Joy on demand

Joy is the root of happiness. Joy is a sustainable state that fuels our creativity and inspiration for innovation. It strengthens our ability to attract friends and to get along with people. Learning to cultivate joy is a fundamental secret to success. Chade-Meng Tan shows us how anyone, no matter where they are, can access this source of happiness. Meng writes, "If you have been unhappy, or you are happy and aspire to be even happier, know that your happiness set point can be upgraded. I know because I did it, I have seen many others do it, and scientific studies have measured it. Of course, Buddhist monks and other contemplative people have been doing it for thousands of years, but it's not something in the water in the Himalayas; it's something you can do too, wherever you are. I think the main problem is most people aren't aware that it is even possible. Or, if we've heard of it, many of us think it is unattainable so we don't even try. We don't know it's something that every single one of us can learn." The path to joy on demand is through mindfulness, but it doesn't have to be a lot of work, take a lot of time, or require you to abandon all your possessions and live in a hut on a remote island. And the benefits extend to every aspect of life -- our brains work better, our bodies function better, we achieve greater success at work, and we find ourselves highly attractive to the people around us. The more we exercise this skill, the more familiar we become with joy, the more we effortlessly gravitate toward it, and in so doing create a sustainable sense of wonder and contentment that can carry us throughout our entire life.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Spiritual. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.