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    Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness
    Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness
    Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness
    Audiobook5 hours

    Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness

    Written by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD

    Narrated by Traber Burns

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    We have more choices than we realize. In fact, according to positive psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar, our entire life is made of choices, large and small. It is what we choose moment by moment and day by day-to do, to feel, to experience-that determines how happy and fulfilled we are. Every moment, then, is an opportunity to make a choice that will bring us greater happiness. Ben- Shahar presents 100 such opportunities, some simple, such as whether to frown or smile; others complex, such as whether to hold on to what we know or change our perspective-helping us identify them, recognize their importance, and make the right choice. Each choice includes a brief explanation plus a story or study that makes it accessible and relatable. It#8217;s up to you to choose the life you want!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateSep 25, 2012
    ISBN9781611749762
    Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create Your Own Road to Happiness

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    Reviews for Choose the Life You Want

    4.5/5

    60 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      great book. its important that the narrator speaks clearly and has a good pitch, well this audio has both. besides its content is well explained, well backed up, information provided seems reliable. it gives you many new perspectives...

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The bite size pieces to find a healthier perspective has me coming back to this book over and over.

      To the author, thank you for such a study of work.
    • 5/5
      Great book by all means. Thank you Tal for uour series of books
    • 5/5
      I listen to Happier also by Tal and then this one. Both good but I’d recommend this one first, easy to listen to in bite-size chunks.
    • 5/5
      I use a benchmark for gauging the “helpfulness quotient” of self-help books. If I scribble lots of notes on the sheet that serves as my bookmark, I know that it was worth my time. After finishing Ben-Shahar’s work, I had nearly 50 annotations. By comparison, I typically make a couple dozen notes. Suffice it to say that “Choose the Life You Want” was an excellent investment of time. I absolutely loved the author’s format. Each life-choice highlighted starts with a user-friendly nugget that starts with a thought-provoking quote and is typically summed up in a half-page. Ben-Shahar then offers a case study, anecdote or personal experience that illustrates the principle. He skillfully weaves in fables, idioms and psychological studies. This is the perfect book to have on a coffee table or nightstand for mini reading sessions that span 10 or 15 minutes. The book isn’t flawless. Three-quarters of the way through it, I had the nagging feeling that the author was struggling to get to the magical “101: number (I’ve never quite figured out why the number is magical). There’s definitely evidence of repetition as the book revisits themes like failure/mistakes multiple times. If I had been the editor, I would have likely urged the author to settle on the subtitle: “80 Small Choices That Will Change Your Life Forever.” But I’m nit-picking, because this book is jammed with news-you-can-use insights and reminders. In fact, this review will be among my longest, because I want to put in writing for myself some of the life-lessons. In reviewing my chicken-scratch here are 17 life-lessons that I’m going to try to remember:-- A recipe for slaying procrastination: Practice the “five-minute takeoff.” Simply put, start doing the task you’ve been putting off, no matter how little you feel like doing it. I’ve put this tip to use three times within the past week. This one principle alone has made reading the book worthwhile! -- Make wise use of short “happiness-boosters.” These are bite-sized activities that elevate our moods. If you’re feeling “depleted” or depressed, take that 10-minute walk or listen to your favorite music – even if it seems at the time like you should be putting your nose to the proverbial grindstone. -- No matter how busy you are, make play part of your daily life. Play makes us more resilient, creative and healthy.-- When you’re worrying about something, ask yourself if it’s serving a useful purpose. If it does, then take action! If not, move on. As Leo Buscaglia said, “Worry never rubs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.-- Savor the present. As Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Forever is composed of nows.” Also, try to find the exciting and fascinating in day-to-day routines – just as a young child might view things. “Find the novel and exciting in our routines.” And Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “The invaluable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” -- Being obsessed with finding happiness can contribute to unhappiness. -- Make others feel good (a theme hit upon a few times). The desire or flaunt or intelligence or ability to boost our self-esteem can come at the expense of others who might feel inferior or hurt.-- It’s the journey that really matters in the end. Instead of obsessing about the outcome, focus as much as possible on the process of arriving at the outcome.-- Appreciate the good in our lives, and the good grows. Keep a Gratitude Journal as a reminder of those things – sometimes even small, simple things – that contribute to a higher level of well-being. -- Perceive hardships as fleeting/temporary. “This, too, shall pass.”-- “Lucky” people create luck by changing their usual routines. These changes boost the likelihood that they’ll encounter meaningful opportunities. -- 95% of our emotions are determined by how we interpret events. Be a “benefit-finder.”-- Have a sense of humor. Business leader Jack Welch once said: “A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It’s jolted by every pebble in the road.” Laughter can even alleviate pain and strengthen our immune systems!-- Don’t be afraid of failure. Embrace it and learn from it. The author reminds us that Thomas Edison held nearly 1,100 patents. He once proclaimed: “I failed my way to success.” Liberate yourself from the “tyranny of the fear of failure.”-- We don’t grow unless we take risks. Nudge yourself beyond your comfort zones.-- When you experience intense negative emotions (anger, jealousy, etc.), give yourself time to cool down.-- Appreciate friends. As Francis Bacon once said, “Friendship doubles joy and cuts grief in half.”