I bought this book as it supposedly was more rooted in empirical social science than others in the genre. It suffers from the same problem as many books these days; it is too long. It would have been better as a summarized blog post as the insights are small but dotted across filler pages of anecdotal examples.

Happiness in working life is important. Happy workers have higher productivity, higher sales, higher leadership ratings, better performing teams, etc. Happiness is also a benefit in health. Happier people are healthier and fight off illness faster. There have been empirical studies which have determined that it is because of happiness that these makers are improving and not vice versa.

One of the findings of modern happiness studies is that focusing on happiness day to day will improve an individual's well being. Achor proposes; medidation for just five minutes a day, think about something that you look forward to, exercise, spend money on experiences not items, using a character strength, commit conscious acts of kindness, make your surrounding environment a happy one.

The last one is interesting. In the modern cube farms you often see cube walls decorated with family, drawings by kids etc. This nesting instinct is about making your environment pleasant. Going outside for twenty minutes every day also improved mood, thinking and memory. Finally, if Fox News makes you mad, don't turn it on, even better get rid of your television and remove a negative from your immediate environment.

Exercise and being outside seem obvious. One of the great modern forms of exercise is hiking. Phoenix is fantastic for hikes. There are multiple city hikes like Camelback Mountain and Squaw Peak but for those that want longer hikes there are more challenging ones less than an hour away like the McDowells.

I always say that you have to be fit to be a software engineer as the projects are often grueling and a grinding demand on the brain to come up with working quality code under extreme duress. Being fit and strong is one of the ways that you can fight off the stress of sprints and projects.

The minimalist blogs often post quotes along the lines of experiencing life rather than buying stuff. There is a lot of research on materialism being a fleeting passion. Once someone buys something their mind moves on to the next thing they will buy. However, when people buy an experience, like a vacation, dinner or concert they remember it longer and with more positive emotions. Spending money on others had a similar effect.

The signature strength is an interesting one. When people do something they are good at, they feel better about it and the outcomes. At viasurvey.org there is a series of questions which works out an individuals strengths. Mine are; love of learning; self-control and regulation; creativity, ingenuity and originality; Gratitude; and bravery and valor. The argument is that if I learn something new each day then I am a happier person.