Customer Reviews

The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What I like about this book is that gives you really solid information about the things happy people do.

Some of the advice is so practical that you could use it, and benefit from it, this afternoon. Other entries focus on the long term practices of happy people.

What's most important for me about this book is that it made me feel better, because it let me see many things I'm already doing right, and many more things I could do to feel better.

Wouldn't it be nice to read a little book and become happier? That is what David Niven offers in his brief book <The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People>. Niven lists his 100 secrets in a simple, digestible form. First there is the headline, ranging from "accomplish something every day" to "watch less television" to "have a purpose." Then for each of these "secrets" Niven provides a brief description of what the headline means, followed by an example of putting this "secret" in to practice, and finally a summary of the study from which the "secret" was derived. There is, no doubt, a lot of wisdom in these 100 secrets. While none of the insights surprised me, they did nicely reinforce some of the practices I have set for myself.

But one has to wonder if a brief book such as this can really lead to increased happiness. The philosophy behind the book, Niven states in the introduction, is: "all I can do is point and hope you look." (p. xv). Well, it seems that this is ignores a central issue: how do people change? Is simply offering up advice the best means to changing behavior? It would be surprising if this were the answer from academic psychology. Couldn't some of the secrets address directly the question of "how to change" alongside this advice of "what to change?" Another question on which Niven is silent is what is cause and what is effect? If people are happier who watch less television, couldn't this be because they have other things they prefer doing and have nothing to do with the effects of television watching? Finally, one wonders on reading this book what definition of happiness or contentment was used and whether it was used consistently across the many studies cited. At least a footnote on this matter would have been appreciated.

No doubt there is a lot of wisdom captured in the 100 "secrets." This book also provides a bibliography of recent psychological studies concerning factors correlated with contentment and happiness. And perhaps a book like this is better than a similar one with no scientific backing. But too many fundamental questions are simply ignored. What is cause and what is effect? How does a static view of correlations help one understand the dynamics that actually lead to change? And what is meant by these definitions of happiness or contentment? On all these issues the book is silent, and I fear that this may well reflect the state of the academic psychological thinking as well as this author's limitations.

Many of these secrets are common sense, such as #54 "Get a good night's Sleep or #6 Cultivate Friendships; a few are debatable, such as #72 "You always have a choice." Overall, however, I find this little book fun and inspiring.

Each "secret" follows this formula, as found in one of my favorites #50, "Cherish Animals." Niven gives a brief explanation of how animals have much to teach us about love. After the explanation is an anecdote: the story of an animal shelter that brings a vanload of small dogs each week to cheer up nursing home residents. Each entry concludes with a research finding: "Those with a loved pet are 22 percent more likely to feel satisfied than those without. - Barofsky and Rowan 1998."

Most folks probably won't go looking up the references in the back, but my inner scientist is pleased by how Niven, a Ph.D. handled the research. Each reference is:

1. alphabetically listed in the back by author (with journal information), so curious souls can easily look up the study.

2. a meta-analysis (an analysis of multiple studies of the same topic). So when Niven says, "regular readers are about 8 percent more likely to express daily satisfaction" compared to non-readers, this is based on multiple studies, not just one.

My only complaint about the book is that there's so much empty space. Many pages have 3 to 4 inches of empty space, well over half the page.

Conclusion: Fun, inspiring, easy reading. A great gift idea when you don't know what to give.

I am generally skeptical about these kinds of books, but I've never read a book on this subject that was so clearly based in reality.

100 Simple Secrets of Happy People is about the things happy people tend to do - everything from taking walks to watching less TV to not spending their time chasing goals they don't care about.

It is written to be easy to use and understand, but it is based on an incredible volume of research on the daily habits and beliefs of happy people.

Most importantly, after I finished it, I passed it on to my friends.

This little book is full of scientifically documented, common-sense techniques to improve your general mood and outlook on life, whether you are already a happy-enough person or someone who struggles with depression and low self-esteem. Abraham Lincoln is said to have said something like: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." This book can help you change your mind and your behavior to experience more happiness, more often, regardless of the actual circumstances of your life. Because there are 100 of them, even taking a few of these suggestions can make a big difference quickly. I recommend reading the whole thing through and then keeping it out where you can conveniently pick it up and read a page or a few, say, when you're placed on hold on the phone, or when you want to read a bit before bed. This is one self-help book that really works, really easily. I can't think of a better investment.

