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Real Happiness: Proven Paths for Contentment, Peace & Well-Being
Drawing from years of groundbreaking research in positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based practices, and neuroscience, Real Happiness provides a simple path to reach lasting happiness. The principles of happiness—gratitude, kindness, mindfulness, forgiveness, self-compassion, optimism and connection—are masterfully presented with fresh ideas and insight. 35 easy-to-implement exercises increase awareness to achieve lasting change to your life. It is indeed possible to become happier; Real Happiness shows you the way.
- GenresPsychology
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2015
17 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2020
Good research-based exercises on how to think more positively.
June 20, 2016
I read this as an "assignment" from my counselor following the death of my mother last month. It was a quick read and somewhat engaging. My positive review of this book includes the simple exercises outlined to achieve happiness (or, at least, to pursue it). My criticism is the pseudo-scientific representation of the data.
My counselor is wonderful. I genuinely like her. I struggle with counselors because I tend to "out-think" them. An INTP, analyst, literal genius (etc), I tend to rationalize all processes from the love I feel for my family members to the strategies I take to tip the postal carrier during holiday season. My counselor is good for me because she recognizes my skill at analysis and process-identification and uses that strength to help me process the things I tend to struggle with. For instance, genius and analytical skill often come with rumination and anxiety. An eye for process and efficiency often comes with anxiety and a need for control. She sees this and she uses my scientific-leaning to unpack my intuitive side.
The problem is that I become more frustrated than ever with arguments or science in which I see the holes. This book, while a fine book with lots of great ideas, occasionally represents the science it cites inaccurately (or, at least, in an overly simplistic way). Great for the "lay-person," but less great for the ruminator... unless I can figure out from books like this one how to dial down that rumination, so to speak...which is my hero's quest, to be sure.
The thing I keep seeing in these books is the recurring pattern. Whether it be spirituality, self help, social science, or even narrative fiction, the outcome is the same: 1.) break down large problems into small tasks through backwards design, 2.) write more to tap into your superego, intuition, God/dess, great power (whatever you like), 3.) conversations with everyone are all just conversations with yourself, and 4.) everything boils down to mindfulness and attention.
Given that all of life is a reduction sauce of these four things, books like these rarely produce any epiphanical outcome for me. What they do, however, is remind me to institute a practice and occasionally--very occasionally--dial down that rumination for a spell by helping me focus my pattern-recognition, process-analysis, and genius toward sensory-data, mindfulness, and sheer (or mere) presence.
Lastly, I will say that there was one part of this book that really stood out and caused the lights to flicker a bit. That part was Paquette's reminder that forgiveness is solely for the self (and not for the person you are forgiving). By engaging in forgiveness, we are really giving ourselves a gift by permitting ourselves not to relieve a trauma, by allowing ourselves to excuse the space in our mind we reserve for that trauma, by allowing peace to re-emerge in our souls, and by releasing the power that another person has over us. This is truly an act of freedom. Forgiveness is entirely for the self and soul. By forgiving others, we give ourselves.
Presence is good. This book could help you with that. Remember to be grateful and to forgive.
My counselor is wonderful. I genuinely like her. I struggle with counselors because I tend to "out-think" them. An INTP, analyst, literal genius (etc), I tend to rationalize all processes from the love I feel for my family members to the strategies I take to tip the postal carrier during holiday season. My counselor is good for me because she recognizes my skill at analysis and process-identification and uses that strength to help me process the things I tend to struggle with. For instance, genius and analytical skill often come with rumination and anxiety. An eye for process and efficiency often comes with anxiety and a need for control. She sees this and she uses my scientific-leaning to unpack my intuitive side.
The problem is that I become more frustrated than ever with arguments or science in which I see the holes. This book, while a fine book with lots of great ideas, occasionally represents the science it cites inaccurately (or, at least, in an overly simplistic way). Great for the "lay-person," but less great for the ruminator... unless I can figure out from books like this one how to dial down that rumination, so to speak...which is my hero's quest, to be sure.
The thing I keep seeing in these books is the recurring pattern. Whether it be spirituality, self help, social science, or even narrative fiction, the outcome is the same: 1.) break down large problems into small tasks through backwards design, 2.) write more to tap into your superego, intuition, God/dess, great power (whatever you like), 3.) conversations with everyone are all just conversations with yourself, and 4.) everything boils down to mindfulness and attention.
Given that all of life is a reduction sauce of these four things, books like these rarely produce any epiphanical outcome for me. What they do, however, is remind me to institute a practice and occasionally--very occasionally--dial down that rumination for a spell by helping me focus my pattern-recognition, process-analysis, and genius toward sensory-data, mindfulness, and sheer (or mere) presence.
Lastly, I will say that there was one part of this book that really stood out and caused the lights to flicker a bit. That part was Paquette's reminder that forgiveness is solely for the self (and not for the person you are forgiving). By engaging in forgiveness, we are really giving ourselves a gift by permitting ourselves not to relieve a trauma, by allowing ourselves to excuse the space in our mind we reserve for that trauma, by allowing peace to re-emerge in our souls, and by releasing the power that another person has over us. This is truly an act of freedom. Forgiveness is entirely for the self and soul. By forgiving others, we give ourselves.
Presence is good. This book could help you with that. Remember to be grateful and to forgive.
October 24, 2017
Gathers together all the most recent and initial research on positive psychology and learned optimism and presents it in a very readable and convincing (as in we all should do this now!) format. Has exercises that are research based, do-able and engaging. Perfect for therapists but really anyone can benefit. Martin Seligman fans especially will find this book useful.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews