During our intensive research on positive psychology and the power it’s had on lives across the globe, we have found that some of the greatest documentations of the field of study can be found within books and personal tales of success and purpose. Check out some our favorite books on the topic below:
1. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
In this powerful and horrifying tale of a first-hand account of WWII, Viktor Frankl discusses and documents his experience living through the Holocaust as an inmate at Auschwitz concentration camp. During his imprisonment, he found his purpose in life and found a way to survive the horrors he experienced.
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2. The Future of Happiness by Amy Blankson
Amy Blankson has served as a powerful force within the realm of positive psychology after co-founding GoodThink, an organization dedicated to making individuals happy. Amy is also the only person to be named a “Person of Light” by two former presidents (Clinton and Bush), and continues her mission and purpose throughout this guide to balancing productivity and well-being in a modern and digital era.
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3. Broadcasting Happiness by Michelle Gielan
As individuals, we have the power to broadcast certain messages to those around us, be those positive or negative messages. In this book, Gielan discusses the importance of broadcasting happiness and the way in which she believes we are all broadcasters in our own ways. Based around the idea that the way in which we communicate with one another has an impact on both professional and personal achievements, it is sure to have an impact on those who take a read.
4. The Happiness Choice by Marilyn Tam
This story tells the journey of Marilyn Tam as she went from an abused, neglected, unwanted, and unhappy child to a happy and healthy international business success, who is also one of the world’s leading humanitarians. Through this journey, Tam found her purpose and passion and decided to pass her story on to inspire countless others.
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5. Delivering Happiness by Jenn Lim
Written by a consultant at Zappos!, Delivering Happiness is a culture book that discusses the way in which the Zappos! CEO created one of the greatest cultures to work for by developing a strategy around employee happiness and engagements. This book discusses the ways he grew his business while also taking a human approach to corporate life with his employees.
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6. Throughout life, it seems as if we are constantly on the hunt for the next thing that will make us happier; whether it be a new job, a trip, losing that other five pounds, we consistently are looking for what’s next. Author Shawn Achor discusses his journey of studying, researching, and finally lecturing at Harvard University as he conducted one of the largest studies at Harvard and companies like KMPG to attempt to fix why we think about happiness the way we do.
7. Joy Is An Inside Job by Amanda Gore
According to Gore, it seems as if we are all on the constant search for happiness, but we look for it in all the wrong places. This book discusses the way in which you can achieve optimal happiness through what she calls JOY-ercises as you create what you want out of your own life. Gore believes that you have the power to control your happiness, and wants to set out to help individuals do just that.
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8. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
What became an instant New York Times bestseller, Angela Duckworth talks of what she believes is the formula to outstanding achievement: a blend of passion and persistence that she calls “grit”. She also continues to talk about the work and interviews she’s done with top leaders in her field and how they’ve achieved more than they could have imagined with her technique.
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9. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Rather than focus solely on the end goal of “happiness”, Csikszentmihalyi instead chooses to focus on the psychology behind the optimal experience which leads us through the journey of life. Through his research, Mihaly found that this experience is created through a process called “flow” which can help us achieve true happiness.
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10. Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham H. Maslow
In his classic work, Abraham Maslow talks about his hierarchy of needs and how it relates to the way in which we move through our lives reaching for what he believes is the ultimate goal: self-actualization. His theories are some that set positive psychology into motion, and any modern theory of happiness and experience is based off his original principles.
