Book picks similar to
Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
psychology
personal-development
non-fiction
productivity
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work
Shawn Achor - 2010
If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe. In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work. Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. Among the principles he outlines: • The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—and seize—opportunities wherever we look. • The Zorro Circle: how to channel our efforts on small, manageable goals, to gain the leverage to gradually conquer bigger and bigger ones. • Social Investment: how to reap the dividends of investing in one of the greatest predictors of success and happiness—our social support network A must-read for everyone trying to excel in a world of increasing workloads, stress, and negativity, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to reap the benefits of a happier and more positive mind-set to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.From the Hardcover edition.
59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot
Richard Wiseman - 2009
From mood to memory, persuasion to procrastination, and resilience to relationships, Wiseman outlines the research supporting this new science of rapid change, and describes how these quick and quirky techniques can be incorporated into everyday life. Think a little, change a lot."Discover why even thinking about going to the gym can help you keep in shape ""Learn how pot plants make you more creative ""Find out why putting a pencil between your teeth instantly makes you happier "" "'At last, a self-help guide that is based on proper research. Perfect for busy, curious, smart people' Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Last Theorem'A triumph of scientifically proven advice over misleading myths of self-help. Challenging, uplifting and long overdue' Derren Brown
The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness
Todd Rose - 2016
We’re a little taller or shorter than the average, our salary is a bit higher or lower than the average, and we wonder about who it is that is buying the average-priced home. All around us, we think, are the average people—with the average height, the average salary and the average house.But the average doesn’t just influence how we see ourselves—our entire social system has been built around this average-size-fits-all model. Schools are designed for the average student. Healthcare is designed for the average patient. Employers try to fill average job descriptions with employees on an average career trajectory. Our government implements programs and initiatives to serve the average person. For more than a century, we’ve believed that the best way to run our institutions is by focusing on the average person. But when you actually drill down into the numbers, you find an amazing fact: no one is average—which means that our society built for everyone is actually serving no one.In the 1950s, the American Air Force found itself with a massive problem—performance in expensive, custom-made planes was suffering terribly, with crashes peaking at seventeen in a single day. Since the state-of-the-art planes they were flying had been meticulously crafted to fit the average pilot, pilot error was assumed to be at fault. Until, that is, the Air Force investigated just how many of their pilots were actually average. The shocking answer: out of thousands of active-duty pilots, exactly zero were average. Not one. This discovery led to simple solutions (like adjustable seats) that dramatically reduced accidents, improved performance, and expanded the pool of potential pilots. It also led to a huge change in thinking: planes didn’t need to be designed for everyone—they needed to be designed so they could adapt to suit the individual flying them.The End of Average shows how success lies in customizing to our individual needs in all aspects of our lives, from the way we mark tests to the medical treatment we receive. Using principles from The Science of the Individual, it shows how we can break down the average to create individualized success that benefits everyone in the long run. It's time we stopped settling for average, and in The End of Average, Todd Rose will show you how.
Remember It!: The Names of People You Meet, All of Your Passwords, Where You Left Your Keys, and Everything Else You Tend to Forget
Nelson Dellis - 2018
So he decided to write a book that is approachable and fun, centered on what people actually need to remember. In Remember It!, Dellis teaches us how to make the most of our memory, using his competition-winning techniques. Presenting the information in a user-friendly way, Dellis offers bite-size chapters, addressing things we wish we could remember but often forget: names, grocery lists, phone numbers, where you left your keys—you name it! This fast-paced, highly illustrated tour of the inner workings of the brain makes improving your memory simple and fun.
The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity
Phil Stutz - 2012
Feel Better In 5: Your Daily Plan to Feel Great for Life
Rangan Chatterjee - 2019
For good.Feel Better in 5 is the first daily 5-minute plan that is easy to maintain, easy-to-follow and requires only the smallest amount of willpower.Top tips include:· A strength workout that you can do anywhere· Gut-boosting snacks you can eat on the go · Yoga moves to relax and stay supple · Breathing exercises to calm the mindDrawing on Dr Rangan Chatterjee's twenty years of experience and real-life case studies from his GP practice, Feel Better in 5 is your daily plan for a happier, healthier you at no extra cost.
Perform Under Pressure
Ceri Evans - 2020
Targeting the moments when you are most stressed and uncomfortable, Dr Ceri Evans' red-blue mind model converts his clinical insights into a simple approach that will help you gain emotional control when you need it most.If you want to be better at what you do, pressure is unavoidable. This book will help you feel comfortable being uncomfortable, overcome mental obstacles and unlock your true potential.'We all feel pressure. Ceri just makes it easy to understand so you can deal with it.'STEVE HANSEN, All Blacks coach'Performing under pressure is the platform for a successful career. Ceri helped me clear my mind, focus on decisive matters and strengthen my vision for the team.'ARSENE WENGER, manager, Arsenal FC, 1996-2018
The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World
Adam Gazzaley - 2016
We pride ourselves on our ability to multitask--read work email, reply to a text, check Facebook, watch a video clip. Talk on the phone, send a text, drive a car. Enjoy family dinner with a glowing smartphone next to our plates. We can do it all, 24/7! Never mind the errors in the email, the near-miss on the road, and the unheard conversation at the table. In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen--a neuroscientist and a psychologist--explain why our brains aren't built for multitasking, and suggest better ways to live in a high-tech world without giving up our modern technology.The authors explain that our brains are limited in their ability to pay attention. We don't really multitask but rather switch rapidly between tasks. Distractions and interruptions, often technology-related--referred to by the authors as "interference"--collide with our goal-setting abilities. We want to finish this paper/spreadsheet/sentence, but our phone signals an incoming message and we drop everything. Even without an alert, we decide that we "must" check in on social media immediately.Gazzaley and Rosen offer practical strategies, backed by science, to fight distraction. We can change our brains with meditation, video games, and physical exercise; we can change our behavior by planning our accessibility and recognizing our anxiety about being out of touch even briefly. They don't suggest that we give up our devices, but that we use them in a more balanced way.
