse down the anxieties around success and to train an untrained mind to think positively. Much like training an untrained voice to sing, I suppose. A mind untrained is not one that will function well. That the book gives its fair share of -gasp- notes and the like is also a delight. I didn't see any of those in David Brooks's disaster The Social Animal. I see them here, though, and Brooks's points are explained with more brevity and credibility.
For the time investment, the return is mighty great. Prose style being what it is (and it will be off-putting to some), you get a nice survey of positive psychology. You even get a nice survey on contemporary developments in neuroscience. You get some backdrop on the problems facing some of our biggest businesses. And you get some nice working tools to develop a positive mindset. You learn a lot about your brain and the ethos behind the choice of happiness. You hear about some pretty crazy studies. The solutions are small, actionable, tangible, and helpful. While the book is structurally repetitive and repeatedly uses the ol' intro-to-writing formula, note this: if you go through with a pen and underline the gold, an occasional skim of the book can 're-boost' all the information in no time. In this sense, it's a re-usable, re-readable, gift-that-can-keep-on-giving book. A re-read seems so quick and useful already. This book's a quick and very valuable investment, for knowledge sake AND for wisdom's sake. Nice work, Achor.
One question, though: what about the cultures that see eye contact as being more of a threat or more impolite? Just wondering.
That all being said, I understand that Shawn Achor is presenting this information from a business and management standpoint, because that is the only platform anymore by which positive psychology and the social sciences can really get due attention or make money for its practitioners. In order for it to somehow get attention or reach the masses, it has to mean something to the corporation as well. So Achor manages to do the following in a scant two-hundred pages:
(1) Give as clear-cut, brief, and yet thorough a survey on research and findings in positive psychology I have ever seen;
(2) Not just show you the common sense, but the means of actions by which one can act upon that "common sense"; and
(3) Apply those findings to a workplace environment.
Remember: if the audience of your book is an office manager, it will get a TED talk. Quiet did something similar in that it imbued office solutions for productivity-enhancement into its narrative while maintaining a core value system that is important for all to know and understand. I see that not as a demerit of the book so much as Achor's savvy in marketing himself.
There's still a faint glimmer of stigma, I guess, in approaching anything that looks like a self-help book. They are smut compared to that artistically infallible mainstay called fiction. But the fact of the matter is: this book will take a couple hours of your time and gives you the tools ready at your disposal to parse down the anxieties around success and to train an untrained mind to think positively. Much like training an untrained voice to sing, I suppose. A mind untrained is not one that will function well. That the book gives its fair share of -gasp- notes and the like is also a delight. I didn't see any of those in David Brooks's disaster The Social Animal. I see them here, though, and Brooks's points are explained with more brevity and credibility.
For the time investment, the return is mighty great. Prose style being what it is (and it will be off-putting to some), you get a nice survey of positive psychology. You even get a nice survey on contemporary developments in neuroscience. You get some backdrop on the problems facing some of our biggest businesses. And you get some nice working tools to develop a positive mindset. You learn a lot about your brain and the ethos behind the choice of happiness. You hear about some pretty crazy studies. The solutions are small, actionable, tangible, and helpful. While the book is structurally repetitive and repeatedly uses the ol' intro-to-writing formula, note this: if you go through with a pen and underline the gold, an occasional skim of the book can 're-boost' all the information in no time. In this sense, it's a re-usable, re-readable, gift-that-can-keep-on-giving book. A re-read seems so quick and useful already. This book's a quick and very valuable investment, for knowledge sake AND for wisdom's sake. Nice work, Achor.
One question, though: what about the cultures that see eye contact as being more of a threat or more impolite? Just wondering.
September 1, 2015
I'm so glad I've picked up this book the other day, for a very long time I was trapped in the mindset of "if you just work hard, you'll be happy" and even made a video about being happy with what you have vs. continually bettering yourself. This book gave me a new, much clearer perspective on happiness. One of the things that really hit hard was the fact when author point out when you don't schedule your "play" time deliberately and precisely you will most likely waste that time without getting any relief from stress. And what happens eventually instead of "work hard, play hard" it just becomes work 98% of the time and at some point the diminishing returns from stress start kicking in.
When you overwork yourself you trigger your primal stress response which kills your creativity, makes you more tunnel visioned and everything in your life starts looking like an immediate problem you have to solve. The happiness advantage give me a clear idea on how to balance happiness and work, I'm grateful to the author for writing such a great piece of material. As an entrepreneur my life can rapidly turn into pure hustle mode and that's not always bad but there has to be a balance.
The actionable item I got out of it was to start scheduling 2 hours every weekend to do something that has no purpose except fun. It's gonna be a hobby that I find very enjoyable.
There's really a lot more to be learned from this book, all 7 principles are amazing findings and I got most out of the positivity and play time sections.
Definitely grab a copy, you won't regret it. Straight 5 stars!
