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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I'm never reading anything by this author again.
Read two of his books, hated both (waste of time, no new information, no useful information that was worth reading it twice either).
Read two of his books, hated both (waste of time, no new information, no useful information that was worth reading it twice either).
The Good Stuff
Kind of comforting to know that everyone has negative thoughts, even the most successful people as well. Appreciated his advice that its not wrong to have negative thoughts
Encouraged to exercise more as results from medical studies have shown that it helps fight depression (notice - doesn't cure it, you moron Tom Cruise -- sorry strongly dislike that jerk)
Very wise Buddha story - that I must keep remembering
Lots of humour
Practical wise advice
The best part is the advice to understand that Culture of Enough will make you happier than the Culture of More
Good reminder that I have already won the lottery - I have so much in my life to be grateful for - yup that's right, Jeff, Jacob, Jesse, Crush and Oreo (ok and Doctor Who)
The story hits hard about Mr Wilson. My dad retired and not very long after passed away. My dad was a man who loved his job, loved that he could help so many people and when he had to retire. It killed him. Miss you Daddy - say Hi to Mr. Wilson - you guys would totally get along me thinks
Must really think hard and make choices about the decisions I make every day. Really want to focus on the ones that mean most to me. Going to be spending the next little while getting rid of time wasters. I am a Mom, I need to focus on those decisions - not the other stuff. Sorry I will be removing a lot of my access
Just plain practical and sensible advice on making your happiness a priority
The Not So Good Stuff
A wee bit choppy
Lot of quotes from other writers
Have the song "You can't always get what you want" stuck in my head
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are the only one who becomes unhappy. All you have done is hurt yourself. If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead."
"You can't have everything, where would you put it?" by Stephen Wright
"You can move to a shack in the woods to get away from it all! But we'd miss you too much there. Please don't do that."
4 Dewey's
Got this from work after my yearly review in which I stated the only thing I really had to work at was stop avoiding the Self-Help section like the plague. After my Manager stopped laughing she suggested that I take a read of some of the more popular books in the section, Didn't have to review but you know I like to share
Kind of comforting to know that everyone has negative thoughts, even the most successful people as well. Appreciated his advice that its not wrong to have negative thoughts
Encouraged to exercise more as results from medical studies have shown that it helps fight depression (notice - doesn't cure it, you moron Tom Cruise -- sorry strongly dislike that jerk)
Very wise Buddha story - that I must keep remembering
Lots of humour
Practical wise advice
The best part is the advice to understand that Culture of Enough will make you happier than the Culture of More
Good reminder that I have already won the lottery - I have so much in my life to be grateful for - yup that's right, Jeff, Jacob, Jesse, Crush and Oreo (ok and Doctor Who)
The story hits hard about Mr Wilson. My dad retired and not very long after passed away. My dad was a man who loved his job, loved that he could help so many people and when he had to retire. It killed him. Miss you Daddy - say Hi to Mr. Wilson - you guys would totally get along me thinks
Must really think hard and make choices about the decisions I make every day. Really want to focus on the ones that mean most to me. Going to be spending the next little while getting rid of time wasters. I am a Mom, I need to focus on those decisions - not the other stuff. Sorry I will be removing a lot of my access
Just plain practical and sensible advice on making your happiness a priority
The Not So Good Stuff
A wee bit choppy
Lot of quotes from other writers
Have the song "You can't always get what you want" stuck in my head
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are the only one who becomes unhappy. All you have done is hurt yourself. If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead."
"You can't have everything, where would you put it?" by Stephen Wright
"You can move to a shack in the woods to get away from it all! But we'd miss you too much there. Please don't do that."
4 Dewey's
Got this from work after my yearly review in which I stated the only thing I really had to work at was stop avoiding the Self-Help section like the plague. After my Manager stopped laughing she suggested that I take a read of some of the more popular books in the section, Didn't have to review but you know I like to share
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I saw Neil Pasricha at The Art of Leadership in Vancouver in December 2019, and he is a passionate, funny speaker, one of those compelling personalities that will compel you to buy-in what they’re saying just through their sheer enthusiasm and exuberant delivery.
In book form the effect is muted, so it’s easier to sit back and ask yourself, “Is this really god advice?”
Of course, one of the things Pasricha writes about in the quest for happiness is to ignore advice. Except sometimes you can listen to it.
