What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better

How to live a happy life—made so simple and doable that you'll actually be able to achieve it.

Dr. Dan Baker, director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch, has devoted his life to teaching people how to be happy. And apparently, most of us could use a little tutoring. Research has shown that the root of unhappiness—fear—lies in the oldest, reptilian part of our brains, and negative reactions are often dictated by primal instincts. We're literally "hardwired for hard times." In What Happy People Know, Dr. Baker uses evidence from the new science of happiness to show us how we can overcome this genetic predisposition toward negative reactions and lead a truly rich, happy, and healthy life.

Dr. Baker shares the program that has revolutionized the lives of countless unhappy people. First, you'll learn the only two issues that ever cause unhappiness and devise your plan to overcome both of them. Then, Dr. Baker teaches you how to spot the happiness traps, the five doomed ways we try to make ourselves happy, only to dig ourselves further into misery. Finally, he shares his happiness tools, the six simple skills that, when practiced consistently, will inevitably lead to greater optimism, courage, good humor, and fulfillment—in short, to happiness.

"Baker's advice is sound and his presentation engaging." — Publishers Weekly

"A significant, practical, insightful, easy-to-read book filled with nuggets that lead us to the road of happiness." —Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., author of Love is Letting Go of Fear