When you overwork yourself you trigger your primal stress response which kills your creativity, makes you more tunnel visioned and everything in your life starts looking like an immediate problem you have to solve. The happiness advantage give me a clear idea on how to balance happiness and work, I'm grateful to the author for writing such a great piece of material. As an entrepreneur my life can rapidly turn into pure hustle mode and that's not always bad but there has to be a balance.
The actionable item I got out of it was to start scheduling 2 hours every weekend to do something that has no purpose except fun. It's gonna be a hobby that I find very enjoyable.
There's really a lot more to be learned from this book, all 7 principles are amazing findings and I got most out of the positivity and play time sections.
Definitely grab a copy, you won't regret it. Straight 5 stars!
June 10, 2019
THIS BOOK. IS SO GOOD.
Ever since I first saw Shawn Achor's unforgettable TED talk, I was obsessed with this message of positive psychology. This book has been on my TBR for a long time and finally I decided to get the audiobook and listen to the author read it himself (10/10 recommend btw!) I loved every insightful, entertaining, and inspiring page of this book.
As a creative entrepreneur, I found the lessons and principles in this book especially helpful for application to my business and life — but honestly EVERYONE can benefit from reading this book! I mean, it has a freaking smiley face on the front cover. How can you not want to read it?? Please do. It is a gift to humanity.
Ever since I first saw Shawn Achor's unforgettable TED talk, I was obsessed with this message of positive psychology. This book has been on my TBR for a long time and finally I decided to get the audiobook and listen to the author read it himself (10/10 recommend btw!) I loved every insightful, entertaining, and inspiring page of this book.
As a creative entrepreneur, I found the lessons and principles in this book especially helpful for application to my business and life — but honestly EVERYONE can benefit from reading this book! I mean, it has a freaking smiley face on the front cover. How can you not want to read it?? Please do. It is a gift to humanity.
September 24, 2012
A couple things. First, has the author heard of this thing called a sub-editor? As with most business-cod-psychology-self-help books, the meaningful content here is padded with tons of extraneous filler. Achor can't get halfway to making one point in a chapter without running off the horizon in 8 other directions with 12 other anecdotes. Read Wittgenstein's Tractatus to learn how to make a sustained statement succinctly, jeez.
Second, I curse the day Malcom Gladwell became famous for creating meaningless neologisms to trademark an idea. Here we've got "The 20 Second Rule", "The Zorro Circle" - shit like this. Come on!
The first few chapters remind me of the fatuous motivational speech from the dad in Little Miss Sunshine; glib exegesis on CBT-style Fake It To Make It, offensive bullcrap. However, the last few chapters are worthwhile - on forming habits, taking change slow, and the importance of what he calls 'social investment' from workplace leaders (basically, caring about coworkers ethically). That's all that affords this two stars.
Second, I curse the day Malcom Gladwell became famous for creating meaningless neologisms to trademark an idea. Here we've got "The 20 Second Rule", "The Zorro Circle" - shit like this. Come on!
The first few chapters remind me of the fatuous motivational speech from the dad in Little Miss Sunshine; glib exegesis on CBT-style Fake It To Make It, offensive bullcrap. However, the last few chapters are worthwhile - on forming habits, taking change slow, and the importance of what he calls 'social investment' from workplace leaders (basically, caring about coworkers ethically). That's all that affords this two stars.
February 22, 2012
The Précis. This book debunks the commonly held belief that success breeds happiness. The reality is the inverse, that happiness breeds success. Shawn Achor draws upon not only his own extensive research at Harvard University but also other compelling empirical evidence and case studies to demonstrate the point. Reading this important book will change the lens through which you view life and will put you on the path to happiness . . . and success.
The Seven Principals. Achor succinctly promulgates all seven principles, which are conclusions drawn from his own extensive longitudinal studies, at the beginning of the book. He then elaborates on them in great detail in Part II of the book. To pique your interest (and by no means to spoil this book for you), here are my four favorites:
1. The Happiness Advantage–-Positive brains have an advantage over neutral or negative brains; this principal teaches us how to leverage the positivity to improve outcomes.
2. The Folcrum and the Lever–How we perceive and experience life is determined by our mindset. This principle teaches us that by adjusting our mindset (the fulcrum) we can gain the power (the lever) to be more fulfilled and successful. [NOTE: Achor references the work of Carol Dweck, Ph.D. and her book, Mindset, which I've reviewed previously: http://bit.ly/b78OaN]
3. The Tetris Effect–If our brains are accustomed to stress and negativity, then we set ourselves up for failure. This principle teaches us how to retrain our brains to identify patterns of possibility so we can see and capitalize upon opportunities wherever we look.
4. Falling Up–When we experience stress, anxiety, and failure, our brains form different neurological pathways to enable us to cope with these negative conditions. This principle teaches us to not only forge the pathways to overcome the negativity but also to be happier and more successful as a result, or stated differently, how to learn from our mistakes and setbacks and to be happier for it.
