Resolve to Change Your Outlook with These Books on Happiness!

Posted by Jan 6, 2017 Book Lists, Books, Full Grown Bookworms, Reading

As the new year begins, we start making resolutions and setting goals. These goals are meant to make us happier. But what if you are lost on how to find true happiness? These books explore what it means to find joy and how to live your happiest life – whether you lose those 5 pounds or not.

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Books on Happiness Already on My Shelf

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams recounts a week long visit between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the Dalai Lama’s home in India. Douglas Abrams follows along on their visit while they tease, discuss and face the difficult question facing us. How do we experience joy in a world full of tragedy? Their lightness and their entertaining banter is inspiring. Their ability to live joyfully given all they have seen and lived through is also remarkable. The book outlines their teachings and discussion about the nature of and obstacles to joy. It also includes their explanation of the 8 PIllars of Joy and provides daily joy practices.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson is an inspiring look at how one hilarious woman faces her depression and mental health issues and decides to live her life as “furiously happy” as she can. Also known as The Bloggess, her first book Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir, gave readers a hilarious look at her interesting life (a childhood story about a puppet and a story about a giant metal chicken both had me in tears), while her blog also gives readers glimpses into her life and thoughts.

This book takes on a more serious tone than it’s predecessor. She dives deeper into living with depression and how hard life can be when your mental health is fighting against you. While there were still stories that made me laugh out loud, it really opened my eyes to the struggles of those suffering from depression, and also inspired me to adopt her mantra of living life as furiously happy.

Learning to Be Happy with Yourself

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown uses 10 guideposts to help readers to understand that they are enough. Through anecdotes and activities, Brown shows readers how to face the day with courage and bravery. Brown’s books and TED talk were highly recommended by bloggers I polled for my post on life-changing books, so I’m excited to dive deeper into her work!

Books about Happiness I’m Adding to My Reading List

I Am That Girl: How to Speak Your Truth, Discover Your Purpose, and bethatgirl by Alexis Jones helps readers to live their happiest lives by making them see that they are already THAT girl they want to be. You don’t need the perfect body, the perfect house or the perfect career to be happy. She uses stories from 30 women to illustrate how to embrace yourself.

How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom by Jonathon Fields uses the idea of “Good Life Buckets” in order to help readers to take control of their lives. Through tips and exercises, he guides readers through daily practices and inspiration to finding their fullest lives.

The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): 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 follows the author as she breaks her life down into 12 manageable pieces and attempts to find new happiness in each aspect. From focusing on her children and marriage to examining mindfulness and attitude, she explores the idea of happiness while applying simple changes to her life.

Do you have any books on happiness that opened your eyes or changed your attitude? I would love to add to my list! Share in the comments below.



 

 

48 comments on “Resolve to Change Your Outlook with These Books on Happiness!”

  6. I saw your instagram post this morning on The Book of Joy, and I was instantly intrigued. One of my goals this year is to read more, and you’ve given me some great titles to add to my to-read list. Thanks!

  10. I love this! I’m in the process of creating a vision board (basically a poster board that will have my goals, aspirations, and dreams for this year). I love all the new ideas and motivation going into the New Year!

  14. This is such a great reminder for the New Year, and I’m pretty certain I want to snag one of these books! I have trouble just being happy, and I think this would be a good self improvement goal for the year.

  21. These are such great suggestions I plan on adding them to my amazon store and sharing them with my facebook page Mommy’s Mid-Life Quest! I’ll link up this page to the group in the next few days and definitely send a shoutout to you!

    Thanks so much for posting your blog post to the #FanDayFriday Link Party! I hope you have a great experience with the link party and come back again next week! #fdflinkparty

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