If any of you would have seen me a couple of years ago, you would have spotted me on the prowl of the self-help section of any bookstore. Now I won't even give it a second glance and it's because I came to the realization that other people saw it as lame. It's like openly admitting I'm pathetic and need some serious help. Even if that advice, for lack of a better word, is crap, which I must confess sometimes it is. But why should I feel guilty about this? I mean I'm just trying to improve myself, and if somebody has some golden nuggets of advice, well I'll take it with gratitude.
The title is pretty self explanatory; it's a 100 "secrets" to feel happier. As you can see I gave the book five stars, and it's not because it's a great masterpiece but it did what it set out to do. Give you 100 things to think over to make you happier, and even while I was reading it I felt twinges of gladness. Happiness can be elusive at best, but I'm guessing if you take account some of the things it says you would feel better.
My favorite secret was number 94, which stated that avid readers were happier. Well that's a wonderful excuse for me to keep up with my hobby isn't it? I know this may seem odd, but I want to be a person with an annoyingly bouncing gait and seem to radiate with joy. I do not want to be the emo person in the corner contemplating what else I can think of that sucks about my life. This book just might help me get that extra push I need to be the next annoying person you see and think what are they so happy about?
I don't know why I read these types of books, because they usually just leave me feeling annoyed rather than enlightened.
This book is full of simple, common sense suggestions. It includes groundbreaking advice such as get more sleep, eat more fruit, exercise, don't surround yourself with bad smells and be open to new ideas. Who would have thought incredibly obvious things would make me feel happier?
Actually, I want to rant about something small that was mentioned in this because this always rubs me the wrong way: stop telling people to never watch television ever because it will crush your soul and make you a uncreative robot, incapable of enjoying life. Yeah, you shouldn't watch it 24/7 but how about we all remain quiet and realize that television is a form of creativity? You know, there are writers, costume designers, actors, directors involved in about 99.9% of the shows you watch and I'm sure they'd be stoked to hear that their dreams and talents are actually the work of Satan. How about we support all kinds of creativity instead?
Also, screw this book - set big goals for yourself if you want to! Don't hold yourself back because you're worried your goals might be unrealistic. All you're doing is limiting yourself because you're worried failing will make you feel bad, but I'm pretty sure nobody would accomplish anything big if we're all too scared to set a big goal.
I personally think that this is a book that everyone should own. Whenever I feel a bit down, I go to this book and do one of the tips and it always makes me feel better. The information in this book is all backed up by research. It's interesting to look at their findings. I take this book with me wherever I go, because you never know when you need a little cheering up!
Concise and to the point, this book lists 100 simple ways to improve your life by increasing your level of happiness. Following each 'secret' you'll find the scientific research to back it up. But don't misread me here; the steps are really simple and easy to apply. Yet these are definitely not your run-of-the-mill, one person's opinion, made-up factoids. And that makes it a great read.
Some of my favorites include reading books and using aromatherapy. Obviously since I was reading that book, I was thrilled to know I was making myself happy, which was a given. To read that, statistically, people who read books not only increase their imagination and entertainment levels, but that they are 8 percent happier than people who don't read was a plus. Just some reinforcement there.
And the use of aromatherapy is something I might've considered, but reading the scientific proof that happy scents make happy people and vice versa was enlightening.
Out of the 100 simple techniques, about 90 of them are simple changes anyone can make on a daily basis; approximately 5 are life choices that are not so simple and would take some effort; and 5 or so were a bit vague but then again maybe I was a bit tired when reading them. All in all, I would suggest reading this and may even read it again just to reinforce some of the ideas.
I really liked the format of this book. It was easy to read and digest. Full of great tips, suggestions, and studies. I finished this book feeling very optimistic! I think this is a book everyone can benefit from reading! 馃榿
Happiness. It鈥檚 what people say they want more than anything else in life. The single most important idea I carried away from this book was that most of people鈥檚 happiness comes from having relationships with other people.
Based on research, Niven has collected one hundred ways to be happy. Or at least happier.
All the hating on TV was particularly grating, especially the whole bit about TV only offering one simplistic plotline while books apparently expose you to millions of creative trains of thought. Bitch please, and I say that as someone who loves reading.
I enjoy reading about happiness. This book had 100 topics. Each topic was discussed on 1-2 pages, starting with the topic, then a story to illustrate the topic and then a snippet of what science has to say. It just didn't click for me. The stories didn't always feel connected to the topic and I really didn't get much out of the science snippets.