Live Life Aggressively!: What Self Help Gurus Should Be Telling You
Mike Mahler - 2011
This book is a slap in the face! It will force the reader out of his or her comfort zone, and will move the reader to remember what he or she needs to know to move forward with purpose. It is about taking charge of your life, and striving for greatness, rather than accepting mediocrity, or a life of quiet desperation. This is what it means to live life aggressively! It means to live with strong purpose and resolve. This book covers areas that few have the courage to talk about, and that is the problem. It is the white elephant in the room that everyone wants to ignore. Instead of confronting this problem, most people waste time watching nonsense like reality television and texting all day long. Self-help books are so focused on making you feel good about yourself, that they fail to help you be honest with yourself. Without brutal honesty you will never move forward. Without a strong sense of purpose, and passion, you will never persevere through the inevitable plethora of hard times that are coming your way in life. People need to accept that they will suffer in order to lead a fulfilling life and that the suffering should be embraced rather than avoided. Embrace the suffering and avoid procrastination the true destroyer of hopes and dreams. This book's focus is to induce real/lasting change and that comes as result of being aggressively honest with yourself, using pressure to your advantage, running toward risk rather than away from it and having a clear vision of what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice to get it. Some of the unique topics covered in this book include: the importance of hormone optimization for well-being and achieving goals, why the real battles in life are within, the necessity of negative thinking, what really makes people happy, and why people should avoid being attached to the results of actions. 50% of profit from book sales will be going to two fantastic organizations. Lifequest Transitions a great organization that helps wounded warriors and the Nevada SCPA an excellent organization that helps abandoned animals find new homes.
Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life
Anne Bogel - 2020
Nobody wants to live a life of constant overthinking, but it doesn't feel like something we can choose to stop doing. It feels like something we're wired to do, something we just can't escape. But is it?Anne Bogel's answer is no. Not only can you overcome negative thought patterns that are repetitive, unhealthy, and unhelpful, you can replace them with positive thought patterns that will bring more peace, joy, and love into your life. In Don't Overthink It, you'll find actionable strategies that can make an immediate and lasting difference in how you deal with questions both small--Should I buy these flowers?--and large--What am I doing with my life? More than a book about making good decisions, Don't Overthink It offers you a framework for making choices you'll be comfortable with, using an appropriate amount of energy, freeing you to focus on all the other stuff that matters in life.
Stumbling on Happiness
Daniel Todd Gilbert - 2006
Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Joseph Murphy - 1963
It is one of the most brilliant and beloved spiritual self-help works of all time which can help you heal yourself, banish your fears, sleep better, enjoy better relationships and just feel happier. The techniques are simple and results come quickly. You can improve your relationships, your finances, your physical well-being.Dr. Joseph Murphy explains that life events are actually the result of the workings of your conscious and subconscious minds. He suggests practical techniques through which one can change one's destiny, principally by focusing and redirecting this miraculous energy. Years of research studying the world's major religions convinced him that some Great Power lay behind all spiritual life and that this power is within each of us.The Power of Your Subconscious Mind will open a world of success, happiness, prosperity, and peace for you.
The Underdog Advantage - Rewrite Your Future By Turning Your Disadvantages Into Your Superpowers
Dean Graziosi
Do things look good on the outside but on the inside, you feel like a prisoner trapped in mediocrity? Or maybe you feel like you missed your chance, or you can’t find your starting point and no matter what you do, nothing moves you forward? You’re the underdog—dismissed, counted out, lacking the right resources and unsupported. This book changes all that by taking you on a journey and showing you what successful "Underdogs" throughout time have already discovered. Your so called disadvantaged are the fuel and the hidden superpower to accomplish anything you know the secret on how to flip the success switch on in your life... This Book will show you that as an underdog (Something we all are) you’re actually in a great position, and with one or two small shifts, you can unlock limitless potential. Being an underdog means you don’t have to worry about what other people think, you have a lot of room to improve, you can get easy momentum, you can sneak up on competitors, and you have incredible sources of motivation. Soon you will learn that being an underdog is actually your ultimate unfair advantage to next level wealth, prosperity, happiness and joy...
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Charles Duhigg - 2012
Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.They succeeded by transforming habits.In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.