Book Review: Happiness at Work

Don't be mislead by the book, this has much less to do with being happy at work as it does being happy with your life both on and off the job. Written by business school professor Dr. Srikumar Rao, the overarching message is that we can learn to create joy no matter what else may be going on around us. One does this by looking at things differently than we have conditioned to do so. Dr. Rao provides the example of being cut off while driving. The natural reaction is to experience mild (to not so mild) anger at the rude driver. However let's say you somehow were aware that the person who cut you off was rushing to the hospital to see their dying son. Would you still be upset at them? Of course not. Thus the knowledge of the motives behind the errant driver was enough to modify whether or not you felt anger. While it's impossible to always know the true motivations of people who cross us, it is not hard to incorporate the possibility that there is a reason that you have been "wronged" (in whatever the situation is) and this is often enough to change your reaction. This is what the author means when he says that one can improve their happiness by simply approaching events differently.

Another core concept of the author is to stop labeling things -- good or bad. Most people unconsciously grade almost ever event that happens in their life as either good or bad. Dr. Rao believes that this action is unnecessary and harmful to one's state of mind. Instead of evaluating events he recommends just noting them in a non-judgmental way. While this might seem odd, after reading the book's many examples of what he means you'll likely come to the conclusion that a tremendous amount of effort is wasted and angst is created through this good/bad process and how liberating it is to reduce it. Surprisingly by looking at more things as neutral one can increase their personal happiness.

"Happiness at Work" consists of short, easy-to-read chapters -- each with a central message. Many people will choose to read a chapter a day and then work to apply these lessons in their own life. One of my favorite lessons of the book involved looking back ten years ago at what your major concerns were of the time and what things you felt would bring you happiness. Now fast forward to today, how important were those things and what happened to those problems? Try it and you'll likely see that both problems and goals are overweighted. Now think about what things are weighing you down today. Are they really that big of a deal? Will you even remember them in ten years? Do they really merit the level of stress they are causing you today?

Amazon link:Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated, and Successful - No Matter What