Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace)

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Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace)

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 330 ratings · 59 reviews

For the benefits of meditation to become widely accessible to humanity, it cannot just be the domain of bald people in funny robes living in mountains, or small groups of New Age folks in San Francisco. Meditation needs to become "real." It needs to align with the lives and interests of real people.--from Search Inside Yourself

Early Google engineer and personal growth pion...more For the benefits of meditation to become widely accessible to humanity, it cannot just be the domain of bald people in funny robes living in mountains, or small groups of New Age folks in San Francisco. Meditation needs to become "real." It needs to align with the lives and interests of real people.--from Search Inside Yourself

Early Google engineer and personal growth pioneer Chade-Meng Tan first designed Search Inside Yourself as a popular course at Google intended to transform the work and lives of the best and brightest behind one of the most innovative, successful, and profitable businesses in the world . . . and now it can do the same for you. Meng has distilled emotional intelligence into a set of practical and proven tools and skills that anyone can learn and develop.

Created in collaboration with a Zen master, a CEO, a Stanford University scientist, and Daniel Goleman (the guy who literally wrote the book on emotional intelligence), this program is grounded in science and expressed in a way that even a skeptical, compulsively pragmatic, engineering-oriented brain like Meng's can process. Whether your intention is to reduce stress and increase well-being, heighten focus and creativity, become more optimistic and resilient, build fulfilling relationships, or just be successful, the skills provided by Search Inside Yourself will prove invaluable for you. This is your guide to enhancing productivity and creativity, finding meaning and fulfillment in your work and life, and experiencing profound peace, compassion, and happiness while doing so.

Search Inside Yourself reveals how to calm your mind on demand and return it to a natural state of happiness, deepen self-awareness in a way that fosters self-confidence, harness empathy and compassion into outstanding leadership, and build highly productive collaborations based on trust and transparent communication. In other words, Search Inside Yourself shows you how to grow inner joy while succeeding at your work. Meng writes: "Some people buy books that teach them to be liked; others buy books that teach them to be successful. This book teaches you both. You are so lucky."(less)

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by HarperCollins Publishers

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Mar 20, 2013 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

I believe mindfulness works. I believe these techniques work in a supportive corporate environment. I wish more corporate environments were open to encouraging the overall health of employees, but I don't know if they will be unless they see a bottom-line need for it. Since this comes from Google, it carries more authority than it would from a start-up that can get by with a "hippy-dippy" approach to work. But he doesn't justify the money reason enough, I think, to convince companies that have a...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Thomas Holbrook rated it 4 of 5 stars

When a trusted friend suggested I read this popular book, I was interested but leery of reading – yet another – “step-by-step” plan for meditation. Typically, books on deepening one’s awareness or spirituality or devotional life are old plans retreated to appear as “new information” with the requisite (and obvious) reminder that daily adherence to the plan is required. This book’s power lies in it stating the truth that living and life are to be found the moments of “mindfulness.” Search Inside...more When a trusted friend suggested I read this popular book, I was interested but leery of reading – yet another – “step-by-step” plan for meditation. Typically, books on deepening one’s awareness or spirituality or devotional life are old plans retreated to appear as “new information” with the requisite (and obvious) reminder that daily adherence to the plan is required. This book’s power lies in it stating the truth that living and life are to be found the moments of “mindfulness.” Search Inside Yourself addresses this truth (that we have learned NOT to notice life) with clarity, humor and forthrightness while helping the reader to “wake up.”
The author, a well-trained Engineering Scientist for the internet juggernaut Google, developed the Search Inside Yourself program (during the 20% time Google allows its employees to “work on whatever they are interested in”) to help his fellow workers be more relaxed, think more clearly and be more productive. This once in house program has evolved into Meng’s new job and the charge to “bring about world peace,” a lofty goal and one he is convinced is achievable. This will be completed by the peoples of the world learning to “search inside themselves” to discover the stillness, direction and acceptance needed to cease the striving at the root of all conflict.
Because of my faith tradition, when I hear Meng speak of “mindfulness,” I hear “contemplation” as understood from the Monastic traditions. That being said, this is the best, most concise discussion of, and instruction in, meditation I have found. In reading after the desert fathers, ancient and modern mystics and contemporary contemplatives, I have been exposed to the need for this discipline but have rarely found as clear instruction as to how one is to practice it as this text. There are numerous exercises, empirically based (Meng being an Engineer cannot proffer anything without data) suggestions that lead the reader toward developing their own styles for this practice included throughout each chapter. None of the exercises are difficult to learn but will take a lifetime to approach mastery. The nature of Mindfulness is not as much about mastery as it is about developing and enhancing awareness of Self and one’s surroundings/actions/thoughts.
This is not a book to read once and put away, neither is it to be read quickly. The “how to”ness is found in the space discovered within one’s Self as one “wakes” up to the world around and inside them. Meng, and countless other writers, speaking of like disciplines, says “everything is a reason to become aware of.”
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Sep 13, 2012 Jessie Young rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this book after reading a review in the NYT. The review was actually more of a feature on the author than a review, but the topic seemed interesting and he has definitely done good work.

