The Happiness Factor

The Happiness Factor is a real-world, practical guide to overcoming adversity and finding complete, lasting happiness. By remembering that problems and circumstances do not define a person, everyone can overcome their own set of issues and be happy. Kirk Wilkinson introduces the P-E-A-S-E-F-U-L approach to finding happiness'a restorative set of principles that are unforgettable and universally applicable. Through this approach, the negative effects of stress and other barriers to happiness are dissolved. The result is a greater sense of well-being, fulfillment, and satisfaction'the most important factors to lifelong happiness.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • An engaging, deeply researched guide to flourishing in a world of increasing stress and negativity—the inspiration for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time “Powerful [and] charming . . . A book for just about anyone . . . The philosophies in this book are easily the best wire frames to build a happy and successful life.”—Medium Happiness is not the belief that we don’t need to change; it is the realization that we can. Our most commonly held formula for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that once we succeed, we’ll be happy; that once we get that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But the science reveals this formula to be backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. Research shows that happy employees are more productive, more creative, and better problem solvers than their unhappy peers. And positive people are significantly healthier and less stressed and enjoy deeper social interaction than the less positive people around them. Drawing on original research—including one of the largest studies of happiness ever conducted—and work in boardrooms and classrooms across forty-two countries, Shawn Achor shows us how to rewire our brains for positivity and optimism to reap the happiness advantage in our lives, our careers, and even our health. His strategies include: • The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility so we can see and seize opportunities all around us • Social Investment: how to earn the dividends of a strong social support network • The Ripple Effect: how to spread positive change within our teams, companies, and families By turns fascinating, hopeful, and timely, The Happiness Advantage reveals how small shifts in our mind-set and habits can produce big gains at work, at home, and elsewhere.

Among the many things that people aspire for, one that most people have in common is to be happy. Some go to great lengths just so they can secure happiness for themselves, but they often mistake transient pleasures and lofty achievements for happiness, not realizing that being happy is more a choice and a process than an end product. Author Xavier Van de Lanotte takes on the noble task of guiding the perennial seeker of happiness or success to the right path, which is paved with moments of self

There is a formula for happiness?and now readers can learn it in this unique book. To be happier: have a large family, try new foods, and be courageous. However, being highly educated, envying a friend?s car, and looking inward can cause the happiness level to go down. In this four-color guide, readers will learn how to calculate their happiness factor. They?ll discover what life changes they can make to help it go up and what will happen if it continues to go down. Includes the amount we either add to or subtract from our happiness when we: are married +2; have job insecurity -2; own a pet +5; play a fast-paced sport +2. Delivered in a fun, readable way, this book is perfect for those who want to improve their happiness. After adding and subtracting their way through the book, readers will be inspired to follow the expert advice and take steps to make their lives happier.

In winter 2014, a Tibetan monk lectured the world leaders gathered at Davos on the importance of Happiness. The recent DSM-5, the manual of all diagnosable mental illnesses, for the first time included shyness and grief as treatable diseases. Happiness has become the biggest idea of our age, a new religion dedicated to well-being. In this brilliant dissection of our times, political economist William Davies shows how this philosophy, first pronounced by Jeremy Bentham in the 1780s, has dominated the political debates that have delivered neoliberalism. From a history of business strategies of how to get the best out of employees, to the increased level of surveillance measuring every aspect of our lives; from why experts prefer to measure the chemical in the brain than ask you how you are feeling, to why Freakonomics tells us less about the way people behave than expected, The Happiness Industry is an essential guide to the marketization of modern life. Davies shows that the science of happiness is less a science than an extension of hyper-capitalism.

This open access book defines happiness intuitively and explores several common conceptual mistakes with regard to happiness. It then moves on to address topical issues including, but not limited to, whether money can buy you happiness, why happiness is ultimately the only thing of intrinsic value, and the various factors important for happiness. It also presents a more reliable and interpersonally comparable method for measuring happiness and discusses twelve factors, from A to L, that are crucial for individual happiness: attitude, balance, confidence, dignity, engagement, family/friends, gratitude, health, ideals, joyfulness, kindness and love. Further, it examines important public policy considerations, taking into account recent advances in economics, the environmental sciences, and happiness studies. Novel issues discussed include: an environmentally responsible happy nation index to supplement GDP, the East Asian happiness gap, a case for stimulating pleasure centres of the brain, and an argument for higher public spending.