14 Best Happiness Books That Will Change Your Life

There is a quote my mind drifts to when I think about life and meaning:

“The only serious question in life is whether to kill yourself or not.” Albert Camus

Although the quote sounds nihilistic, many of us can relate to it at some period in our lives.

There is a lot about life that makes us unsmiling, serious, addicted, angry, and moody.

The world seems vicious and out of control. Can you find happiness and a light heart despite the challenge life presents each one of us with?

Can you laugh with your heart not because you do not know misery, unjustified pain, and the imperfection of who you are but precisely because you do?

Is it possible for you to pause, look at the blue sky, and feel awe despite your loneliness, shame, and self-hatred?

No book has all the answers, but we must begin somewhere, right?

So I put together a few books that might point you in that direction.

I hope that despite all the misery of life, you will stare it in the face and chose to be happy.

List of 15 books to help you be happy

1. The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living by Russ Harris

In the Happiness Trap, Russ Harris explains that our search for happiness makes us stressed, miserable, anxious, and depressed.

He presents insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), which is based on research in behavioral psychology.

Russ Harris encourages you to clarify your values and develop mindfulness through acceptance and commitment in order to find true satisfaction in life.

Read this if you want to; reduce stress, cope with painful feelings, manage thoughts, stop self-sabotage, overcome insecurity, and create a meaningful life.

2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

In The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck, Mark Manson says, “You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited number of fucks to give. Very few.”

“If you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get fucked.”

Mark encourages us to get to know our limitations and accept them.

Additionally, he urges us to stop running away from our fears, faults, painful truths so we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

Read this if; the book will help you come to terms with your mortal nature and clarify what is important to you.

3. Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV, Howard C. Cutler

In The Art of Happiness, Howard C. Cutler puts a science-based view of the Dalai Lama’s teachings.

According to the Dalai Lama, Happiness is the purpose of life after survival needs are met.

Furthermore, the Dalai Lama says that through training our hearts and minds and actively working on our attitudes, we can learn to be happy.

He also advises us to pay attention to the things that make us happy and to eliminate the things that make us suffer.

Read this if you; want to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, discouragement, and learn how to ride through life’s obstacles gracefully.

4. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris.

In 10% Happier, Dan Harris takes the reader through his journey to finding happiness.

Through mindfulness and meditation, he encourages us to tame the insatiable voice in our heads that forces us to eat compulsively, lose our temper, abuse drugs, and live through the stories in our heads.

Read this if you; want to reduce stress, navigate work-related drama with ease, and, as the title says, become 10% happier.

5. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

In Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reveals through research that what makes us truly happy is having optimal experiences, which he refers to the state of consciousness called flow.

During flow, we can experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life.

According to Mihaly, the state of flow shouldn’t be left to chance and he shows us how to control this positive experience.

Read this to; Improve the quality of life and work, as well as learning to unlock your true potential.

6. The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith by Gabrielle Bernstein

If spirituality does not make you uncomfortable, then you might enjoy this one.

In The Universe Has Your Back, Gabriel Bernstein teaches the reader to relax and release the fear that blocks; happiness, security, and a clear direction by learning to have faith and trust the universe.

You might also enjoy a talk on youtube she gave on Oprah’s Supersoul Sunday.

Read this if you would like to: relax more and rely on inner guidance for direction.

7. Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin

In the Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin takes us on her 12-month journey to find happiness focusing on a different aspect of her life every month.

Her story is relatable and funny, and that will give you the motivation to focus on, and work on, goals.

Read this if you need the motivation to focus and commit to your goals.

8. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E.P. Seligman

It is easy for us to get trapped into fixing our weaknesses and everything in between that we feel is wrong with us.

In Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman encourages us not to focus on our shortcomings but our strengths.

In addition, Seligman says,  focusing on one’s strengths and working with them to improve all aspects of one’s life.

Read this if you find you are self-critical.

9. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor

Most of us believe that if we work hard, we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy.

If we can find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow.

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor says we have it backward.

Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work.

You might also enjoy his Ted Talk.

10. Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy by Mo Gawdat

After the sudden death of his son, Ali, Mo Gawdat, and his family turned to principals in this book in the form of an equation he had come up with a few years earlier —and it saved them from despair.

In Solve For Happy, Mo questions the most fundamental aspects of our existence.

Additionally, he shares the underlying reasons for suffering and gives a step-by-step process for achieving lifelong happiness and enduring contentment.

Here is a Talk Mo gave at google that you might enjoy.

The book questions about life, loss, meaning, and how you can find happiness through it all.

11. Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path by Erin Loechner

If you are tired of the chase, more money, more likes, more fame then this book is for you.

In Chasing Slow, Erin Loechner turns away from fame with over a million followers online.

She blazes the trail toward a new lifestyle that will refresh your perspective, renew your priorities, and shift your focus to what matters most.

Through a series of steep climbs, her husband’s brain tumor, bankruptcy, family loss, and public criticism—Erin learns just how much strength it takes to surrender it all.

12. Designing Your Life: Build a Life that Works for You by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

In Designing Your Life, innovators Bill Burnett and Dave Evans use their expertise to help you work out what you want and how to get it.

The book will teach you how to use basic design tools to create a life that will work for you.

The authors use techniques like reframing, prototyping, and mind-mapping.

Additionally, you will learn how to build your way forward, step-by-positive-step, to a life that’s better by a design of your own making.

13. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Todd Gilbert

Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink?

In Stumbling On Happiness, Daniel Gilbert describes imagination and illusions of the future cause us to misconceive what will make us happy tomorrow.

In short, he shows that most of us don’t know how to make ourselves happy and what we can do instead.

14. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

In You Are a Badass, Jen Sincero uses humor to help the reader Identify and overcome self-sabotaging beliefs.

Additionally, she teaches you how to overcome your fears, love yourself, set big goals, and achieve them.

The list has a few happiness books for everyone, if you are like me you might want to read them all (if only you had the time, right?).

Let me know in the comment section which of these happiness books is your favorite.

Love,

Sania

Dailyzens.