http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/ Bringing Joys and Happiness Fri, 13 Mar 2020 09:48:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.2 http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-68 Book Fanatic Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:14:55 +0000 http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-68 Excellent and Unique I’ve read a lot of “happiness” books and frankly when I chose this book I was a little pessimistic about learning anything new. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This book, while building on a lot of prior research, is full of new insights and presentation that is refreshingly insightful and helpful. I learned a lot and it was a compelling and convincing read. There is a wealth of useful and practical takeaways from the material. The author works in the real world and doesn’t just write from a position in academia and thus has a lot more practical real-world experience than you often find in these types of books mostly written by psychology professors. I consider this one of the best I’ve read and I highly recommend it.

]]> http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-67 Dr Cathy Goodwin Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:45:41 +0000 http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-67 Surprisingly good insights When I was invited to review this book, I must admit I was afraid it would be the standard “happiness” pitch. To my surprise and relief, this book turned out to be truly exceptional, beginning with the author’s own story.To be sure, much of the info in this book will be standard fare for anyone who’s familiar with the life coaching industry. However, it’s packaged in a way that appeals even to left-brained skeptics like me. The author cites research studies to back up each point. Some of the suggestions were totally new to me, and I thought I was deeply familiar with the field.Just a few highlights that I enjoyed:p.55 – Work with a signature strength. This recommendation makes lots of sense to me. The book includes a link to a long online survey; I took the survey and found it surprisingly accurate. I’m a little baffled by the authors suggestion to “use it in a new way each day for a week.”p. 67: I loved the discussion of Ellen Langer’s research with “senior” men. Langer asked them to imagine themselves as they’d been 20 years earlier. They improved on physical as well as mental measures.pp 72-73 – Great discussion of leisure. I really resonated to the notion that we tend to think any non-work activity is worthless. This belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.p. 121 – A startling experiment asks people to estimate how “fortunate” they would be if they were wounded in a bank robbery. Great comment about interpretations of Wall Streeters!p. 139 – Solving small problems can lead to big wins.p. 163: Add 20 seconds to your day and gain several hours.Highly recommended. I’m glad I got this book to keep instead of borrowing from the library. I want to read it a few more times.

]]> http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-66 stewart b clifford Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:18:44 +0000 http://joys.net/63/the-happiness-advantage-the-seven-principles-of-positive-psychology-that-fuel-success-and-performance-at-work/#comment-66 Great information – and fun to read! I read a lot of business books. Most of them are filled with helpful information. Frankly, most of them are also a little on the dry. “The Happiness Advantage” is different. It is filled with fascinating research and great ideas, and it is also a hoot to read. I found myself laughing out loud as I read the book.Shawn Achor explains the latest research he and his colleagues in the field of positive psychology have conducted. The results are fascinating:1) Our brains work better when they are “happy.”2) There are concrete things we can do to make our brains “happier.”3) We can also overcome our inclination to procrastinate and put off these exercises. (I found this section to be particularly interesting since I am a procrastinator).4) When our brains are at “happy” that positivity will ripple out to others and can raise the productivity.Give this book a look. The research shows that we (and our colleagues at work) can be more productive. And, if we are “happier” our boss will also perceive us as more positive, trustworthy, sincere and successful. Wow! And who wouldn’t want to be happier at work – and at home?

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