I highly recommend this book if you're clinically depressed, or just depressed a lot of times. It's a great self help book for beginners with short chapters. Simple and easy to understand but also very useful. Some of the topics will resonate with you and some won't. Also a lot of these topics may come off as common sense but then again maybe not to some people. A lot of the reviews of this book people are extremely critical when in my opinion it's supposed to be more lighthearted than the way they are taking. You don't have to follow any of the things he mentions if you don't want to. Like I know I'm going to have a hard time turning off my tv lol 馃槶 but that's okay because there were some topics in here that really spoke out to me and I'm happy with that.
100 Secrets of Happy People by David Niven Fabulous read
For some time now I have been fascinated by positive psychology and all those secrets that are revealed to whoever wants to know them. In fact, when I first Stumbled upon Happiness- a masterpiece by Daniel Gilbert- I thought that the rules should become public policy. With a friend, we even tried to talk a senator into promoting this idea in the legislature somehow, only to realize how utopic that was. He said to us in about twenty seconds- - Very interesting, thank you, good bye now I still think that the day will come when ads on TV, on public safety issues, will not resume to: "drink 2 liters of water and exercise 30 minutes per day", which is not just fine, exercise is proved to boost your subjective wellbeing. One day, we will see rules like these 100 secrets promoted on prime time and you will be instructed about the importance of Gratitude, to give just one example. The 100 Secrets of Happy People range from the obvious - Believe in yourself - Volunteer - Busy is better than bored And then we have some secrets, which seem a bit hard to comprehend and, indeed see what their relevance is in the world of today - Learn to use a computer - Try to think less about people and things that bother you Some rules are to be found in the extensive literature that fell into my hands over the past years and experts from Tal Ben Shahar to Sonja Lyubomirsky advocate them - Enjoy (or be grateful in other books for) what you have - Make your work a calling (or choose a job for which you have a calling as suggested by Ben Shahar) - Be positive, join a group, smile, do things you are good at, listen to music, reminisce - Surround yourself with pleasant aromas- this one I particularly like, even if I wonder if good smelling pipe tobacco fits the description - Keep reading - Have a purpose /or meaning The last reminds me of the formula advanced by the father/founder of positive psychology- Martin Seligman - PERMA - In which we have Positive emotions, Engagement or Flow, Positive Relationships, Meaning and Achievement There are some controversial points- in this book, one of the secrets is that money does not buy happiness. Although it sounds like and I guess it is a proverb (proverbs which one of our sages- Nicolae Noica has said that do not express the truth) money are a disputed issue, for they do have an impact on happiness. People who are dirt poor, homeless have a very low subjective wellbeing and it seems that we need a comfortable income in order to talk about happiness, somewhere around $ 4,000 in the USA, if I am not mistaken. There are other themes that are familiar from other books, like The Pursuit of Perfect by the aforementioned Ben Shahar One rule here says that Complete Satisfaction Does Not exist and studies have shown that maximizers are less happy than satisfizers, aka people who want perfection versus those who are satisfied with very good. There is a lot of common sense- Keep Your Family Close- indeed, family and friends are among the most important elements of happiness. Laugh, socialize, share with others, pay attention, you may have what you want, age is not important, turn off the TV. Some may put you off and make you say, blah this is d茅j脿 vu. But I simply loved it, when 20 -30 rules proved to be rituals that I already abide by and I will refer to the Wise Ben Shahar- you need to transform into rituals habits that are good, or necessary for you- like exercise, for instance. I loved this book
Book title: The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It
Personal Response I enjoyed this book because it gets very detailed when discussing the subject of happiness. The title isn't just for show, the book gives one-hundred genuine ways to improve one's happiness. The book doesn't give generic answers either, many of the simple secrets are actually thought-provoking.
Summary Throughout the book, Dr. Niven informs the reader of a list of research found by scientists and academics, that can help increase a person's happiness. Dr. Niven takes these important studies and translates them into easily understood advice. He tells you one of the helpful practices and then explains the science behind it.
Recommendations I would recommend this book to anyone who often finds themselves feeling down. There are several chapters that can help with nearly any mood you may have at the time. Although some chapters can seem a bit cheesy at times, they usually go into enough detail to justify themselves.
