Book 2 Post 1

The Happiness Track: How To Apply The Science Of Happiness To Accelerate Your Success, By Emma Seppälä

“The Happiness Track” was a great read that provided insight into the idea of achieving success while maintaining and creating happiness and an overall state of well-being. The author, Emma Seppälä is a professor at Yale and Stanford, psychologist, research scientist, and has expertise in science of happiness, emotional intelligence, and social connection.

Divided into three main sections, the book addresses (and challenges) the direct or indirect relationship between happiness and success. It also speaks about the factors of success being concepts and feelings of gratitude, connection, compassion, and mindfulness. I enjoyed reading about Seppälä’s recommendations and tips for cultivating these factors in your daily life. She then explores the relationship between work and happiness and how finding meaningfulness and purpose in work, finding the positives in work culture, and resilience can help work create happiness in your own life. This part inspired me, especially since I am starting my career journey right now, and being purposeful and intentional with my decisions now is important.

One part of the book that I got a lot of was her description of “time affluence” and how it is necessary to have the time to do things you love in order to be happy. She describes that stress and burnout can be avoided primarily by prioritizing time affluence and how putting yourself and what you love first, setting practical boundaries around work and technology use, and practicing mindfulness can help you stay present and feel this concept of “time affluence” more in life.

She also explained a cultural rift of Americans vs East Asian cultures. In America, the culture suggests that we need to feel intense, happy emotions to feel successful. But Seppälä also highlights that Intense emotions, self-control, and negative thoughts can drain us all quickly of positive energy. So, it is important to remember that calmness and serenity are not “lazy”, but will actually end up energizing us.

Lastly, she draws on the importance of belief in determining how we can learn and grow. People who believe in themselves to develop strengths, improve at anything, and are emotionally resilient are able to have more confidence, happiness, and therefore, success.

Overall, this book was very positive and a very empowering read that inspired me to take some time to myself and really analyze what activities are purposeful for me and bring my both happiness and success (and redefining what success even means)