"A Review of the Book - The How of Happiness"The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Wantby Sonja Lyubomirsky This is the best single book about positive psychology to have on your shelf. “Is it possible to become happier?” and “Why does it matter?” Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author explains why taking action to be happier is not a silly goal, though construction of happiness is a better description than pursuit. She argues that one’s happiness is about 50% determined by genetics (the happiness set point). Then only about 10% is determined by the things we tend to pursue in the name of happiness: life circumstances such as wealth, possessions, occupation, living conditions, family relationships, church membership. The remaining 40% is determined by habits, behaviors, and thought patterns that we can directly address with intentional action. She argues that it is much more fruitful to address the 40% associated with our own behavior than it is to pursue the 10% associated with life circumstances. |
The above video is about Dr. Goeglein (also known as Dr. Success) reviews Sonja Lyubomirsky book "The How of Happiness." De Goeglein is a well known public speaker, a multi-media expert in Positive Psychology and a regular contributor to KATZ TV’s AM Arizona, hosted by Tonya Mock and Lew Rees. She has also been a counselor and personal mentor to over forty top CEO’s of privately held companies, and was recently awarded The Making a Difference for Women Award 2009 by the Central Yavapai Sunrise Soroptimist (Arizona) Organization. This award honors women who, through their professional or personal efforts, are making extraordinary differences in the lives of women or girls. |
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A Review of the Book - The How of Happiness
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Index of Articles about Happiness
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Money can Buy Happiness
They say money can't buy happiness. They're wrong - at least up to a point.
People's emotional well-being -- happiness -- increases along with their income up to about $75,000, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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For folks making less than that, said Angus Deaton, an economist at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University, "Stuff is so in your face it's hard to be happy. It interferes with your enjoyment."
Deaton and Daniel Kahneman reviewed surveys of 450,000 Americans conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that included questions on people's day-to-day happiness and their overall life satisfaction. Happiness got better as income rose but the effect leveled out at $75,000, Deaton said. On the other hand, their overall sense of success or well-being continued to rise as their earnings grew beyond that point.
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"Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood ... but it is going to make them feel they have a better life," Deaton said in an interview.
Not surprisingly, someone who moves from a $100,000-a-year job to one paying $200,000 realizes an improved sense of success. That doesn't necessarily mean they are happier day to day, Deaton said. The results were similar for other measures, Deaton said. For example, people were really happier on weekends, but their deeper sense of well-being didn't change.
Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning psychologist, and Deaton undertook the study to learn more about economic growth and policy.
Some have questioned the value of growth to individuals, and Deaton said they were far from definitively resolving that question. But he added, "Working on this paper has brought me a lot of emotional well-being. As an economist I tend to think money is good for you, and am pleased to find some evidence for that."
Overall, the researchers said, "as in other studies of well-being, we found that most people were quite happy and satisfied with their lives."
Comparing their life-satisfaction results with those of other countries, the researchers said the United States ranked ninth after the Scandinavian countries, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland and New Zealand.
The research was supported by the Gallup Organization and the National Institute on Aging.
This Program was developed by the Just Wait Foundation a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation to prevent drug, alcohol, and tobacco problems among teenagers. The Foundation provides one-year scholarships (two semesters) at a Community College or $1000 award to teens that completes the 4 year Just Wait Teen™ Positive Youth Development Program, obtains a GED, or graduates from high school - alcohol, tobacco, and drug free. The Just Wait Foundation has arranged to use of 80 acres to raise fruit and vegetables to finance the scholarships
We offer free training for any person or group that wants to start this program in their community.
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Index of More Articles about Happiness
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