Book Review: The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

We often think that success will be the thing that brings us happiness. That next promotion, that next pay raise, that next career change, or climbing up to that next spot in the corporate ladder will lead to happiness. But there are several flaws with this theory that has been burned into our brains by society for our whole lives. For one, that’s not how happiness works. The old adage “Happiness is not a destination, it’s a journey” rings very true. The theory of hedonistic adaptation states that we will always adapt to our current situation and that becomes the new norm. Meaning that whenever we reach for something and eventually get it, it will eventually become the new norm and we will always strive for the new thing that we think will bring us happiness. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t be ambitious and set goals or even set out to achieve and acquire the things we want in life, but to base our whole sense of happiness on that formula alone is a recipe for misery. The second issue with this theory is that many studies have shown that in fact the inverse of this formula is scientifically proven to be far more of a potent way of becoming happier and more successful. Happiness leads to success, not the other way around.

Enter Shawn Achor and his book The Happiness Advantage. In his most popular work, psychologist Shawn Achor who studied the effects of positive psychology on stressed out Harvard students shows us through dozens of clinical psychological trials and studies that in fact happiness is a far better indicator of success than most anything else. He argues that those who are primed for happiness are more likely to find and capitalize on more opportunities than those who are working themselves to death trying to reach what they think will make them happier. And if you’re thinking to yourself “great. I’m a miserable f*ck, guess I’ll also be a loser too since I’ll never be happy”, Shawn’s got you covered. He breaks down the Happiness Advantage and how to obtain it into 7 different principles:

1. The Happiness Advantage

This is the theory that happiness is the cause of success, not the result. That as we live our lives in a way that makes up happier, success is something that comes naturally as we are able to see and capitalize on more opportunities.

2. The Fulcrum and the Lever

This is the idea that we can’t always change everything about a situation but instead of focusing on the hopelessness of the things we can’t change, we can empower ourselves to focus and capitalize on the things we can.

3. The Tetris Effect

Based on a study done where students were forced to play tetris for several hours strait and began seeing tetris blocks everywhere, the tetris effect refers to the way that our brains see and fixate on things. Hence as we train ourselves to be grateful and see the positive, the more primed our brains become to see it naturally and the happier we become.

4. Falling up

This idea is about seeing failure as opportunities and how some companies even celebrate their failures and down profit periods. The more we see failure as opportunities, the less afraid of failure we become and the more we eventually succeed.

5. The Zoro Circle

Based on the fictional character Zoro and the way he trained standing in small circles before he moved on to higher levels of training, the idea of the Zoro Cirlces is that in order to build habits and do the things we want to do.

6. The 20-Second Rule

This Rule states that in order to change our habits, we need to subtract the friction it takes to build good habits and add friction to stop the bad habits we want to change. The idea is that adding or subtracting 20 seconds or reducing the “activation time” of a task will make us more or less likely to perform that task.

7. Social Investment

Probably the most important of the 7 principles is that of social investment. One of the most common traits of the world’s most successful people is their strong and positive social circles. This principle is about investing time and energy into those around you and how that not only benefits you but also those around you so you can build happiness and grow together.

What I loved

Ultimately, this book’s message is incredibly simple yet powerful which is what makes the book very charming. Achor’s writing style keeps things simple and easy to follow which makes this a book for just about anyone. The message is one that makes complete sense and even if you’re a skeptic, Shawn’s got you covered there too with dozens of scientifically backed studies that will compel just about anyone (he also cites all sources of those trials and studies at the end). It is evident both scientifically and practically that following these principles and the ideas outlined here by Achor will lead anyone to the life they truly want. It is also a supremely important book for anyone in management as this deck is largely a management book in disguise and has real practical advice and principles for managing anyone

What I didn’t love

There was not much to dislike about this book. One of my only critiques was that I wished there was a little more of the actionable steps to take in each of the sections of the 7 principles. Would love to have had more ways to take the advice into everyday life but the actions he does offer are solid. Related to the first, the book is also fairly short at roughly 210 pages. This is not necessarily a bad thing and actually adds to the digestibility of the book. This however may have been the trade off in not having more actionable steps in each chapter. I think this trade off is ultimately a reasonable one and doesn’t change my feelings about the book much at all.

Wrap Up

One part habit change book, one part philosophy text, one part research study, and one part management training manual, this book is simple to digest but has many layers to it as well. The philosophies in this book are easily the best wire frames to build a happy and successful life around and the studies used to back up the 7 principles solidify their effectiveness. I wholeheartedly believe in the ideas and advice presented in this book and can easily recommend it to anyone especially if you’re someone who feels trapped in the race to success or feel worn out by the rat race. I have already begun incorporating these ideas into my own life and it’s made a noticeable difference already. At a short read too, this book is accessible to easy to read for just about anyone.