Passages I Underlined. If you own your copy of the book, I recommend reading it with a pen or a highlighter as there are many sections you will want to re-read and share with others. Some of the standout concepts for me included:
• Happiness is more aptly described as positive emotions. Barbara Fredrickson, a leading expert on this topic, has identified the ten most positive emotions as: “joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.” pp. 38-40
• The Locinda Line: extensive mathematical modeling has demonstrated that 2.9013 is the ratio of positive to negative interactions necessary to make a corporate team successful. “This means that it takes about three positive comments, experiences, or expressions to fend off the languishing effects of one negative.” What’s amazing is the research shows that if you rise above The Locinda Line, to a ratio of 6:1, teams produce their very best work! In your role as parent, manager, educator, coach, or friend, let that sink in . . . and adjust your behavior accordingly. pp. 60-61
• The Pygmalion Effect: belief in another person’s potential brings that person’s potential to life. Thanks to the extensive research of Robert Rosenthal and his team we now know that if teachers believe in their students’ potential, the students will perceive this (even though the teachers have never voiced this) and they will not only strive to do better but also they will achieve superior results. The implications are, of course, much broader. As Achor states, “The expectations we have about our children, co-workers, and spouses––whether or not they are ever voiced–can make that expectation a reality.” pp. 83-85
• Post-Traumatic Growth: there is now a significant body of evidence to support the adage “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Thanks to the work of Robert Tedeschi and his colleagues we now know that great suffering or trauma can lead to material positive change across a broad range of experiences. 109-111
• The Importance of Control: Achor explains that “the most successful people, in work and in life, are those who have what psychologists call an ‘internal locus of control,’ the belief that their actions have a direct effect on their outcomes.” In one amazing study, researchers discovered that when they gave a group of nursing home residents more control over simple tasks in their daily lives (e.g., putting them in charge of their own house plants), not only did their levels of happiness improve, but also their mortality rate dropped in half! pp. 130-132
The Conclusion. If you have not already done so, do yourself, your significant other, your children, your colleagues, and your friends a great big favor and read The Happiness Advantage. It will forever change you for the better.
The Seven Principals. Achor succinctly promulgates all seven principles, which are conclusions drawn from his own extensive longitudinal studies, at the beginning of the book. He then elaborates on them in great detail in Part II of the book. To pique your interest (and by no means to spoil this book for you), here are my four favorites:
1. The Happiness Advantage–-Positive brains have an advantage over neutral or negative brains; this principal teaches us how to leverage the positivity to improve outcomes.
2. The Folcrum and the Lever–How we perceive and experience life is determined by our mindset. This principle teaches us that by adjusting our mindset (the fulcrum) we can gain the power (the lever) to be more fulfilled and successful. [NOTE: Achor references the work of Carol Dweck, Ph.D. and her book, Mindset, which I've reviewed previously: http://bit.ly/b78OaN]
3. The Tetris Effect–If our brains are accustomed to stress and negativity, then we set ourselves up for failure. This principle teaches us how to retrain our brains to identify patterns of possibility so we can see and capitalize upon opportunities wherever we look.
4. Falling Up–When we experience stress, anxiety, and failure, our brains form different neurological pathways to enable us to cope with these negative conditions. This principle teaches us to not only forge the pathways to overcome the negativity but also to be happier and more successful as a result, or stated differently, how to learn from our mistakes and setbacks and to be happier for it.
Passages I Underlined. If you own your copy of the book, I recommend reading it with a pen or a highlighter as there are many sections you will want to re-read and share with others. Some of the standout concepts for me included:
• Happiness is more aptly described as positive emotions. Barbara Fredrickson, a leading expert on this topic, has identified the ten most positive emotions as: “joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.” pp. 38-40
• The Locinda Line: extensive mathematical modeling has demonstrated that 2.9013 is the ratio of positive to negative interactions necessary to make a corporate team successful. “This means that it takes about three positive comments, experiences, or expressions to fend off the languishing effects of one negative.” What’s amazing is the research shows that if you rise above The Locinda Line, to a ratio of 6:1, teams produce their very best work! In your role as parent, manager, educator, coach, or friend, let that sink in . . . and adjust your behavior accordingly. pp. 60-61
• The Pygmalion Effect: belief in another person’s potential brings that person’s potential to life. Thanks to the extensive research of Robert Rosenthal and his team we now know that if teachers believe in their students’ potential, the students will perceive this (even though the teachers have never voiced this) and they will not only strive to do better but also they will achieve superior results. The implications are, of course, much broader. As Achor states, “The expectations we have about our children, co-workers, and spouses––whether or not they are ever voiced–can make that expectation a reality.” pp. 83-85
• Post-Traumatic Growth: there is now a significant body of evidence to support the adage “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Thanks to the work of Robert Tedeschi and his colleagues we now know that great suffering or trauma can lead to material positive change across a broad range of experiences. 109-111
• The Importance of Control: Achor explains that “the most successful people, in work and in life, are those who have what psychologists call an ‘internal locus of control,’ the belief that their actions have a direct effect on their outcomes.” In one amazing study, researchers discovered that when they gave a group of nursing home residents more control over simple tasks in their daily lives (e.g., putting them in charge of their own house plants), not only did their levels of happiness improve, but also their mortality rate dropped in half! pp. 130-132
The Conclusion. If you have not already done so, do yourself, your significant other, your children, your colleagues, and your friends a great big favor and read The Happiness Advantage. It will forever change you for the better.
