Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment [Abridged, Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Tal Ben-Shahar (Author), Jeff Woodman (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Can we really learn to be happy? Yes, we can. Each semester, nearly 1,400 students sign up for Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar's life-changing class, "How to Get Happy." Currently it's the hottest course at Harvard, taken by 20 percent of its graduates.

In Happier, Professor Ben-Shahar brings the ideas of the Ivory Tower to Main Street, distilling the lessons and exercises from his course into a slim volume of practical wisdom. Grounded in the Positive Psychology movement, based on years of researching the works of scientists, academics, and philosophers, Happier emphasizes the importance of pursuing a life of both pleasure and meaning.

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 )

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: HighBridge Company; Unabridged edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598875124
• ISBN-13: 978-1598875126
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #311,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Books on CD > Radio Shows

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 116 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 (Only In America, Land of Opportunity) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (Hardcover)

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.

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Years Later, March 7, 2009

By 

R. Oda (La Jolla, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (Hardcover)

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.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOU CAN BE HAPPIER NOW, June 27, 2007

By 

Betsy Landau "Writing Coach, author Mirabelle... - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (Hardcover)

HAPPIER has something for everybody. It is a brief guide to increasing happiness no matter how happy you are when you start reading. The tone is cheerful throughout. It is filled with exercises to help increase happiness on a daily basis while pursuing long term goals. If you have research interests, the bibliography will peak your curiosity. The little book is a philosophy of life which allows for ups and downs without having to give up present and future happiness. While other writers on happiness have said much of what Tal Ben-Shahar has said, and in more detail, the author has put the information together in a way new. A way that makes being happier accessible now.