The Happiness Advantage

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor           Audio Book: 7 hours, 19 mins.     Hardback Book:  256 pages            

Shawn Achor addresses the issue of how people find happiness.   People tend to think if they work harder and make more money they will be happy.   If they can gain more success, they will be happy, and so on.   It is kind of like procrastinating, we keep basing our happiness on this mysterious someday when I have all I need, then I will be happy, but, that particular someday doesn’t materialize.    Telling your kids you can’t take them to Disney World until you get all these things (long list) accomplished then you will have the time and maybe the money, but, years pass, your kids and your grandkids grow up and your biggest regret before you pass over is that you never got to go as a family to Disney World.    Promtions, raises, etc. will come and go, responsibilities will always be there with more new ones coming along every day- it is like looking for the perfect mate – there is no such thing, learn to accept folks for who they are and give you and your not quite perfect amour the right to give it a shot.   You could be missing out on so much by waiting for everything to come together – it seldom does and look at all the fun times you’ve missed by waiting.     Achor promotes the new psychology of happiness  - enjoy it now.    Choose to be a positive person, choose to be happy even if you have to really look hard.  Corrie TenBoom and her sister were taken to a concentration camp in WWII, and Corrie complained about the lice but her sister, told her they must thank God for the lice because the lice kept the German soldiers from getting too close to them.   It truly is all in how you look at things.  Mr. Achor has done a lot of psychological tests over the years, some he proctored and some he participated in himself during his 12 years as a Graduate Student at Harvard.   He lectures and offers workshops on how to become a happier person  studies prove not only do happy people live longer, but, they do  better in their chosen careers, they are better able to cope with frustrations and what would cause anxious reactions in others, but, happy people don’t sit around and grouse about bad stuff happening to them, they use their creativity to formulate ideas to find new solutions, new avenues to take, they don’t see problems as debilitating, they work out new ways to accomplish their seemingly insurmoungable task and get whatever challenge they face done and with a good attitude.     Really great book, so many studies discussed, so many examples given and the statistics on being happy in all things overwhelmingly wins the day in all the positive benefits to one’s health, relationships and well being.     He offers examples on how to teach yourself the skills to stop looking at the glass half-empty and learn the habit of looking on the Brightside of life.   He explains in laymen’s terms how we can train our brains tobecome more positive in order to gain a competitive edge and maximize our potential.    A VERY good book.   Treat yourself to this read.   You really will walk away with a happier attitude and a skip in your step.   Well told, Shawn.

 - Shirley J