August 1, 2022
Two or three stars seems appropriate for this one, and here’s why. On the one hand, the book does present a fairly decent overview of the findings of positive psychology, and, in particular, on how to apply those findings to your life and career.
At the same time, I can’t imagine that the studies cited in this book have aged well. Keep in mind that the book was released in 2010, which happens to coincide with the beginnings of the “replication crisis” in the behavioral sciences. This crisis, of course, found that several previously released studies could not be replicated upon further testing.
So in addition to the fact that some of the studies referenced in this book seem far-fetched, Shawn Achor basically begs us to assume they’re part of the replication crisis when he writes, on page 75, in reference to one of his examples, that “while this was only one study and its effects were probably temporary, it illustrates how strongly our beliefs can affect our abilities.”
In other words, he might as well have written, “the study may be total BS, and it may not at all be replicable, but because it supports my main point, I’ll think I’ll just go ahead and include it.” This is not so much a good sign for the rest of the book. For example, I can’t help but think the study suggesting that people can slow the physical aging process by pretending they’re younger is one such study that would fail the replication process.
Of course, the “replication crisis” doesn’t mean that every psychological study ever conducted is fraudulent or mistaken. But the problem is that Achor does not distinguish between the studies that have more extensive scientific support and those that do not. The reader is simply left guessing.
Also, it’s worth noting that the entire premise of the book seems bizarre. It’s a little odd for the author to tell us that success does not create happiness, but that we should pursue happiness FOR success. The whole concept of happiness is a bit cheapened when it is commodified and presented only as a MEANS to achieve “success and performance” at work, which the author just told us is not an integral part of overall life satisfaction.
Happiness should be pursued for its own sake as an ultimate good; productivity or “success” at work may or may not follow, but if you’re already happy, why should you care? Following Aristotle, we know that it would never make sense to pursue a superior end (happiness) for the sake of an inferior one (productivity), and that claiming otherwise is a bit like telling a doctor that they should heal the sick so that they can practice medicine.
Achor even defines happiness as “the joy we feel striving after our potential,” which we do by exercising our signature strengths. The pursuit of meaningful work for its own sake—and not for the sake of being more “productive”—therefore seems to be the better way to present the findings of positive psychology. This is, in fact, how Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar conveys the findings of positive psychology in his book Happier.
Nevertheless, it does seem to be true that happiness is largely, as Achor maintains, a subjective phenomenon, and therefore at least somewhat within each person’s control. And certain activities like meditation, keeping a gratitude journal, committing acts of kindness, and exercising signature strengths, among other things, does seem to boost happiness, as the book maintains. It’s just that this advice is better expressed elsewhere, perhaps from someone with a less corporatized mind. In fact, there are, in my opinion, superior books on the subject, for example The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar.
At the same time, I can’t imagine that the studies cited in this book have aged well. Keep in mind that the book was released in 2010, which happens to coincide with the beginnings of the “replication crisis” in the behavioral sciences. This crisis, of course, found that several previously released studies could not be replicated upon further testing.
So in addition to the fact that some of the studies referenced in this book seem far-fetched, Shawn Achor basically begs us to assume they’re part of the replication crisis when he writes, on page 75, in reference to one of his examples, that “while this was only one study and its effects were probably temporary, it illustrates how strongly our beliefs can affect our abilities.”
In other words, he might as well have written, “the study may be total BS, and it may not at all be replicable, but because it supports my main point, I’ll think I’ll just go ahead and include it.” This is not so much a good sign for the rest of the book. For example, I can’t help but think the study suggesting that people can slow the physical aging process by pretending they’re younger is one such study that would fail the replication process.
Of course, the “replication crisis” doesn’t mean that every psychological study ever conducted is fraudulent or mistaken. But the problem is that Achor does not distinguish between the studies that have more extensive scientific support and those that do not. The reader is simply left guessing.
Also, it’s worth noting that the entire premise of the book seems bizarre. It’s a little odd for the author to tell us that success does not create happiness, but that we should pursue happiness FOR success. The whole concept of happiness is a bit cheapened when it is commodified and presented only as a MEANS to achieve “success and performance” at work, which the author just told us is not an integral part of overall life satisfaction.
Happiness should be pursued for its own sake as an ultimate good; productivity or “success” at work may or may not follow, but if you’re already happy, why should you care? Following Aristotle, we know that it would never make sense to pursue a superior end (happiness) for the sake of an inferior one (productivity), and that claiming otherwise is a bit like telling a doctor that they should heal the sick so that they can practice medicine.
