What Happy People Know

Book Report:

What Happy People Know

By Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth

Report written by: Kelsey Welsh

Report written for: Professor Mary Tucker

December 7, 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Happy People Know: Book Report 3

Fear 3

Breaking Free of Fear 3

Qualities of Happiness 3

Happiness Tools 4

Appreciation 4

The Appreciation Audit. 4

Self-Appreciation. 4

Victimization. 4

Personal Power 5

Victimization. 5

Entitlement. 6

Rescue. 6

Blame. 6

Free Yourself of the VERBs. 7

A Recognition of Strength 7

Best Practices Tool. 7

A Sense of Choice 8

The Power of Language and Stories 8

Multidimensional Living 9

Synthesis 9

Personal Experience 9

Other Readings 10

References 10

What Happy People Know: Book Report

Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth's What Happy People Know is a great book, I would recommend it to anyone to read because, "the same basic principles about happiness apply to virtually everyone, across all age groups, nationality, cultures" (Baker & Stauth, 2003, p. 40). It compares and contrasts what happy people know and do in comparison to what unhappy people know and do. The book teaches the reader how to change their outlook on life from a negative to a positive one. I will begin this report with a brief explanation of what the major underlying factor of unhappiness is. Next, I will briefly talk about the qualities of happiness, according to Baker and Stauth (2003). And lastly, I will reveal just what it is happy people know, also called the happiness tools (Baker & Stauth).

Fear

According to What Makes People Happy, a person cannot be happy if they have fear in their lives (Baker & Stauth, 2003). Most people don't realize that they are living in fear. Fear enters many people's lives disguised as anger, perfectionism, depression, hate, anxiety, and so on. According to the authors (2003), fear is the opposite of something that makes sense (p. 17). In today's world, most types of fear can be placed into either of the two categories: "fear of not having enough and fear of not being enough" (Baker & Stauth, 2003, p. 24).

Breaking Free of Fear

The first step in break free of fear is to admit that you have fear and then accept the fear. Baker and Stauth (2003) say, "Welcome it. Laugh at yourself. Forgive yourself. Rise to the height of your soaring spirit. And move on" (p. 59). There is not better time than now to accept this fear so you can begin your happy life.

In this report I will discuss many additional ways to break free of your fear. Unfortunately, nobody can get rid of fear forever, because, part of everybody's brain is dedicated just to fear (Baker & Stauth, 2003).

Qualities of Happiness

The authors recognize that living in fear is the easy route in life, and that happiness is difficult to achieve. According to the authors (2003), there are twelve qualities that define happiness and they are what people should aim to achieve. If you are able to achieve these qualities, your search for happiness should be over, because happiness will find you (Baker & Stauth, 2003). The following are the twelve qualities of happiness, according to Baker and Stauth (p. 19-21):

* Love

* Optimism

* Courage

* A sense of freedom

* Proactivity

* Security

* Health

* Spirituality

* Altruism

* Perspective

* Humor

* Purpose

Happiness Tools

As mentioned, it is a lot of work to lead a happy lifestyle. Baker and Stauth (2003) suggest that happiness can be created through the following (p. 248):

* Appreciation

* Personal power

* A recognition of strengths

* A sense of choice

* The power of language and stories

* Multidimensional living

Appreciation

The authors (2003) place a very strong emphasis on the benefits and uses of appreciation. The reason they placed such a strong emphasis on appreciation is because due to the way our brains work, it is impossible for fear and appreciation to be present simultaneously. Remember, fear is the basis of most unhappiness. When you do not have appreciation in your life, your brain is locked into using the fear part of the brain (Baker & Stauth, 2003).

The Appreciation Audit.

One way to help bring upon appreciation is to use the Appreciation Audit. In order for the Appreciation Audit to be effective, you must protect yourself from fear (since fear and appreciation cannot be present simultaneously). The purpose of this activity is to change the way you view the facts of your life and then use