‘The Happiness Advantage’ by Shawn Achor-Rebellious Book Review

Hi friends, hope we’re all keeping well.

It’s been a while since the last book review, more than a month now, so I felt like writing up a new one🙃

And not going to lie, this one, ‘The Happiness Advantage’ by Shawn Achor, is honestly one of my favourite business books that I’ve read so far, as it left a good few impressions on me. So, with that being said, let’s just get straight into it. 😁

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😮My Discovery of The Book😮

Well, you know, just saw it in the Kindle store one day at a discount. Had a cool-looking cover, and an interesting description. So I bought it…🙃

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👨🏻‍🎓Favourite Lessons👨🏻‍🎓

-Happy people have an inherent advantage in life over people who are unhappy in many different areas. Happiness can act as an antidote to stress and fatigue, and the brain is also at peak performance when you are happy. So, those who capitalise on positivity every chance they get will inevitably always come out on top. This is called the happiness advantage.

-A person’s external reality is malleable. Similar to a fulcrum and lever, you can make people’s expectations of you come true, as long as you just move the fulcrum a bit and change the way you look at things. This is also called the Pygmalion Effect.

-Utilise the Tetris Effect. When you train your brain to scan and spot for opportunities, they appear much more often. Scan for opportunities to be happy, optimistic, and grateful, as optimists almost always win.

-Instead of falling down, convince yourself you’re falling up. This basically comes down to seeing failures as opportunities to improve and become better. Capitalise on setbacks, and see times of crises as catalysts to make necessary changes.

-Harness the power of Zorro Circles. As in, concentrate your efforts on small, manageable goals at first to regain control of things, when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Small successes will always add up to major achievements.

-Remember the 20 Second Rule. To get rid of bad habits, we need to stop them being so easily accessible. Make it harder to succumb to them by having to activate more energy to do the habit, like hiding sweets in a more inconvenient place rather than beside you on the desk. Relying on willpower alone won’t get you far, as the more we use willpower to hold us back, the more worn out it gets.

-One of the most important things in life is Social Investment. Friends, family, and allies will always be the greatest assets in life, so hold on to the people around you tight. Basically, remember to have strong social support.

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💬Favourite Quotes💬

– “If all you strive for is diminishing the bad, you’ll only attain the average and you’ll miss out entirely on the opportunity to exceed the average”

-“Happiness is not the belief that we don’t need to change; it is the realisation that we can”

-“You can have the best job in the world, but if you can’t find the meaning in it, you won’t enjoy it, whether you are a movie maker or an NFL playmaker”

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❓Who Would Like This Book❓

-I think people who might struggle day to day with happiness could find this book useful. It gives plenty of ways to see things differently, and helps you navigate difficulties in life.

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🌟How This Book Changed Me🌟

-Overall, it changed my perspective on a lot of things relating to happiness. In some ways, it’s similar to the Stoicism philosophy, in that it teaches you that while external events are out of your control, our interpretation of those events is. Basically, you’re always the one in control of your happiness.

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✌🏼Final Impressions✌🏼

A really enjoyable read, and one I’d recommend to most people. Loads of actionable takeaways and great insights as well. There’s absolutely a little bit of everything for everyone, even if you are well-versed in this topic.

That being said, there were some minor things that to me sounded like common sense, such as the advice that you should never have unrealistic expectations about your potential.

I had a blast reading this book regardless, so it’s a solid 8/10 for me.

Cool, that’ll probably be it for this book review. I’ll hopefully see you guys in another post, stay safe 👋🏼