In the end, I didn't love it. I think that the whole "look at us we work at Google that is so hard" thing didn't work for me. Because I know people who work at Google and trust me, there are much harder jobs. I do agree that people in the workplace are too stressed these days and we need to deal with it, I...more I read this book after reading a review in the NYT. The review was actually more of a feature on the author than a review, but the topic seemed interesting and he has definitely done good work.

In the end, I didn't love it. I think that the whole "look at us we work at Google that is so hard" thing didn't work for me. Because I know people who work at Google and trust me, there are much harder jobs. I do agree that people in the workplace are too stressed these days and we need to deal with it, I just don't know if I found any novel points in this book to help with that.

The reason for two stars is that the content was pretty good, it just wasn't new to me. (don't think I actually finished this one)

Highlights:

We can usually experience emotions more vividly in the body than in the mind. Therefore, when we are trying to perceive an emotion, we usually get more bang for the buck if we bring our attention to the body rather than the mind.

Meta-attention is also the secret to concentration. The analogy is riding a bicycle. The way you keep a bicycle balanced is with a lot of micro-recoveries. When the bike tilts a little to the left, you recover by adjusting it slightly to the right, and when it tilts a little to the right, you adjust it slightly to the left. By performing micro-recoveries quickly and often, you create the effect of continuous upright balance. It is the same with attention. When your meta-attention becomes strong, you will be able to recover a wandering attention quickly and often, and if you recover attention quickly and often enough, you create the effect of continuous attention, which is concentration.

happiness is not something that you pursue; it is something you allow. Happiness is just being.

Alan Wallace: “Have expectations before meditation, but have no expectation during meditation.”

The classical analogy is ice breaking up on a frozen lake. To a casual observer, the breakup seems like a sudden phenomenon, but it is actually due to a long period of gradual melting of the underlying ice structure. In Zen, we call it gradual effort and sudden enlightenment.

Thoughts and emotions are like clouds—some beautiful, some dark—while our core being is like the sky. Clouds are not the sky; they are phenomena in the sky that come and go. Similarly, thoughts and emotions are not who we are; they are simply phenomena in mind and body that come and go.

Daniel Goleman identifies five emotional competencies under the domain of self-regulation: 1. Self-control: Keeping disruptive emotions and impulses in check 2. Trustworthiness: Maintaining standards of honesty and integrity 3. Conscientiousness: Taking responsibility for personal performance 4. Adaptability: Flexibility in handling change 5. Innovation: Being comfortable with novel ideas, approaches, and information

We have the tendency to feel bad about feeling bad. I call it “meta-distress,” distress about experiencing distress. This is especially true for sensitive and good-hearted people. We berate ourselves by saying things like, “Hey, if I am such a good person, why am I feeling this much envy?”(less)

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Jun 11, 2012 Winnie Lim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: life-changing

Read this in two sittings, one during dinner and one after dinner-induced food coma.

