The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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.
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Reviews for The Happiness Advantage
278 ratings22 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, which was read by the author. It has good information and great ideas on how people can apply its principles in the workplace.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I listened to this audiobook and it was one of the best books I've ever heard! I will definitely be listening again periodically. Shawn Achor narrates it himself and he is warm and fun to listen to.. (Check out his TED talk on Positive Psychology.) There are tons of practical tips and activities that can easily be learned and integrated into your life... If any book can be considered life changing, this is one of them! And the information is all backed up with scientific studies and funny, endearing stories.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the second book I've read for my parents/me book club. When I saw the book my mother had picked out, at first I was not impressed. A book on happiness? Who cares? I can be happy later, now I have to work towards a career. I clearly didn't realize all that happiness can do. And I was clearly following the traditional formula for success. This book may have changed my look on life. The idea that happiness creates success, not the other way around, seems like common sense when someone tells it to you but people don't believe it. This book will make you believe it. It's almost silly, really, how easy it is. Achor is also very charismatic on the pages and is a good writer. I love that he pulls in stories and anecdotes from his and other's lives to help explain the research behind this idea. He funny and well-researched. I enjoyed reading his seven principles and will most likely try to implement some of them in my own life. I could do with some more happiness. The physical benefits alone will be worth it. This is not a book that the reader can fly through; it caused me to think a lot about my years of unhappiness and my times of being genuinely happy. There was some self-reflection, and then there was some happy planning for the future with these principles in my head. This is a great book in my opinion. I highly recommend this book to any and everyone.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Whoops.
Original rating and review was for Duhigg's Power of Habit, not Achor's happiness Advantage.
I'll just say that while I enjoyed and appreciated this book, it does much less well at the things that made Duhigg's work stand out. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great book, with fresh ideas and a great writing style. I petered out a bit towards the end (so perhaps could have been 50pp shorter) but recommend as it has some good advice.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This 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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you want a little more happiness in your life, this is the book for you. A perfect mix between academic statistics and Texan colloquialisms. Unpretentious and uplifting. This is a must read for all.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think that once you're happy, you'll be successful? Positive psychology posits the exact opposite, that happiness breeds success. Shawn Achor uses his professional consulting and extensive research (the notes detailing his sources are 6 pages long!) to support his principles for helping you choose happiness. I've read it - once - but already plan to read it again. His TED talk on the topic is one of their Top 10. I have already recommended his work to several other people and starting his second book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a worthy addition to the popular works about positive psychology. Achor describes 7 key concepts, all of which are straightforward, relevant and practical. The two strategies that most influenced me were the "Tetris Effect" and the "20-Second Rule." In the Tetris Effect, he describes how much our brains can develop a specific orientation or thought pattern - not just in attitude but even how we approach and see problems. In the "20-Second Rule," he provides the practical advice to make habits easy to form by putting the desired objective within easy, visible reach.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, which was read by the author. It has good information and great ideas on how people can apply its principles in the workplace.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great summary of the relevant research in happiness written in an entertaining way. While he does re-frame some ideas there is nothing really new.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another fascinating book! He describes how happiness foster spirit’s productivity hence the way to succeed! Well - I had some doubts at the beginning and therefore my curiosity was at the paroxysm all along the reading! All examples given were very practical and useful – nobody could context … Magic world where we can understand and study how psychology and happiness are pretty nice combination into the brain – this could potentially help at least to better surround procrastination stuff and who knows – The road to success!Definitively I must read and nice asset ;-)March, 24 th - 2013
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be positive and change your work environment so you can spread positivity!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is an excellent work, both for professionals and people who just want to have a happier and more fulfilling life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Something I can apply directly to my work! Excellent read!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing. I couldn’t put it down. This book has really started to shape my different understandings of my own habits and how to better my team
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think that once you're happy, you'll be successful? Positive psychology posits the exact opposite, that happiness breeds success. Shawn Achor uses his professional consulting and extensive research (the notes detailing his sources are 6 pages long!) to support his principles for helping you choose happiness. I've read it - once - but already plan to read it again. His TED talk on the topic is one of their Top 10. I have already recommended his work to several other people and starting his second book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is very motivating! I loved it! Thank you!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The narration was good and it has helpful information as to how to apply the concepts that he talks about in the book. I definitely plan to apply this to my life.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simple concepts nicely described. Shawn is quite funny in his anecdotes.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Research which documents mental attitude being very relevant to success. Practical advice on how to change your thinking. Good for managing people and also gaining an understanding of past experiences and reactiions.