The Happiness Advantage

The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work

By: Shawn Achor

Narrated by: Shawn Achor

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2010 Shawn Achor (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Shawn Achor is funny, self-deprecating, and devastating to my notions of what his field is all about…. I'm butter to his knife." (The Boston Globe)

"Achor bases his training on a burgeoning body of research on the positive psychology movement, which emphasizes instilling resiliency and positive attitudes." (The Wall Street Journal)

“Achor transports us to his virtual classroom, a journey along which we glean the seven secrets of happiness. The Happiness Advantage reveals the most important discoveries coming out of modern psychology.” (Rom Brafman, bestselling co-author of Sway and Click)

Best Book I Have Ever Embraced

This is an evidence based book on life optimization. Happy>success and happy --> leads to success. As Jim Collins wrote a rite of passage business book... this is a rite of passage of self fulfillment.

Great book to improve self care

I enjoyed many things about this audio book. It is easy to follow, and the author continually gives you different examples on how a topic would apply, which tend to be realistic and a lot of them even funny.

Great book!

Nothing that is not obvious but only after the fact! So in my mind, it’s a wonderful book to let the obvious sink in deeper and to be aware of the obvious.

Research strong

Case studies were relevant to real word situations. Recommend for team leaders and coaches alike.

Fantastic book

It should be a must read for any company employees and high schoolers. Thank you!

Great information for anyone seeking happiness.

The book is great. The narrator is not so great. The narrator needs some more practice reading aloud. He sounds like a kindergartner reading for the first time.

Putting Positive Thinking To Work

I liked this book. It really presents the "act as if" mentality and has numerous ideas and behavioral suggestions to increase your feelings of well being. I did think that much of the focus was on the work place. If you are a stay-at-home worker you can still use the info but not everything actually pertains to your situation. However, the studies and insights are still really interesting to hear about.

A positive listen about choosing to be happy.

Ways to stay positive presented in a scientific wa

The ideas behind the book are great but the delivery and the story was ok. The presentation was average and didn't motivate me to follow the advice. The 7 steps should have had clearer and more concise language. I recommend this book for more logical people that want self development than those that are more emotional about their self development.

Laughter and Sunshine

Very interesting book. Attitude is everything. Liked how he broke it down in steps to improve your happiness. I have always said you need laughter and sunshine to survive.

Love this book

very inspiring and informative, Facebook really made me want to take a new look on my attitude and happiness in life.