Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment [Hardcover]

Tal Ben-Shahar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2007

Can You Learn to Be Happy?

YES . . . according to the teacher of Harvard University’s most popular and life-changing course. One out of every five Harvard students has lined up to hear Tal Ben-Shahar’s insightful and inspiring lectures on that ever-elusive state: HAPPINESS.

HOW?
Grounded in the revolutionary “positive psychology” movement, Ben-Shahar ingeniously combines scientific studies, scholarly research, self-help advice, and spiritual enlightenment. He weaves them together into a set of principles that you can apply to your daily life. Once you open your heart and mind to Happier ’s thoughts, you will feel more fulfilled, more connected . . . and, yes, HAPPIER.

“Dr. Ben-Shahar, one of the most popular teachers in Harvard’s recent history, has written a personal, informed, and highly enjoyable primer on how to become happier. It would be wise to take his advice.”
--Ellen J. Langer, author of Mindfulness and On Becoming an Artist

“This fine book shimmers with a rare brand of good sense that is imbedded in scientific knowledge about how to increase happiness. It is easy to see how this is the backbone of the most popular course at Harvard today."
--Martin E. P. Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though everyone wants to be happier, how many of us can actually define what that means? In his class, "Positive Psychology," one of the most popular courses at Harvard University, Ben-Shahar teaches that happiness isn't as elusive a concept as people think, and can actually be learned; he commits the fundamentals of his course to paper in this primer on getting happy, which he defines as a combination of pleasure (short-term happiness) and meaning (long-term). Divided into three parts, "What is Happiness?", "Happiness Applied" and "Meditations on Happiness," Ben-Shahar provides insight and exercises, prodding reflection in readers ("Do you accept negative emotions as natural?" "Do you see your work as a job, a career, or a calling?") while explicating the relationships among happiness, motivation and goals. Though it sounds simple, Ben-Shahar insists on keen self-awareness and purposeful action to overcome entrenched patterns of despondency and/or disbelief. For answer-seekers, this is definitely a good start.
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Review

“Jeff Woodman’s reading has a narrative drive that captures the author’s affirming ideas.”
—AudioFile (Audiofile ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071492399
• ISBN-13: 978-0071492393
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.9 x 14.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Years Later March 7, 2009

By R. Oda

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book during the lowest point in my life. Now that I look back, about 1.5 years later, it was the catalyst that put me on the road to recovery. A few minutes ago I was sitting in my room looking at my bookshelf and caught sight of the yellow spine. I thought, "Damn. I HAVE to write a review."

The most significant observation in the book is that happiness is the ultimate currency. It's so basic, and so true. All this stuff that we do in life is for the purpose of gaining happiness. When I realized that status, possessions, relationships and accomplishments have no intrinsic value, I began to rethink my approach to life. The funny thing is, I do just about the same things today that I did back then. The difference is my experience of them. For me, it was matter of changing the way I motivated myself. For you it will probably be something else.

I don't know if this self-help book is better than any other, but it was very valuable to me. If you are in need, read it and do the exercises. The results will not be instant, but hopefully it will start or continue something good in your life.

Best of luck, everyone.

118 of 127 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Life is A Process, Not An End. May 25, 2007

By Radical Skeptic

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Life is a process, not an end. If you don't enjoy the process, you're going to hate the end.

I've read the ideas in this book many many times. Yet run through one more point of view is not a bad thing. Actually the author sums up the key to life well lived quite well in this thin book. Have meaningful goals, but enjoy the day to day process or realizing those goals. Appreciation is the key to life. The Psychic bank account. And then he applys them to school, to work, to love. And then he ends the book with meditations.

Give it a try. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

The only criticism, yet not enough to substract a star, is that there are quite a few repeated ideas from his previous work. However, if you have a good idea, no harm in repeating that idea.

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but there are better introductions August 8, 2009

By P MARTIN

Format:Hardcover

.....and there are better follow-ups after your introduction.

This does descend into mimicking the self-help genre pretty quickly.

I think my issue with this book is that the author underpins his reflections and conclusions too often with, with, well, not with much other than his opinion supported by Samuel Smiles type aphorisms.

This is a shame, because the field of Positive Psychology (capital letters employed deliberately) has so much going for it, not least a substantial serious wealth of empirical data to support it.

I understand that the author's lectures at Harvard are incredibly well-attended and indeed well-regarded. Not quite sure why, on this showing.

It's not a pure example of the self-help genre (thank goodness), but neither is it sufficiently scholarly or referenced to be much more.

In fact one of the books that Ben-Shahar should have included in his bibliography, but for some inexplicable reason didn't, would be a far better introduction: "The Happiness Hypothesis", by Jonathan Haidt (a definite 5 star read) is everything this book should have been, but was published a least a year earlier.

An alternative introduction, more practical but better-referenced than "Happier" is Ilona Boniwell's "Positive Psychology in a Nutshell", which I can also recommend whole-heartedly.