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Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
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Product Description
In this national bestseller -- Martin Seligman's most stimulating, persuasive book to date -- the acclaimed author of Learned Optimism introduces yet another revolutionary idea. Drawing on groundbreaking scientific research, Seligman shows how Positive Psychology is shifting the profession's paradigm away from its narrow-minded focus on pathology, victimology, and mental illness to positive emotion and mental health. Happiness, studies show, is not the result of good genes or luck. It can be cultivated by identifying and nurturing traits that we already possess -- including kindness, originality, humor, optimism, and generosity.
Seligman provides the tools you need in order to ascertain your most positive traits or strengths. Then he explains how, by frequently calling upon these "signature strengths" in all the crucial realms of life -- health, relationships, career -- you will not only develop natural buffers against misfortune and negative emotion, but also achieve new and sustainable levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1599 in Books
- Published on: 2004-01-05
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 336 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In his latest user-friendly road map for human emotion, the author of the bestselling Learned Optimism proposes ratcheting the field of psychology to a new level. "Relieving the states that make life miserable... has made building the states that make life worth living less of a priority. The time has finally arrived for a science that seeks to understand positive emotion, build strength and virtue, and provide guideposts for finding what Aristotle called the `good life,' " writes Seligman. Thankfully, his lengthy homage to happiness may actually live up to the ambitious promise of its subtitle. Seligman doesn't just preach the merits of happiness e.g., happy people are healthier, more productive and contentedly married than their unhappy counterparts but he also presents brief tests and even an interactive Web site (the launch date is set for mid-August) to help readers increase the happiness quotient in their own lives. Trying to fix weaknesses won't help, he says; rather, incorporating strengths such as humor, originality and generosity into everyday interactions with people is a better way to achieve happiness. Skeptics will wonder whether it's possible to learn happiness from a book. Their point may be valid, but Seligman certainly provides the attitude adjustment and practical tools (including self-tests and exercises) for charting the course.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
The author of LEARNED OPTIMISM offers research summaries so illuminating that listening halfheartedly will be impossible. What makes people positive, generous, funny, kind, or original? Are you born with these traits, or can you develop them? How do intimate relationships influence positive traits, and how are they related to depression, insecurity, and pessimism? This smooth abridgment, read perfectly by John Dossett, will win new respect for the behavioral sciences, which have taken a beating during the recent resurgence of the spiritual disciplines. Personal assessment tools on Seligman's Web site --- authentichappiness.org --- will provide additional insights into your "signature strengths," which he says are essential to engage if you want happiness at work and at home. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Review
Caroline Myss
Author of Sacred Contracts
Authentic Happiness is delightful and richly insightful. Martin Seligman has written a very practical book, guiding readers to make positive choices in life.
Steven Pinker
Author of The Language Instinct
A highly insightful scientific and personal reflection on the nature of happiness, from one of the most creative and influential psychologists of our time.
Elle
A bold new plan for taking control of your life and finding lasting happiness.
Customer Reviews
On-target wisdom for our time
Martin Seligman's Positive Psychology is just what the doctor ordered! We've been waiting for a way to release ourselves from the hold of the painful past and to feel optimistic about the future, despite recession, wars, disappointing candidates, and all the other angst that visits the thoughtful. In refreshing, candid tones, he turns psychology on its head and points it in the right direction, one we can willingly follow. His work helps us find our own strengths, and even more significant, find meaning and purpose in our lives by applying those strengths. Happiness is the natural byproduct of this process, making the investment of time and thought necessary to read and apply the book a most rewarding investment indeed. If you're searching for satisfaction, whether in work or in love, this will be a generous, kindly, clear, and forgiving guide.
The original book on happiness is worth a read
Seligman is the father of "positive psychology," a branch of psychology that focuses on building on the positive elements of a person's life rather than spending time working through past traumas and challenges. Seligman describes a number of key principles of positive psychology in an interactive manner. For example, there are two self-assessments in the book that determine how much of an optimist you are and identify your "signature strengths". Seligman also includes exercises that can increase your happiness level and personal stories that bring the concepts to life. While this book doesn't summarize the scope of happiness research the way other books (like Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt or Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar), the reason is that this book is the foundation of the other research and, as such, is a good primer on Positive Psychology.
This is a keeper!
I've found this book to be enormously provocative and personally very helpful. I'm not a mental health professional but Seligman's ideas ring true for me. I've highly recommended it to all my relatives and friends! Two enthusiastic thumbs up!
