mwanamkembaya's review
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was an interesting and helpful read. The author appears to assume that the reader is generally mentally healthy so the advice can seem kind if limited if you do have mental illnesses. I would also warn that those who are recovering from an eating disorder might find parts of the book that discuss losing weight triggering. It's obviously not the author's fault and was not considered in my rating.
sonham's review
4.0
Die erste Hälfte des Buches ist recht theoretisch. Der Autor definiert "Happiness" und erklärt, warum wir nicht so glücklich sind, wie wir sein könnten. Dies belegt er mir Studien.
Der zweite Teil ist deutlich praktischer und vor allem relativ leicht umsetzbar für jeden Einzelnen. Am Ende läuft es darauf hinaus, mehr Aufmerksamkeit auf das eigene Tun zu lenken und auf das, was einen glücklich macht.
Der zweite Teil ist deutlich praktischer und vor allem relativ leicht umsetzbar für jeden Einzelnen. Am Ende läuft es darauf hinaus, mehr Aufmerksamkeit auf das eigene Tun zu lenken und auf das, was einen glücklich macht.
halfmanhalfbook's review
3.0
We are promised that many things have the possibility of making us happy, more money, children, friends, experiences and so on, and they have been countless books written claiming to have the secret of happiness wrapped within the covers. But in this book Dolan has looked at the things that make us happy from a scientific and behavioural economics perspective. It has been proven many times that material possessions up to a certain point have very little effect on you happiness state.
He defines happiness as ' experiences of pleasure and purpose over time'; with his primary idea being that purpose is itself a feeling. To get a higher level of happiness, you would need to get the balance pleasure and purpose just right. Most people take little pleasure in work, but do find it has a purpose, whereas TV can be pleasurable, but is rarely purposeful. The activities that people considered made them most happy were time spent with others and and working as a volunteer.
It did make for interesting reading, and he does expand his (and Daniel Kahneman's) ideas into a readable book. But overall it does feel a little two dimensional, and doesn't seem to have a huge amount of depth. Shame really, because i think that the principles he outlines are along the right lines.
He defines happiness as ' experiences of pleasure and purpose over time'; with his primary idea being that purpose is itself a feeling. To get a higher level of happiness, you would need to get the balance pleasure and purpose just right. Most people take little pleasure in work, but do find it has a purpose, whereas TV can be pleasurable, but is rarely purposeful. The activities that people considered made them most happy were time spent with others and and working as a volunteer.
It did make for interesting reading, and he does expand his (and Daniel Kahneman's) ideas into a readable book. But overall it does feel a little two dimensional, and doesn't seem to have a huge amount of depth. Shame really, because i think that the principles he outlines are along the right lines.
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