A lot of the book trades on this line of thinking—take what you need for you, discard the rest. Be true to yourself, above everything else, and a lot of the happiness that eludes you will fall into place on its own, or at least more readily than it would otherwise.
One of the things Paricha mentioned in his talk that he doesn’t really address in The Happiness Equation, is his view of smartphones. He describes them as “poison”, strongly urging everyone to drastically scale back how much—and for what reasons—they use them. This does tie in with one of the broad philosophies of the book—to be authentic, to not do things to curry favor or approval of others (“This post is sure to get lots of likes!”) but to just be yourself, flaws and all, because this is the foundation of being happy.
It makes sense, really. If you can’t accept who you are, how likely are you to be happy? Pasricha’s advice (which you can accept or reject as appropriate, of course) ranges from the simple (put your gym clothes within easy reach to make it more likely you’ll actually change and go to the gym) to things people would want to consider very carefully—like, how happy is your significant other? Are they dragging you down? Are you better off leaving them?
A lot of the rest of the tips are basically about shutting off access and focusing. He rightly points out that people are easily distracted and tend to multitask poorly. He encourages people to apportion the time to check things like email to a minimum, to “unplug” as much as possible, what some might see as a kind of digital detox. It’s actually pretty appealing, but I say this as someone who works in IT and has started to have had my fill of the same.
At times funny and sometimes a little awkward, there’s a lot to recommend in Pasricha’s approach to achieving happiness, even if some of his declarations are bound to surprise or even shock. He believes retirement is a bad thing and points out that it’s mostly a modern invention, and the argument is compelling. He isn’t suggesting 85 year olds should be working 40 hour weeks, but more that to stay happy, people need to keep doing things and feeling productive, no matter what this things may be.
I’ll revisit this book over time to see how some of its advice plays out. It’s not perfect and Pasricha openly encourages the reader to discard the things that won’t work for them, but there is enough here to at least shake things up a bit and see what happens.
In book form the effect is muted, so it’s easier to sit back and ask yourself, “Is this really god advice?”
Of course, one of the things Pasricha writes about in the quest for happiness is to ignore advice. Except sometimes you can listen to it.
A lot of the book trades on this line of thinking—take what you need for you, discard the rest. Be true to yourself, above everything else, and a lot of the happiness that eludes you will fall into place on its own, or at least more readily than it would otherwise.
One of the things Paricha mentioned in his talk that he doesn’t really address in The Happiness Equation, is his view of smartphones. He describes them as “poison”, strongly urging everyone to drastically scale back how much—and for what reasons—they use them. This does tie in with one of the broad philosophies of the book—to be authentic, to not do things to curry favor or approval of others (“This post is sure to get lots of likes!”) but to just be yourself, flaws and all, because this is the foundation of being happy.
It makes sense, really. If you can’t accept who you are, how likely are you to be happy? Pasricha’s advice (which you can accept or reject as appropriate, of course) ranges from the simple (put your gym clothes within easy reach to make it more likely you’ll actually change and go to the gym) to things people would want to consider very carefully—like, how happy is your significant other? Are they dragging you down? Are you better off leaving them?
A lot of the rest of the tips are basically about shutting off access and focusing. He rightly points out that people are easily distracted and tend to multitask poorly. He encourages people to apportion the time to check things like email to a minimum, to “unplug” as much as possible, what some might see as a kind of digital detox. It’s actually pretty appealing, but I say this as someone who works in IT and has started to have had my fill of the same.
At times funny and sometimes a little awkward, there’s a lot to recommend in Pasricha’s approach to achieving happiness, even if some of his declarations are bound to surprise or even shock. He believes retirement is a bad thing and points out that it’s mostly a modern invention, and the argument is compelling. He isn’t suggesting 85 year olds should be working 40 hour weeks, but more that to stay happy, people need to keep doing things and feeling productive, no matter what this things may be.
I’ll revisit this book over time to see how some of its advice plays out. It’s not perfect and Pasricha openly encourages the reader to discard the things that won’t work for them, but there is enough here to at least shake things up a bit and see what happens.
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book. Neil’s voice was clear, concise and humorous. He also shares good advice as to make you overall life better and happier.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Neil Pasricha has devoted many years and many pages to helping others find happiness. He is probably best known for his Book of Awesome, but now he is trying to approach happiness as an equation. I have read The Book of Awesome, which, to me, is a coffee table book, not meant to be consumed all in one seating like a novel but rather perused to bring a little dose of joy into your life at regular intervals or when you need it the most.