Achor even defines happiness as “the joy we feel striving after our potential,” which we do by exercising our signature strengths. The pursuit of meaningful work for its own sake—and not for the sake of being more “productive”—therefore seems to be the better way to present the findings of positive psychology. This is, in fact, how Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar conveys the findings of positive psychology in his book Happier.
Nevertheless, it does seem to be true that happiness is largely, as Achor maintains, a subjective phenomenon, and therefore at least somewhat within each person’s control. And certain activities like meditation, keeping a gratitude journal, committing acts of kindness, and exercising signature strengths, among other things, does seem to boost happiness, as the book maintains. It’s just that this advice is better expressed elsewhere, perhaps from someone with a less corporatized mind. In fact, there are, in my opinion, superior books on the subject, for example The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar.
February 16, 2019
This was a re-read again....my third time actually. And I enjoy this book. It is so positive and worth the time to re-read.
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UPDATE: I liked this book even more than I did the first time I read it. I'm glad this book made my re-read list. It was the perfect book for my day.
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I liked this. I loved the insertion of all the science. I found that part completely fascinating. It is amazing what the brain is capable of and I'm sure we don't even know the half of it. I thought the research was done well without sounding like a dry report by a bunch of brainiacs who like to use a lot of big words.
If you like scientific explanations and are easily dazzled by such things (as I am), then this might be a book for you. I read some of the other reviews and apparently the author rubbed some readers the wrong way by coming off as 'superb human being', but I didn't get that vibe....not even once, but I can understand why they say what they said as an afterthought. I did the audio so maybe that made all the difference...I don't know. But I liked this book. So 4 stars.
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UPDATE: I liked this book even more than I did the first time I read it. I'm glad this book made my re-read list. It was the perfect book for my day.
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I liked this. I loved the insertion of all the science. I found that part completely fascinating. It is amazing what the brain is capable of and I'm sure we don't even know the half of it. I thought the research was done well without sounding like a dry report by a bunch of brainiacs who like to use a lot of big words.
If you like scientific explanations and are easily dazzled by such things (as I am), then this might be a book for you. I read some of the other reviews and apparently the author rubbed some readers the wrong way by coming off as 'superb human being', but I didn't get that vibe....not even once, but I can understand why they say what they said as an afterthought. I did the audio so maybe that made all the difference...I don't know. But I liked this book. So 4 stars.
June 3, 2019
I think the timing for reading any book is just as important as the context of the book. I am happy that I haven't gotten to this book earlier and just ignored it as I was ignorant to "self-help" books few years ago(although this is a psychology book!). I would gladly recommend this book to anyone (who is ready) to explore more about positive psychology.
October 28, 2019
This book was good but not ground breaking to me.
Shawn Achor mostly takes studies he's found among some of his own studies he's personally done personally and at Harvard. He also often takes excerpts from Malcolm Gladwell and other authors and just skims the surface. It's almost strange to quote another author while that other author is references other studies. It's like a reference to a reference lol
This book is amazing if you're new to psychology and just getting into it because it summarizes many interesting topics. But if you're like me and like to dive into the details behind it all this book isn't for you.
Notes:
- "So how do the scientists define happiness? Essentially, as the experience of positive emotions—pleasure combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose. Happiness implies a positive mood in the present and a positive outlook for the future. Martin Seligman, the pioneer in positive psychology, has broken it down into three, measurable components: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. His studies have confirmed (though most of us know this intuitively) that people who pursue only pleasure experience only part of the benefits happiness can bring, while those who pursue all three routes lead the fullest lives
- Barbara Fredrickson, a researcher at the University of North Carolina and perhaps the world’s leading expert on the subject, describes the ten most common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.
- Barbara Fredrickson has termed the “Broaden and Build Theory.” Instead of narrowing our actions down to fight or flight as negative emotions do, positive ones broaden the amount of possibilities we process, making us more thoughtful, creative, and open to new ideas.
- A recent University of Toronto study found that our mood can actually change how our visual cortex—the part of the brain responsible for sight—processes information
- People who put their heads down and wait for work to bring eventual happiness put themselves at a huge disadvantage, while those who capitalize on positivity every chance they get come out ahead.
research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness, lower stress, even improve immune function
- Anticipating future rewards can actually light up the pleasure centers in your brain much as the actual reward will.
- A long line of empirical research, including one study of over 2,000 people, has shown that acts of altruism—giving to friends and strangers alike—decrease stress and strongly contribute to enhanced mental health
- Contrary to the popular saying, money can buy happiness, but only if used to do things as opposed to simply have things. In his book Luxury Fever, Robert Frank explains that while the positive feelings we get from material objects are frustratingly fleeting, spending money on experiences, especially ones with other people, produces positive emotions that are both more meaningful and more lasting. Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts happiness.
