CONTENTS

  1. Introduction: Happiness and Your Start-up Life
  2. Your life is the most important management task you will ever undertake.
  3. PART ONE
  4. On Managing Yourself
  5.   1  How to Succeed at Failure
  6. Sometimes you just can’t win. Make the most of it.
  7.   2  Stop Spending Time on Things You Hate
  8. Your time on Earth is precious and limited. Here’s how to waste it.
  9.   3  Feeling Burned Out? Here’s What to Do
  10. The way to break the cycle is by creating meaningful boundaries between work and life.
  11.   4  Procrastinate This, Not That
  12. Do your chores now. Put the creative work off for a day.
  13.   5  Overwhelmed? Just Say “No”
  14. The science of how to stop saying “yes” to everything.
  15.   6  How to Worry Less and Be Happier
  16. Start by simply writing down what’s bothering you.
  17.   7  Why a Bit of Restraint Can Do You a Lot of Good
  18. If authenticity leads to acting out, it won’t bring you happiness.
  19.   8  Your Money Worries Might Be Hiding Something Deeper
  20. Once you’ve met your basic needs, riches won’t help you feel better about yourself.
  21. PART TWO
  22. On Jobs, Money, and Building Your Career
  23.   9  The Happiest Way to Change Jobs
  24. How to rock your work rather than let the work rule you.
  25. 10  Why You Should Trust Your Gut
  26. Careful, deliberate reasoning can get you only so far in good decision making.
  27. 11  Give Your Money. Give Your Time. Don’t Tell Anyone
  28. You can find deep, lasting happiness in a good deed that no one knows you did.
  29. 12  How to Buy Happiness
  30. The way you spend your money makes all the difference to your well-being.
  31. 13  The Two Choices That Keep a Midlife Crisis at Bay
  32. Middle age is an opportunity to find transcendence.
  33. 14  Schopenhauer’s Advice on How to Achieve Great Things
  34. Three rules that can supercharge your effort, inspired by the 19th-century philosopher.
  35. PART THREE
  36. On Communicating and Connecting with Others
  37. 15  How to Take—and Give—Criticism Well
  38. Bad reviews feel terrible, but accepting (and using) them will lighten your load.
  39. 16  How to Give a Great Compliment
  40. Beware of pro forma praise—and recognize true acts of kindness instead.
  41. 17  Meetings Are Miserable
  42. One of the most straightforward paths to happiness is fighting the meeting scourge.
  43. 18  The Trouble with Zooming Forever
  44. It may be convenient, but it will never make us as happy as real human interaction.
  45. 19  The Case for Mindful Cursing
  46. Swearing can make you happier, as long as you do it for the right reasons.
  47. 20  How to Speak Truth Without Fear
  48. And avoid alienating everyone you know.
  49. PART FOUR
  50. On Balancing Work, Life, and Relationships
  51. 21  Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life
  52. The great Swiss psychoanalyst left us a surprisingly practical guide to being happier.
  53. 22  How to Influence People—and Make Friends
  54. The key to persuasion is listening sincerely to what people have to say.
  55. 23  Why You Should Stop Worrying About Your Parenting
  56. You have less effect on them than you think— but your love will make them happy.
  57. 24  How to Know Your Frenemy
  58. That person who poses as your ally but isn’t? They make you sick, literally.
  59. 25  Don’t Be Deceived by First Impressions
  60. We need to move beyond our evolutionary tendency to form snap judgments.
  61. 26  What to Do If the Course of True Love Is Not Running Smoothly
  62. Be prepared for failure, and learn from it, to realize ultimate bliss.
  63. 27  10 Practical Ways to Improve Happiness
  64. You need advice that goes beyond “Be Danish.”
  65. PART FIVE
  66. On How You Define Success
  67. 28  Why Success Can Feel So Bitter
  68. Achieving a goal and achieving happiness are entirely different.
  69. 29  Why You Might Want to Toss Out Your Trophies
  70. Are your mementos of personal triumph making you feel like a has-been?
  71. 30  The Magic of a Little Danger
  72. To get happier, be brave—not reckless.
  73. 31  How Smart People Can Stop Being Miserable
  74. Intelligence can make you happier, but only if you see it as more than a tool to get ahead.
  75. 32  Think Twice Before Taking the Top Job
  76. Getting the corner office might mean sacrificing a little happiness.
  77. 33  If You Want Success, Pursue Happiness
  78. Chasing achievement to get happier is a fool’s errand; start with happiness instead.
  79. Notes
  80. Index
  81. Acknowledgments
  82. About the Author