I picked up this book because I was curious what would one of the most famous Singaporeans (at least in tech) write on the intangible subject of Happiness.

I was not disappointed and actually the book turned out to be way beyond my expectations.

He advocates using mindfulness meditation as a tool to increase happiness and creativity, gives plenty of scientific evidence and statistics to prove that meditation is...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Tony DuShane rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Dalai Lama is a blurb whore. I'm actually writing a review of this book and that will be my lede.

I haven't finished the book, but it's good stuff. Mindfulness. Meditation. It's very important for us right now....more important than ever in this land of what I like to call GENERATION MARSHMALLOW.

If anyone else uses that term, tell them it's from me....more essays on these drones who play video games and can't stand a moment of time in a line or driving without telling four square where they a...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Pat rated it 3 of 5 stars

A visitor brought this along, so I borrowed it for a few days. I am an ardent Googler, so I figured I owed it to Google to read a book by one of their engineers on how he proposes to save the world.

Pleasant read, excellent suggestions and like a lot of things in life, easier said than done. Relax and pay attention and relax and help people and relax. Oh, and help them be at ease in life, too. Something like that. I'm poking fun, but with affection. I liked it.

I'm old enough now that a lot of wh...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Joseph Weyek rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't write reviews usually.

I read about 90 percent of it. Couldn't take it anymore. I like the mindfulness part. I hate the emotional intelligence part.

Most of the managers in my corporation are assholes. That's how they got their jobs. They aren't there because of emotional intelligence. They are there because they are assholes.

I despise corporate culture. The book turned me off. Too much talk about how to behave in the corporate world. In my limited experience, the corporate world is full o...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Shani rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book specifically because I'd like to one day work for Google. I found this a quick read and actually really liked the meditation exercises provided on the book. I had many favorite sections. Here is my favorite quote:
"Meditation, at it's simplest, is the training of attention. With enough meditative training, one's attention can become unwaveringly calm and focused. With that enhanced quality of attention, one's mind can easily, and for extended periods, become highly relaxed a...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Alisa Bowman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I write about and teach meditation. As a result, many people ask me for a good, easy-to-read guides for beginners. Search Inside Yourself delivers. The author adapts several standard Buddhist meditations for the work setting, and he blends Dharma teachings (never really calling them Dharma, though) with the fields of psychology and specifically emotional intelligence. The book is easy read and left me with several take-aways, even though I've been meditating for years. For instance, I particular...more

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May 02, 2012 Lalita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: business-related-books, inspirational, other-non-fiction

One of the best books I've ever read. I read the Kindle edition, but am now going to buy the hardcover in addition, to more easily do the meditation exercises. (Interestingly, it also mentions the book "Good to Great: Why Some Companies make the Leap and Others Don't" many times in the context of leadership and describes paths towards achieving it).

What I also loved about this book is that it is an engineer's perspective on meditation and the science behind it. I thought his explanations of som...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Tamara Dull rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: business

Everyone on my team at work received this book. I had never heard of it before, but the fact that it was "Google" captured my attention. In a word, this book is about mindfulness. Being mindful of our own breath. Being mindful of our own behavior. In the workplace and in our personal lives. This book is also about meditation. It is both prescriptive and pragmatic.

I've never been a "meditator." Sure, I've meditated a handful of times in my life - mostly when I've been on some sort of wellness va...more

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May 11, 2013 MoonButterfly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to MoonButterfly by: Reji T. Nair

Shelves: 2012, self-help, stars-rating-5, reviews, audible-com

Good Books
In the nineties, there were only a few books available on meditation. These books integrated spiritualism and religion and tended to be ambiguous and exotic. This left me figuring things out for myself, which was not a good thing. Thankfully one doesn��t have to feel discombobulated today, considering there are so many good books on the market and you can add this one to the list.

