Why are some people able to make positive change while others remain the same?
In his international bestseller, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard trained researcher Shawn Achor described why happiness is the precursor to greater success. This book is about what comes before both. Because before we can be happy or successful, we need to first develop the ability to see that positive change is possible. Only once we learn to see the world through a more positive lens can we summon all our motivation, emotion, and intelligence to achieve our personal and professional goals.
In Before Happiness, Achor reveals five actionable, proven strategies for changing our lens to positive:
· The Most Valuable Reality: See a broader range of ideas and solutions by changing the details on which your brain chooses to focus
· Success Mapping: Set goals oriented around the things in life that matter to you most, whether career advancement or family or making a difference in the world
· The X-spot: Use success accelerants to propel you more quickly towards those goals, whether finishing a marathon, reaching a sales target, learning a language, or losing 10 pounds
· Noise-Canceling: Boost the signal pointing you to opportunities and possibilities that others miss
· Positive Inception: Transfer these skills to your team, your employees, and everyone around you
By mastering these strategies, you’ll create an renewable source of positivity, motivation, and engagement that will allow you to reach your fullest potential in everything you do.
This is Brilliant I’ve read several books on positive psychology. It’s a rather simple concept so I didn’t expect this to be particularly ground breaking. It’s actually quite brilliant. It seems as though Achor observed, “Hm, this positive psychology stuff doesn’t work for everybody. Why?” or perhaps, “There is something more here. I wonder what it could be?” then set out to find the answers. The book is about the reality shift that comes before happiness and success are possible. It explains (to me) why some people can express gratitude, sleep, exercise, attend to relationships and do all the things that are supposed to lead to success and happiness, but don’t actually get there.This book provides the missing link and removes the mystery. It gives concrete steps to changing the mindset that makes happiness possible. It has expanded my way of thinking and made me more effective in work and in life. It’s a great resource for everyone. Highly recommended!
What you need to do before you are truly happy As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more focused on doing what makes me happy and fulfilled, rather than doing what others’ think I should be doing. This is the second book that I’ve read about happiness, the first being Gretchen Rubin’s, “The Happiness Project.” I didn’t care for Gretchen’s book because I felt it was all about Gretchen whining. I am happy to say that I loved this book!I really enjoyed this book. Here’s why:* Shawn’s practical advice and exercises on how to think about your happiness. Sure, I’ve read lots of self-improvement books, but this was one of the few where the exercises really resonated with me. He breaks it down into 5 steps or skills: 1. Choosing the Most Valuable Reality 2. Mapping Your Success Route 3. Finding Success Accelerants 4. Eliminating Negative Noise 5. Transferring Your Positive Reality to Others.* Shawn makes the concepts reality by his concrete examples. For example, I love the idea of mapping your life, e.g. your current workplace or city. It forces you to really think about your environment and what is important to you.* The nice mixture of research showing happiness factors and Shawn’s personal stories. It makes Shawn appear very sincere. He obviously believes in this stuff.* The down to earth style. It’s as though Shawn is sitting down and having a conversation with you about happiness.* It inspired me to dig deeper. Of course, I’m going to read Shawn’s first book, “The Happiness Advantage.” I’m also going to read the other books he suggests. I just love it when one book leads me to a lot of others on the same topic.I’m glad that I read this book before his first book, “The Happiness Advantage,” since this book gives a good framework for finding your true happiness.I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to lead a more fulfilling life.