Happiness by Design
Finding Pleasure and Purpose in Everyday Life
Published on 28. August 2014
208 pages
978-0-241-00311-4 (ISBN)
Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Few books change one's life; in 48 hours this has improved mine' Jenni Russell, Sunday Times
How can we make it easier to be happy? Using the latest cutting-edge research, Professor Paul Dolan reveals that wellbeing isn't about how we think - it's about what we do. By making deliberate choices that bring us both pleasure and meaning, we can redesign our lives for maximum happiness - without thinking too hard about it.
'Outstanding, cutting-edge, and profound. If you're going to read one book on happiness, this is the one' Nassim Nicholas Taleb
'Bold and original ... what I wish for my grandchildren: a life that is rich in activities both pleasurable and meaningful' Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow
'Few books change one's life; in 48 hours this has improved mine' Jenni Russell, Sunday Times
How can we make it easier to be happy? Using the latest cutting-edge research, Professor Paul Dolan reveals that wellbeing isn't about how we think - it's about what we do. By making deliberate choices that bring us both pleasure and meaning, we can redesign our lives for maximum happiness - without thinking too hard about it.
'Outstanding, cutting-edge, and profound. If you're going to read one book on happiness, this is the one' Nassim Nicholas Taleb
'Bold and original ... what I wish for my grandchildren: a life that is rich in activities both pleasurable and meaningful' Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow
Reviews / Votes
For Dolan, purpose and pleasure are both basic constituents of happiness. This is a bold and original move ... Among the imperfect definitions of happiness, the pleasure-purpose concept that Dolan offers is, I believe, a strong contender. It is a good description of what I wish for my grandchildren: a life that is rich in activities that are both pleasurable and meaningful. Paul Dolan is an inveterate optimist who has overcome many obstacles on his way to becoming an internationally recognized expert on well-being. The optimism shows on every page of this book. In particular, Paul is optimistic about you, his reader. He believes that you can make your life both pleasurable and meaningful with deliberate choices, about the environment you create for yourself and about the aspects of life that deserve your attention. He offers a great deal of sound advice on how to make these choices and how to follow through with them -- Daniel Kahneman, Nobel LaureateMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
File size
2,10 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-241-00311-4 (9780241003114)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2015
Penguin Books Ltd
€16.50
Available immediately
Person
Paul Dolan is Professor of Behavioural Science at the LSE. During his time as a visiting scholar at Princeton, he worked closely with Daniel Kahneman who calls him 'a star'. Dolan focuses on developing measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can be used by policymakers and by individuals looking to be happier.
Among various other roles, he is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences Panel on measuring national well-being, a member of the National Wellbeing Advisory Forum for the Office for National Statistics in the UK, and is Chief Academic Advisor to the UK Government on how policymakers should value the impact of goods that are hard to measure, like health and education. His debut, Happiness by Design, was a Sunday Times bestseller and Waterstones non-fiction book of the month.
Among various other roles, he is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences Panel on measuring national well-being, a member of the National Wellbeing Advisory Forum for the Office for National Statistics in the UK, and is Chief Academic Advisor to the UK Government on how policymakers should value the impact of goods that are hard to measure, like health and education. His debut, Happiness by Design, was a Sunday Times bestseller and Waterstones non-fiction book of the month.