Uniqueness
��Search Inside Yourself�� is an interesting and unique book. The first odd thing is the auth...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars

A young man takes up meditation. He’s an engineer. He has a zany sense of humor. (We’re getting into some weird combinations here!). He works at Google. He met the Dalai Lama, while his photo with President Obama and Lady Gaga adorn the back cover of his book. And, last but not least, he wants to bring world peace. There are some details that I’ve left out, but this should give you a sense of what makes SearchInside Yourself a truly enjoyable and beneficial read.

What Tan has done is to translat...more A young man takes up meditation. He’s an engineer. He has a zany sense of humor. (We’re getting into some weird combinations here!). He works at Google. He met the Dalai Lama, while his photo with President Obama and Lady Gaga adorn the back cover of his book. And, last but not least, he wants to bring world peace. There are some details that I’ve left out, but this should give you a sense of what makes SearchInside Yourself a truly enjoyable and beneficial read.

What Tan has done is to translate the wisdom of Buddhist mediation practice and insights from Western psychology, such as Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence and contemporary neuroscience research, and packaged it for the contemporary workplace. In his case, and as the example that motivates the book, he developed and offered this program at his work place, Google. The fact that Google president Eric Schmidt’s endorsement sits on the front cover suggests that the program went well, and not surprisingly so.

What Tan has done has been done by a number of others, including the Dalai Lama: taking the essence of Buddhist wisdom and practice (which is in large measure compatible with other religious and philosophical traditions), confirming its usefulness with science, and offering it up to the contemporary workplace and wider world. Moreover, I think, Tan succeeds in this enterprise. Tan succeeds not because he’s unique in his quest or insights. He doesn’t break any new theoretical grounds. Indeed, he draws heavily on the work of others and freely acknowledges those sources. Instead, through his personal charm and zaniness, he seeks to disarm those who are skeptical of his ways and means. I believe that he succeeds in this very well by using cartoons and humorous, sometimes even corny, asides. The man is on a mission—he’s a missionary—but he’s not peddling a missionary position or some dour set of restrictions; instead, through humor and careful review of the evidence, he’s suggesting practical, rather easy, ways to make life and work better.

I suppose that the criticism that some might make of this book is that it is “Buddhism lite”. In one sense, that’s true. But Tan isn’t out to peddle Buddhism, he’s out to peddle world peace (starting with personal and workplace peace), so I don’t know if he’s care about such a charge. I don’t. In fact, the list of persons whom he’s worked with or cited is an honor role of Buddhist practitioners (Alan Wallace, Joan Halifax, Mathieu Ricard), academics and scientists (Daniel Goleman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Richard Davidson), a Benedictine monk (David Steindhl-Rast), a Jewish Zen master (Norman Fischer) and—oh, yes—the Dalai Lama, among others. Not bad company, I’d say.

So, only read this book if you think that you can live a better life, enjoy those around you more (even work colleagues!), and you’re willing to enjoy some good chuckles while doing so. (less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Elizabeth Katz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Jon Kabat-Zinn for the work environment. So he offers "short cuts" to meditation as well as more formal instructions. I found the parts about managing emotional triggers in meetings useful. He also has some good reminders about how important it is to have a positive outlook about a person you meet even though you might have heard some unflattering things about them; some good practical empathy tips; and 'mindful' ways of handling difficult people and situations.

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Mar 23, 2013 JDK1962 rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent overview, teaching you how (and why) to build a meditation practice, synthesizing a lot of good information from others. Perhaps this had such a strong appeal to me because I'm a software engineer who wants to incorporate meditation into my life, so the author and I were definitely simpatico. Humorous drawings sprinkled throughout...some may work, some may not, but they serve to break up the text and convey the message "don't take everything--even this--so seriously."

