Happiness For Dummies

Now, you can find the happiness you want and live “the good life” you deserve by applying the helpful information in Happiness For Dummies, the ultimate guide to achieving bliss! You’ll discover proven techniques for living a meaningful, healthy, and productive life no matter what your life circumstances happen to be. Positive concepts and techniques will help you change key behaviors, foster good habits, and be in sync with your surroundings.

This helpful guide will give you the chance to assess your happiness and understand what it means to be happy at each stage of self-actualization. You’ll learn why having positive emotions can improve your health and well-being. And, you will find out what happiness isn’t and how to avoid confusing happiness with culturally valued outcomes like wealth, power, and success. Pursue what you want, seize the day, find benefits in life’s challenges, and live a coherent lifestyle. Find out how to:

• Assess your current capacity for happiness
• Live the life that you want
• Overcome common obstacles to happiness
• Identify your strengths and virtues
• Improve your emotional and spiritual life
• Create meaningful social ties and learn to be alone
• Find the silver lining

Complete with lists of ten ways to raise a happy child, ten common roadblocks to happiness, and ten personal habits to foster happiness, Happiness For Dummies is your one-stop, easy-to-follow guide to being happy and living your best life.

Introduction 1

Part I: Defining Happiness 9

Chapter 1: Anyone Can Be Happy 11

Chapter 2: The Recipe for Happiness 27

Chapter 3: Knowing What Happiness Isn’t 39

Chapter 4: Seeing Happiness as a Sign, Not a Symptom 49

Part II: Personality Attributes That Lead to Happiness 59

Chapter 5: Optimism 61

Chapter 6: Hardiness 73

Chapter 7: Conscientiousness 87

Part III: Behaving Your Way toward Happiness 97

Chapter 8: Getting into Flow 99

Chapter 9: Finding Benefit in Life’s Challenges 113

Chapter 10: Living a Coherent Lifestyle 125

Chapter 11: Making a Daily Confession 137

Chapter 12: Putting On a Happy Face 147

Part IV: Striking the Right Balance 159

Chapter 13: Hassles versus Uplifts 161

Chapter 14: Structure versus Freedom 171

Chapter 15: Work versus Play 183

Chapter 16: Socialization versus Solitude 197

Chapter 17: Selfishness versus Generosity 207

Part V: Achieving Happiness in Key Relationships 217

Chapter 18: At Work 219

Chapter 19: At Home 239

Chapter 20: In Intimate Relationships 251

Part VI: The Part of Tens 265

Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Raise a Happy Child 267

Chapter 22: Ten Roadblocks to Happiness 279

Chapter 23: Ten Things You Can Do Today to Foster Happiness in Your Life 289

Chapter 24: Ten Thoughts That Lead to Happiness 299

Appendix: Resources 307

Index 313

W. Doyle Gentry, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, a distinguished Fellow in the American Psychological Association, and the Founding Editor of the Journal of Behavioral Medicine. Tips for balancing work and play

Find the happiness you want and live "the good life" you deserve!

Give yourself the gift of happiness! This friendly, upbeat guide gives you proven techniques for living a more meaningful, healthy, and productive life and truly becoming a happier person. No matter your current circumstances, you'll find positive concepts and techniques to help you change key behaviors—and foster the good habits that will bring you the happiness you seek!

Discover how to:

• Overcome common obstacles to happiness

• Identify your strengths and virtues

• Improve your emotional and spiritual life

• Achieve happiness in your relationships

• Always find the silver lining