Comments on: Review: Stumbling on Happiness

By: Mitchell Up In Canada

Mitchell Up In Canada — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:00:03 +0000

The big things I got out of this book were:

A. The human mind is fickle so take your memories of past experiences and projections of future experiences vis-a-vis happiness with a grain of salt.

B. Our perceptions of happiness in the moment are the gold standard for assessing if an experience is good or bad vis-a-vis happiness.

C. So the most effective thing you can do to improve your chances of future happiness is to find people who are currently experiencing what you are contemplating experiencing and ask them how happy they are right now (i.e. in the moment) and why.

D. Asking why is important so you can leverage their insights to avoid any pitfalls and maximize any benefits they’re experiencing.

Another interesting happiness book is ‘What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better’ by Dan Baker. I enjoyed this book because it weaved stories of his patients together with the scientific insights and did so in a way that provides realistic examples of change for the better and gives hope for the future.

I learn valuable things from your posts. Thanks.
Mitchell Up In Canada

By: robtwister

robtwister — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:26:32 +0000

This was the first book I read this year, and I enjoyed it a lot. While entertaining and filled with insights, I felt it kind of lacking towards the end. I was waiting for a punchline – something to wrap things up neatly, but Dan Gilbert doesn’t provide one. This book is more like a good cup of coffee designed to wake you up and stimulate you to think a bit differently.

If you’re looking for a related book on happiness that gives more explanations and answers, check out ‘The Science of Happiness’ by Stefan Klein. It’s one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. Another good one is ‘Learned Optimism’ by Martin Seligman which analyzes why some people are wired for happiness more than others.

By: KEVIN

KEVIN — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:03:16 +0000

Another book on happiness is Dennis Prager’s
“Happiness Is a Serious Problem.”
It’s short, to the point, and I liked it. Like most books, not perfect, but that’s okay. It’s good to keep the conversation going.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:44:34 +0000

I requested this book about a month ago from the library and my turn is coming up soon. I’m definitely looking forward to reading it and even more so after reading your review. For me, understanding what affects my happiness is an important step in goal planning and therefore in financial planning as well.

By: Marina @ Sufficient Thrust

Marina @ Sufficient Thrust — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:49:19 +0000

“Stumbling On Happiness” was my “purse book” (the one to read when you’re at a red light, in a waiting room, in line, etc.) for a couple of months. He repeats a lot of the same examples, which would have annoyed me if I read it in one sitting, but worked well when reading little chunks across a longer period of time.

It didn’t offer any groundbreaking insights, but like motivation (”Motivation is like showering — recommended daily”), it positively reinforced a few principles in my life. Namely, that you can be happy and satisfied in many situations that you didn’t *think* you’d be all that happy or satisfied in. I thought, at base, the book encouraged taking risks and exploring outside your comfort zone, offering the support that we’re often a lot less happy with what we *think* we want and a lot more happy with things we didn’t think we wanted at all.