I liked the approach of this new book, The Happiness Equation, with its scribbles and sketches. It was cute, more like a conversation with graphics drawn on a napkin to illustrate the point. However, I would not find it to be the most mind-blowing of investigations. Most of what Neil points out is a retread. In fact, I would argue that a significant portion of this book is quoting others. Buddha said this. Newton said that. Richard Feynman points this out. Tom Hanks points that out. It's a game of he-said, she-said, at times, and that is a touch grating. I did like the anecdotes, but endlessly quoting others didn't really help me get anywhere. It just felt like padding.
The gist is as follows:
"Always remember there are only three goals.
To want nothing. That's contentment.
To do anything. That's freedom.
To have everything. That's happiness.
What are the nine secrets to get us there?
Be happy first.
Do it for you.
Remember the lottery.
Never retire.
Overvalue you.
Create space.
Just do it.
Be you.
Don't take advice."
I find it rather hilarious that the last piece of advice in this book is to not take advice, but nonetheless, it is probably good advice at that.
The other lessons throughout the book are ones we already know. I think the most interesting was to "do it for you". We already know we should aim for self-fulfillment, but the controlled studies of different groups and how their performance is affected by outside motivators, like money or fame or what have you, is fascinating. That is probably my favourite part.
As a minimalist, I was already on board with the lesson advising us to "create space" by streamlining and automating those decisions that don't matter but take forever. I'm also a big believer in "just do it" because the second-guessing is the killer. The cyclic nature of doing to create the self-confidence is obvious, but having it pointed out and illustrated is great. I appreciated that one a lot, too.
I suppose, by already being a fairly happy person, most of these lessons were already understood by me and that's why I didn't get quite so much out of the book. For someone who is looking to be perked up, this book is a great set of beginning resources, a course of action for you to follow, but, in the end, while I enjoyed reading it because of Pasricha's writing style, The Happiness Equation needed to dive a little deeper to discover a bit more.
I liked the approach of this new book, The Happiness Equation, with its scribbles and sketches. It was cute, more like a conversation with graphics drawn on a napkin to illustrate the point. However, I would not find it to be the most mind-blowing of investigations. Most of what Neil points out is a retread. In fact, I would argue that a significant portion of this book is quoting others. Buddha said this. Newton said that. Richard Feynman points this out. Tom Hanks points that out. It's a game of he-said, she-said, at times, and that is a touch grating. I did like the anecdotes, but endlessly quoting others didn't really help me get anywhere. It just felt like padding.
The gist is as follows:
"Always remember there are only three goals.
To want nothing. That's contentment.
To do anything. That's freedom.
To have everything. That's happiness.
What are the nine secrets to get us there?
Be happy first.
Do it for you.
Remember the lottery.
Never retire.
Overvalue you.
Create space.
Just do it.
Be you.
Don't take advice."
I find it rather hilarious that the last piece of advice in this book is to not take advice, but nonetheless, it is probably good advice at that.
The other lessons throughout the book are ones we already know. I think the most interesting was to "do it for you". We already know we should aim for self-fulfillment, but the controlled studies of different groups and how their performance is affected by outside motivators, like money or fame or what have you, is fascinating. That is probably my favourite part.
As a minimalist, I was already on board with the lesson advising us to "create space" by streamlining and automating those decisions that don't matter but take forever. I'm also a big believer in "just do it" because the second-guessing is the killer. The cyclic nature of doing to create the self-confidence is obvious, but having it pointed out and illustrated is great. I appreciated that one a lot, too.
I suppose, by already being a fairly happy person, most of these lessons were already understood by me and that's why I didn't get quite so much out of the book. For someone who is looking to be perked up, this book is a great set of beginning resources, a course of action for you to follow, but, in the end, while I enjoyed reading it because of Pasricha's writing style, The Happiness Equation needed to dive a little deeper to discover a bit more.
This book is unbearably boring. It doesn't have any advice that could be applied realistically. While some may have been benefitted by this book, it wasnt the case for me. I felt that the author just scratched the basic concepts of happiness and scrambled some very obvious advices. I skimmed through the whole book and didn't find anything in it that could be useful.