- Each time we use a skill, whatever it is, we experience a burst of positivity. If you find yourself in need of a happiness booster, revisit a talent you haven’t used in a while.
- Countless other studies have shown that consistently grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious, or lonely. And it’s not that people are only grateful because they are happier, either; gratitude has proven to be a significant cause of positive outcomes.
- But armed with positivity, the brain stays open to possibility. Psychologists call this “predictive encoding”: Priming yourself to expect a favorable outcome actually encodes your brain to recognize the outcome when it does in fact arise
- Turns out, there was one—and only one —characteristic that distinguished the happiest 10 percent from everybody else: the strength of their social relationships."
Shawn Achor mostly takes studies he's found among some of his own studies he's personally done personally and at Harvard. He also often takes excerpts from Malcolm Gladwell and other authors and just skims the surface. It's almost strange to quote another author while that other author is references other studies. It's like a reference to a reference lol
This book is amazing if you're new to psychology and just getting into it because it summarizes many interesting topics. But if you're like me and like to dive into the details behind it all this book isn't for you.
Notes:
- "So how do the scientists define happiness? Essentially, as the experience of positive emotions—pleasure combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose. Happiness implies a positive mood in the present and a positive outlook for the future. Martin Seligman, the pioneer in positive psychology, has broken it down into three, measurable components: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. His studies have confirmed (though most of us know this intuitively) that people who pursue only pleasure experience only part of the benefits happiness can bring, while those who pursue all three routes lead the fullest lives
- Barbara Fredrickson, a researcher at the University of North Carolina and perhaps the world’s leading expert on the subject, describes the ten most common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.
- Barbara Fredrickson has termed the “Broaden and Build Theory.” Instead of narrowing our actions down to fight or flight as negative emotions do, positive ones broaden the amount of possibilities we process, making us more thoughtful, creative, and open to new ideas.
- A recent University of Toronto study found that our mood can actually change how our visual cortex—the part of the brain responsible for sight—processes information
- People who put their heads down and wait for work to bring eventual happiness put themselves at a huge disadvantage, while those who capitalize on positivity every chance they get come out ahead.
research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness, lower stress, even improve immune function
- Anticipating future rewards can actually light up the pleasure centers in your brain much as the actual reward will.
- A long line of empirical research, including one study of over 2,000 people, has shown that acts of altruism—giving to friends and strangers alike—decrease stress and strongly contribute to enhanced mental health
- Contrary to the popular saying, money can buy happiness, but only if used to do things as opposed to simply have things. In his book Luxury Fever, Robert Frank explains that while the positive feelings we get from material objects are frustratingly fleeting, spending money on experiences, especially ones with other people, produces positive emotions that are both more meaningful and more lasting. Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts happiness.
- Each time we use a skill, whatever it is, we experience a burst of positivity. If you find yourself in need of a happiness booster, revisit a talent you haven’t used in a while.
- Countless other studies have shown that consistently grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious, or lonely. And it’s not that people are only grateful because they are happier, either; gratitude has proven to be a significant cause of positive outcomes.
- But armed with positivity, the brain stays open to possibility. Psychologists call this “predictive encoding”: Priming yourself to expect a favorable outcome actually encodes your brain to recognize the outcome when it does in fact arise
- Turns out, there was one—and only one —characteristic that distinguished the happiest 10 percent from everybody else: the strength of their social relationships."
April 19, 2018
Tidbits one would expect to glean from a source like Prevention magazine. Didn't finish.
February 16, 2020
a big "fuck all y'all" to chronically depressed people
March 9, 2012
*Happily recommended :-)*
Oh, this book makes me happy. Over and over again. Not only is it a joy to read (how can reading about happiness not be uplifting?), but the clear and easily executable principles for achieving happiness are so effective. Think of this book as to how-to of positive psychology.
Shawn does an amazing job of distilling the research and findings of positive psychology that predict happiness and success into seven key principles:
1. The happiness advantage--the way we can retrain our brains to maximize positivity and provide our the biological advantage needed to optimize our productivity and performance.
2. The fulcrum and the lever--the way we can adjust our mindset (fulcrum) to be able to have the power (lever) to be more fulfilled and successful.
3. The tetris effect--the principle by which we retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility and opportunity, instead of getting stuck in spotting patterns that focus on negativity.
4. Falling up--how we can not only get ourselves up after failure or suffering, but also become happier and more successful in spite--and because--of the fall.
5. The Zorro circle--the principle by which we can regain control when feeling overwhelmed by focusing on small and manageable goals, and gradually expanding the circle to achieve increasingly bigger ones.
6. The 20 second rule--how we can decrease the "activation energy" of forming new (and healthier) habits by rerouting the path of least resistance.
7. Social investment--the principle by which we can invest more in our social networks, which are one of the greatest predictors of happiness and success.