Changes in Character Because this book does not revolve around any specific characters, the characterization can instead by applied to the reader. While reading this book you will learn many ways to improve your mood and become a happier person more often. There were several times were I would not be the peppiest while reading this book, but after a few chapters, I was soon able to dissect what was upsetting me and then avoid it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I could not have chosen this book at a better time. I am aging not so gracefully, bummed out about the latest job fail, and wondering how I could bring more joy into my life. This book provided so many tips. Many I do. Others I had forgotten, and some I had never considered. I am in the process of making many life changes, and plan to incorporate as many of these secrets as possible. In fact, I read most of this book while waiting for an unexpected tire change. I was not happy, as I am between jobs, and this tire had been fixed several times already. But as I read this book online via my library's website through my Ipad and compliments of free wireless from NTB Tire, I felt myself relax, and really get into this book. When I finished, I felt differently, and realized that I could not control situations, but how I handled them. Plus, getting back into reading real books versus clips of fast food Internet information has felt really good. I plan to keep up the habit of reading books more often. This book is a good read, whether you are searching for ways to be happy, or just want to tweak the wonderful life you already have. Be warned; you will not want to put down the book before the end.
I basically read this entire book during one commute (it was a long commute involving an unauthorized person on the tracks). The author digests a mountain of academic papers about happiness into 1-2 page anecdotes and guidelines about the kinds of activities and habits of mind that make people happy. I suppose I鈥檓 an essentially happy person because most of the things he says seem supremely obvious to me, even if I鈥檓 only 95% successful at doing them. (But I don鈥檛 beat myself up about being only 95% successful, because that would make me unhappy.)
If the author enjoys writing readable summaries of papers, I have a stack of articles on information retrieval, machine learning, information-seeking behavior, and text categorization that I can send him at any time.
I picked this up because a friend had read it and it was available at the library, so it met my expectations mostly because they were very moderate. Note that it was published in 2000, so a lot of the source material may be out of date.
I think it's fascinating that there are psychologists now who are studying happiness. It is neat that they are looking into what healthy people are doing right instead of what unhealthy people are doing wrong.
However -- I thought this book was a bit fluff. It seems like they took a list of the 100 most common traits of happy people, added some statistics and then wrote some little fluffy paragraphs to go with each one.
I liked the list and the statistics, but the little stories weren't so inspiring and they weren't that great. My recommendation: Get this book at the library, and copy the 100 things and maybe some of the statistics. Don't bother with the "Chicken Soup" wanna-be stories.
I like this book, mostly. Mr. Niven gives short snippets of actions that can lead to happiness, followed by a short example of somebody who did or didn't take that action (and the positive or negative consequences that arose), followed finally by a result of a study showing how taking these actions is generally better than not doing so. One concern: It seems that some of the suggestions are very similar to others, and probably could have been combined. Perhaps you could say there are differences, but were they so significant that they had to be in separate categories, or did Mr. Niven split hairs in order to have 100 secrets? All in all, a helpful book that I'd recommend for somebody seeking quick but powerful helps.
I am intrigued by happiness and the many ways people try and find it, an interest left over from a college course I took called Happiness and the Good Life. This was a small book with a bit of a hokey premise, though it is full of good advice. The chapters were short (about 2 pages each), so they were easy to read but I think I would have preferred a more in-depth look at each of the "secrets" and why they work. Still, I found it interesting.
It was one of good self-help books I've ever read. You may apply in your everyday life. The author made good summaries from academic journals. The book is surely readable and interesting though there might be nothing novel. Common sense based. However, the thing is we easily forget such a way to human's well-being. The book may remind me of something important in life. But just a self-help book. Nothing serious but good.
Privalumas (+): Kr奴vos mokslini懦 tyrim懦 apie laim臋 ir laimingum膮! Tr奴kumai (-): Tyrimai 17+ met懦 senumo (naujausias 1999, vidutiniai apie 1995). Didel臈 dalis tyrim懦 kartojasi. 艩iaip sura拧yta taip, kad atrodo lyg nemokamas pamfeltas, dalinamas prenumeruojant tinklara拧膷ius. ...Labai gali b奴ti, kad prad啪ioje tai ir buvo tai.
Tyrimai - smagu, bet jie velni拧kai seni, o ra拧ymo kokyb臈 prasta. :'(
This book lists 100 different ways that some people have a better life. Since most of the ways listed are the way you think about the good and bad in your life, this list is more a nose-thumbing to those folks that aren't wired that way.
Como a leitora Adalira Morningstar escreveu h谩 dois anos, 茅 um livro de auto-ajuda que... n茫o ajuda. Serviu-me para exercitar a l铆ngua, aprender vocabul谩rio. N茫o tinha outros livros faceis para ler neste momento. Uma estrela para o portugu锚s usado, outra para o que merece o livro pr贸prio.