Beyond Happiness: How to find lasting meaning and joy in all that you have

Description

As Britain's best-known headmaster, Sir Anthony famously introduced happiness, or well-being, lessons at his school, Wellington College. In 2011, he co-founded Action for Happiness, a body to raise awareness of the discovery of happiness and reduction of depression, whose influence is growing rapidly in Britain and across the world. In this book Anthony Seldon distinguishes between pleasure, happiness and joy, and offers an original 8-step approach on how to make our lives far more meaningful and rewarding. The pursuit of happiness can all too easily become a trap which seduces us into thinking there is no more to life than being happy. In fact, the author is highly critical of 'positive psychology' and other dominant schools of thought. In fact, we need to reach beyond this if we are to access the deepest levels of human experience open to us, and find our own unique path in life. The author offers a further 5 steps, which point the way to accessing these deeper levels of experience, which alone result in the joyful life which is our birthright. Paradoxically, as this book demonstrates, stepping off the happiness treadmill will ultimately make for a happier and more fulfilled life. It is time to go beyond happiness.

Sir Anthony Seldon is the former Headmaster of Wellington College in Berkshire, now at the University of Buckingham. He is arguably the best-known Headmaster in the country and is particularly well-known for introducing happiness and wellbeing classes into the school in 2006. He co-founded Action for Happiness with Richard Layard in 2011.

This book is simply brilliant. Informative, moving and comprehensive, a A masterfully written exploration of the challenging road we all journey on as we seek a life of happiness - Tanya Byron A beyond brilliant and important book. Seldon's exploration of how to move from superficial pleasure to happiness and ultimately joy gripped me from the first page. This is a book at once wise and passionate about making the most of your time on earth. I had a sense of peace and coming home when I finished: the book has been my constant companion since - Rachel Kelly, author of Black Rainbow A brilliant plea for a happiness that goes beyond the self, from the remarkable co-founder of Action for Happiness - Richard Layard