Turning convention beliefs upside down, the book shows how success does not lead to happiness, but happiness leads to success. In other words, the more positive our brains are, the more likely we are to succeed. As the author explains, the Happiness Advantage "asks us to be realistic about the present while maximizing our potential for the future. It is about learning to cultivate the mindset and behaviors that have been empirically proven to fuel greater success and fulfillment. It is a work ethic."
Shawn's poignant quote of: "Happiness is not the belief that we don't need to change; it is the realization that we can" nicely encapsulates the message of this book. Life is not about chasing the happy ending; it's about unblocking our potential by cultivating happiness now.
I guess it goes without saying that I happily recommend this book. :)
Oh, this book makes me happy. Over and over again. Not only is it a joy to read (how can reading about happiness not be uplifting?), but the clear and easily executable principles for achieving happiness are so effective. Think of this book as to how-to of positive psychology.
Shawn does an amazing job of distilling the research and findings of positive psychology that predict happiness and success into seven key principles:
1. The happiness advantage--the way we can retrain our brains to maximize positivity and provide our the biological advantage needed to optimize our productivity and performance.
2. The fulcrum and the lever--the way we can adjust our mindset (fulcrum) to be able to have the power (lever) to be more fulfilled and successful.
3. The tetris effect--the principle by which we retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility and opportunity, instead of getting stuck in spotting patterns that focus on negativity.
4. Falling up--how we can not only get ourselves up after failure or suffering, but also become happier and more successful in spite--and because--of the fall.
5. The Zorro circle--the principle by which we can regain control when feeling overwhelmed by focusing on small and manageable goals, and gradually expanding the circle to achieve increasingly bigger ones.
6. The 20 second rule--how we can decrease the "activation energy" of forming new (and healthier) habits by rerouting the path of least resistance.
7. Social investment--the principle by which we can invest more in our social networks, which are one of the greatest predictors of happiness and success.
Turning convention beliefs upside down, the book shows how success does not lead to happiness, but happiness leads to success. In other words, the more positive our brains are, the more likely we are to succeed. As the author explains, the Happiness Advantage "asks us to be realistic about the present while maximizing our potential for the future. It is about learning to cultivate the mindset and behaviors that have been empirically proven to fuel greater success and fulfillment. It is a work ethic."
Shawn's poignant quote of: "Happiness is not the belief that we don't need to change; it is the realization that we can" nicely encapsulates the message of this book. Life is not about chasing the happy ending; it's about unblocking our potential by cultivating happiness now.
I guess it goes without saying that I happily recommend this book. :)
January 20, 2019
I'd held off reading this for a long time because I'd gotten burned by too many positive-thinking books that just regurgitated the same old things. But, wow, this one is fantastic and has literally changed my life habits for the better. I'd rank this among my top 4 favorite business books that are applicable to real life (with "The Power of Habit," "How to Win Friends & Influence People," and "Good to Great").
The book's basic points are that tons of fascinating studies have proven over and over that happiness leads to success rather than success to happiness, happiness benefits nearly every aspect of life, and there are specific activities that can cultivate happiness even in people who are naturally gruff.
Consider: "Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19 percent faster."
Or "A recent University of Toronto study found that our mood can actually change how our visual cortex -- the part of the brain responsible for sight -- processes information. In this experiment, people were primed for either positivity or negativity, then asked to look at a series of pictures. Those who were put in a negative mood didn't process all the images in the pictures -- missing substantial parts of the background -- while those in a good mood saw everything."
(And, yes, the actual studies are footnoted.)
His tips for priming one's own happiness have worked for me, and I've seen the benefits play out in potentially contentious business meetings. Call me a convert.
Grade: A
The book's basic points are that tons of fascinating studies have proven over and over that happiness leads to success rather than success to happiness, happiness benefits nearly every aspect of life, and there are specific activities that can cultivate happiness even in people who are naturally gruff.
Consider: "Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19 percent faster."
Or "A recent University of Toronto study found that our mood can actually change how our visual cortex -- the part of the brain responsible for sight -- processes information. In this experiment, people were primed for either positivity or negativity, then asked to look at a series of pictures. Those who were put in a negative mood didn't process all the images in the pictures -- missing substantial parts of the background -- while those in a good mood saw everything."
(And, yes, the actual studies are footnoted.)
His tips for priming one's own happiness have worked for me, and I've seen the benefits play out in potentially contentious business meetings. Call me a convert.
Grade: A
February 13, 2017
Too happy-peachy for my tastes and only backed up by anecdotes and metaphors. Achor states simplistic principles a dozen times in different rehashed ways, making readers passively consume the information without actually feeling inspired from it. While common sense solutions are perfectly valid, there's no point in re-stating them throughout the course of 200 pages if you don't motivate your reader into taking concrete actions. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't touched his guitar in years after mentioning that he used these principles to teach himself how to play... for a month. The author is all talk and no walk.