This is a simple to read book with lots of helpful ideas toward happiness. Reading a few pages now and then keeps me focused on being positive(happy)

This book features advice, the science of happiness, and brief accounts of real people reaping the rewards of following these practices (or suffering the consequences if they do not).

It is neither a boring, dry, technical textbook of psychology, nor is it a bouncy, meaningless, 'slogans and nonsense' typical self-help book.

Instead, it is a very readable mix of scientific findings with a healthy dose of advice and examples.

It is laid out with 100 separate entries, and can be read straight through or referred to now and again as way to pick yourself up or redirect your thoughts and efforts.

If you are thinking about reading a book on this topic, I think this is the one that you will find the most useful.

I really liked that this book is based on real research on happiness and happy people - it's not just a collection of cute sayings or the author's whims.

This book is a practical and useful guide, I highly recommend it.

I can understand why some reviewers are quite frustrated with the author's so claimed secrets. If you go through the content page here, you are very likely to get the impression that they are "common sense" or "cliche" repeated regularly in all self help books. What makes this book better is the short conclusions in the end of each "secret" summarizing research findings of social scientists per that "secret", many with statistics quantifying impact of individual factors, say,

The average unhappy person spends more than twice as much time thinking about unpleasant events in their lives, while happy people tend to seek and rely upon information that brightens their personal outlook. Lyubomirsky 1994 (2 Use a strategy for happiness)

Shifting between pre-sleep thoughts was found to be related to difficulty in sleeping and lower sleep quality, which, in turn, were related to unhappiness. Better sleepers are 6 percent more satisfied with their lives than average sleepers, and 25 percent more satisfied than poor sleepers. (10 Limit yourself to thinking about one subject when you lie down to sleep)

An experiment was conducted with a group of women having low life satisfaction.... Those who interacted with others saw a 55 percent reduction in their concerns over time, while those who were left on their own showed no improvement. Hunter and Liao 1955 (18 Dont face your problems alone)

Eating fruit is associated with a number of positive life habits that contribute to both health and happiness, and eating more furit is associated with an 11 percent higher likelihood of feeling capable and satisfied. Heatey and Thombs 1997 (44 Eat some fruit every day)

Perceptions that life is meaningful, and therefore worthwhile, increase 16 percent with concrete thinking. Lindeman and Verkasalo 1996 (46 Think in concrete terms)

Those who viewed changes as inevitable and remained open to the possibility that changes would be positive were 35 percent more likely to be satisfied with their lives than those who did not. Minetti 1997 (57 Be flexible)

In my opinion, the references in each "secret" and their bibliography provided do help. The book is good and concise enough to be placed on a working desk as a tool or first aid kit. In short, well worths the time and the price.

p.s. I had read the author's second book "The 100 simple secrets of successful people" as well. Surprisingly the two books are quite different or not repetitive. If you like this "happy" one, you should get the "successful" one as well.

This was a gift and I cant say that it is a great book, but it is a good book to have on your bookshelf for those moments when you need a quick reminder of what works for those people who are upbeat and of the glass half full mindset.

The book is basically hundreds of short stories that deal with everything from tragedies to get in the right mindset to making wise choices and keeping life in balance. That life is a classroom and a journey and challenges will always come our way and we have two choices. Either be of the hope for the best, plan for the worst mode or the head in the sand, don't think about it.

It's a handy little book to keep in the car for those days or hours when you have a lot of waiting for appointments. Heck I think it would be a handy little gift for ones physician or a hospice or any group that deals with people going thru a difficult time.

I liked chapter 16 Believe in Yourself and chapter 17 Don't Believe In Yourself To Much as well as Chapter 22 Pay Attention. You May Have What You Want. which states "We often forget to sit down and think about where we started and where we are now. The human tendency is to always want more. A better approach is to remember where you started and appreciate how much you have accomplished."

And chapter 52 Never Trade Your Morals for your Goals which is so timely when one reads of the corruption in businesses that are going under. Chapter 88 is about Focus on What Really Matters to You and chapter 91 Don't Let Others Set Your Goals are good because they speak of how we can be grounded and do what is right as well as what is successful.