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Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way Paperback – October 18, 2011
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What makes us happy? It's not wealth, youth, beauty, or intelligence, says Dan Buettner. In fact, most of us have the keys within our grasp. Circling the globe to study the world's happiest populations, Buettner has spotted several common principles that can unlock the doors to true contentment with our lives.
Working with leading researchers, Buettner identifies the happiest region on each of four continents. He explores why these populations say they are happier than anyone else, and what they can teach the rest of us about finding contentment. His conclusions debunk some commonly believed myths: Are people who have children happier than those who don't? Not necessarily—in Western societies, parenthood actually makes the happiness level drop. Is gender equality a factor? Are the world's happiest places to be found on tropical islands with beautiful beaches? You may be surprised at what Buettner's research indicates.
Unraveling the story of each "hotspot" like a good mystery, Buettner reveals how he discovered each location and then travels to meet folks who embody each particular brand of happiness. He introduces content, thriving people in Denmark, in Singapore, in northeastern Mexico, and in a composite "happiest place in America." In addition, he interviews economists, psychologists, sociologists, politicians, writers, and other experts to get at what contributes to each region's happiness, from the Danish concept of hygge, which translates to creating a feeling of coziness, to the Mexican love of a good joke.
Buettner's findings result in a credible, cross-cultural formula and a practical plan to help us stack the deck for happiness and get more satisfaction out of life. According to Buettner's advisory team, the average person can control about forty percent of his or her individual happiness by optimizing life choices. These aren't unreasonable demands on a person's lifestyle, and they often require only slight changes. They fall into three categories that make up the way we live our lives: the food we eat, the way we exercise, and the social networks we foster. It's all about nourishing the body and the spirit. Heeding the secrets of the world's happiness all-stars can help us make the right choices to find more contentment in our own lives and learn how to thrive.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherNational Geographic
- Publication dateOctober 18, 2011
- Dimensions6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101426208189
- ISBN-13978-1426208188
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–Real Simple
“Buettner travels to places…to interview “thrivers,” who report more life enjoyment than most people. He suggests ways that the reader can emulate these cheery folks.”
–Atlanta Journal Constitution
“For his 2008 best-seller, The Blue Zones , Dan Buettner searched the world for the truth about longevity. In his new book, Thrive, out Oct. 19, he tackles the topic of happiness. What are the happiest spots on Earth—and what secrets can we glean from them?” –Parade
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : National Geographic; Reprint edition (October 18, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1426208189
- ISBN-13 : 978-1426208188
- Item Weight : 11.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #247,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,902 in Happiness Self-Help
- #4,526 in Motivational Self-Help (Books)
- #5,613 in Personal Transformation Self-Help
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Dan Buettner is an explorer, National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and producer, and New York Times bestselling author. He discovered the five places in the world – dubbed blue zones hotspots – where people live the longest, healthiest lives. His articles about these places in The New York Times Magazine and National Geographic are two of the most popular for both publications.
Buettner now works in partnership with municipal governments, large employers, and health insurance companies to implement Blue Zones Projects in communities, workplaces, and universities. Blue Zones Projects are well-being initiatives that apply lessons from the Blue Zones to entire communities by focusing on changes to the local environment, public policy, and social networks. The program has dramatically improved the health of more than 5 million Americans to date.
His new book “The Blue Zones Challenge: A 4-Week Plan for a Longer Better Life” is a four-week guide and year-long sustainability program to jump-start your journey to better health, happiness, less stress, and longer life.
Buettner also holds three Guinness World Records in distance cycling.
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A quick read and a great book to pass on to friends.
I recommend it.
I found the book oddly formatted, seemingly designed to maximize page length. For example, the "leading experts" are listed in chapter one, then questions about happiness are asked of each expert. As you might expect, you get some repetition, and since these experts are not writers, you get some fairly banal answers. "The word `happiness' means many things." That's not to say that some of their responses aren't interesting, just that the answers should have been heavily edited and weaved into the narrative, which consists of four separate travelogues in search of happiness.
The travelogue chapters, about 170 pages, are entertaining and worth reading, carrying the reader to four unexpectedly happy places - despite the often repetitious "lessons" at the end of each chapter, and the page-hogging big-font random facts at the bottom of pages. Chapter six "Lessons in Thriving" echoes the previous lessons, but isn't too bad as a sort of checklist for choosing a place to live. A "Special Bonus Chapter" is tacked on, a 25-page excerpt from The Blue Zones.
Three stars. Worth reading, but could have easily been a slim volume about four special happy blue zone places.
Jeffrey Penn May, Author of Where the River Splits, Cynthia and the Blue Cat's Last Meow, and more.
peace of mind and a sense that much is right with our world meet people not so different from yourself in a variety of cultures
with enough things in common to identify happiness as attainable for you right where you are