Definitely a ke...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Bidisha Banerjee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Concise, compelling exploration of emotional intelligence: attention training, self-knowledge, self-mastery, and useful mental habits. Underscores the finding that the same region of our brain (the insula) processes self-awareness and empathy. Thus, greater self-awareness and greater empathy are correlated. Very useful exercises and practices intended to deepen resilience and empathy. The Siberian Northern Railroad exercise cured my insomnia!

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Apr 16, 2013 Angelique rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love that a program like this is going on in for-profit environments! The SIY program has most of the elements of Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR program, but this book is much more digestible than "Full Catastrophe Living," which I thought was good, but would probably never get read by most HR departments.

The jokes and cartoons are a little corny, but it does make the reading go by fast. Tan's light, joyful approach to the topic makes mindfulness very attractive, rather than something that could be co...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Tara Swinchatt rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. There are lots of amazing minds writing about meditation, but this one writes in a language I can understand and fully relate to, and he's hilarious. I finally understand why I might want to actually pursue this practice, and I am pursuing this practice. Right after I finished it went on my "books I'll never get rid of" shelf.

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Nov 07, 2012 Clifton Phua rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chade Meng came by my workplace a few months ago to give a talk about this book. The talk was a great introduction and so is the book. To keep one's mind calm and free from distractions, can indeed help to improve our lives. And I liked the part where we should always think positive about other people, it makes us happier.

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May 09, 2013 Renate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Liked the engineering- approach to mindfulness that Meng offers. The idealism and enthousiasm of the author are catching. The main ideas are not new, nor does Meng claim that they are. The way he presents them is originally targetted at Google-employees, but deserve a wider audience. A quick look at some excerpts might tell you if you are one of them.

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Apr 21, 2013 Walter Burton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

I recommend this book to people at several levels. First from the personal development level, the practice of both the meditation practices and his description of how to apply mindfulness in everyday interactions is great.

On the business level these skills when applied gives you the added edge of distance even in the most tense of times. This is critical in today's ever changing world where what we expect is often very different from what we get, you can view it not as a personal attack by the...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Soni Achuthan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best books on meditation I've ever read. It explains, in the most simplest way, how to meditate. When I used to sit down to meditate, I would find my mind just drift away. And I would think: "I can't do this... This thing is not for me". But Chade-Meng Tan effectively compares the process of learning how to meditate with learning how to ride a bicycle. He says that the more you bring your mind back, the stronger your mind becomes. He gives a slew of exercises based on mindfuln...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Jeanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

A very idealistic book about how self awareness can change the world. It did have some very helpful advice about meditation and journaling to attain self realization. I would love to work at a company that adopted courses like this for employees to become better people and hence better employees. However, only bazillionaires like Google have the means to afford this for their employees.

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May 19, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Liking it so far. As someone interested and training in mindfulness for several years, I'm curious to see if the light-touch integration of neuroscience and Buddhism is too light or holds water. Either way, it's nice to see a high-profile, mainstream advocate for the practice.

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Jul 26, 2012 Nancy Dardarian rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked the premise of this book and overall really enjoyed it. Lots of real life examples and good ideas. Since I'm already meditating, I didn't need those parts but will begin incorporating journaling into my daily life for sure.

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Jan 03, 2013 Jacqueline Hager-Bodnar rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has a lot of great info in it. I found it to be interesting and useful. Some good life lessons/nuggets are to be found on the pages of this book.

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Jun 16, 2012 Paul Mansfield rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not my usual book. English, so not a big "self help" book reader. This is different, its an engineer writing with evidence and humour.

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May 21, 2013 Sinistmer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nifty-non-fiction

I have mixed feelings toward this book. On the one hand, I thought Tan presented the concepts in a fairly accessible way and with good humor. I also frequently found myself wanting to know more about the meditation practices and their history. That being said, I think the book is a solid, accessible introduction to meditation.

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Jan 06, 2013 Leanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

An interesting read as it approaches the topic of meditation as essential to happiness from an engineers point of view

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Dec 18, 2012 Dave Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars

A must read! Everyone should read this book. It's applicable to more than just your work habits.

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