March 27, 2024
Blah…..I didn’t really get a whole lot out of this. It was recommended to me by a mental health councillor. After hearing Sean Achor’s Ted Talk on YouTube, which I thought was amazing and had the right amount of information and humour to really make its main message stick, I thought this book would have some of that humour that was so very well done before in the video. It did not. This was a lot of drab information. Some of which I have read about before in other books.
There was some good techniques given in this like the Tetris method and a few others but you really have to slag through the other information to get to the main point. Which makes reading this a chore
This didn’t hit right for me and I found this one incredibly slow and basic and boring. 2 stars
There was some good techniques given in this like the Tetris method and a few others but you really have to slag through the other information to get to the main point. Which makes reading this a chore
This didn’t hit right for me and I found this one incredibly slow and basic and boring. 2 stars
July 14, 2023
While I was reading The Happiness Advantage I was told by two people that I should read The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT and Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy and the existence of those two books made me feel a bit better. And I have since bought them.
See, I was reading The Happiness Advantage thinking, shit, I'm doing everything wrong. I'm grumpy. I rarely smile. I don't like people. I don't do gratitude. And I'm really bad at praising others. My other half usually receives a snarky comment...
And I went on to think: I'm clearly a shitty partner, and I will never be successful because instead of forming positive pathways in my brain, I just reinforce that everything is on fire.
Anyway, this book did offer some compelling arguments in favour of gratitude, positivity, and seeing every setback as an opportunity, so I might be trying to implement some of that.
But I'll be grumpy while doing so.
See, I was reading The Happiness Advantage thinking, shit, I'm doing everything wrong. I'm grumpy. I rarely smile. I don't like people. I don't do gratitude. And I'm really bad at praising others. My other half usually receives a snarky comment...
And I went on to think: I'm clearly a shitty partner, and I will never be successful because instead of forming positive pathways in my brain, I just reinforce that everything is on fire.
Anyway, this book did offer some compelling arguments in favour of gratitude, positivity, and seeing every setback as an opportunity, so I might be trying to implement some of that.
But I'll be grumpy while doing so.
May 7, 2011
Unlike most books in the genre, this book is deeply rooted in psychology studies and written by a researcher, rather than a journalist or a professional author. Yet, it never gets dry or pedantic.
Fantastic book for anyone interested in being happy.
To begin with, it spends a considerable portion of the book explaining what the effects of happiness are on individuals and groups, dispelling any lingering fears that maybe working towards individual happiness is selfish and unproductive.
In fact the author shows that happy people are considerably more productive and benevolent than than their unhappy counterparts.
Though the book never states it directly, the implication is that the selfish and unproductive thing to do is to not work on your own happiness.
The rest of the book is about the major causes of happiness, backed up with practical advice on how to leverage those causes in our own lives.
All statements about effects and causes of happiness are firmly backed up by psychological papers and articles.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same for all the practical advice. Much of it is, but some of the sources are other books on how to be happy (whose credibility is entirely unknown to me) and others are online articles, with no formal research or peer review behind them.
A few bits of practical advice are entirely unsourced, but appear to come from the author's own experience consulting major companies.
That said, the advice all seems sound, and I can't wait to build habits to put it into daily practice.
A fun read, a useful read, and backed up by a healthy dose of science. No "feel good" fluff here.
Fantastic book for anyone interested in being happy.
To begin with, it spends a considerable portion of the book explaining what the effects of happiness are on individuals and groups, dispelling any lingering fears that maybe working towards individual happiness is selfish and unproductive.
In fact the author shows that happy people are considerably more productive and benevolent than than their unhappy counterparts.
Though the book never states it directly, the implication is that the selfish and unproductive thing to do is to not work on your own happiness.
The rest of the book is about the major causes of happiness, backed up with practical advice on how to leverage those causes in our own lives.
All statements about effects and causes of happiness are firmly backed up by psychological papers and articles.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same for all the practical advice. Much of it is, but some of the sources are other books on how to be happy (whose credibility is entirely unknown to me) and others are online articles, with no formal research or peer review behind them.
A few bits of practical advice are entirely unsourced, but appear to come from the author's own experience consulting major companies.
That said, the advice all seems sound, and I can't wait to build habits to put it into daily practice.
A fun read, a useful read, and backed up by a healthy dose of science. No "feel good" fluff here.
April 1, 2019
نسخه ی موجود از انتشارات ابوعطا با ترجمه ی مهسار مشتاق در 80 ص بود که به نظر بیشتر چکیده ای بود از مطالب کتاب اصلی ک بیشتر از 200 ص داره، در کل زیاد توضیح و تفصیل نداشت این ترجمه و چکیده ی موجود هم مطالب چندانی برای من که در این زمینه قبلا مطالعات جسته و گریخته ای داشتم نداشت. دلم می خواد کتاب اصلی رو بخونم که ترجمه ی کامل فارسیش گویا هنوز موجود نیست، نسخه ی الکترونیکی به زبان اصلی به راحتی قابل دسترسی هست که بعید می دونم حالا حالاها بتونم برم سراغش چون اولویت باهاش نیست
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