The Five Thieves of Happiness
A thought-provoking guide to sustained happiness.
Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness
From bestselling author John Izzo comes this practical and inspirational guide. He shows that happiness is our natural state and explores five thieves that rob us of that innate sense of contentment.
A few years ago, Izzo was puzzled that he didn't feel happier. He was a successful consultant, a much-in-demand speaker, and a bestselling author. Sure, he'd had some setbacks and disappointments, but he knew enough to know he had it pretty good. And, as he shows in this book, both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience say that we're naturally happy it's our default setting. So why didn't it seem to be his?
Izzo went on a journey a kind of pilgrimage to try to understand what was going on. Reflecting as he walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain and spent time in the deserts of Morocco and in the Peruvian Andes, he began to identify five mental thought patterns that take our happiness from us. He calls them the five thieves of happiness: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort.
Drawing on recent psychological research, the world's spiritual traditions, and personal stories from his journey, Izzo describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and what we can do to lock them out once and for all. He shows how the same five thieves that rob us of our personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is naturally ours as human beings while finding ways to create a world we all want to live in.
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