The Happiness Equation

Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything

By: Neil Pasricha

Narrated by: Neil Pasricha

The #1 international bestseller from the author of The Book of Awesome that “reveals how all of us can live happier lives” (Gretchen Rubin).

What is the formula for a happy life? Neil Pasricha is a Harvard MBA, a New York Times–bestselling author, a Walmart executive, a father, a husband. After selling more than a million copies of the Book of Awesome series, wherein he observed the everyday things he thought were awesome, he now shifts his focus to the practicalities of living an awesome life.

In his new book The Happiness Equation, Pasricha illustrates how to want nothing and do anything in order to have everything. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, you simply have yet to unlock the 9 Secrets to Happiness. Each secret takes a piece out of the core of common sense, turns it on its head to present it in a completely new light, and then provides practical and specific guidelines for how to apply this new outlook to lead a fulfilling life.

Once you've unlocked Pasricha’s 9 Secrets, you will understand counter intuitive concepts such as: Success Does Not Lead to Happiness, Never Take Advice, and Retirement Is a Broken Theory. You will learn and then master three brand-new fundamental life tests: the Saturday Morning Test, The Bench Test, and the Five People Test. You will know the difference between external goals and internal goals and how to make more money than a Harvard MBA (hint: it has nothing to do with your annual salary). You will discover that true wealth has nothing to do with money, multitasking is a myth, and the elimination of options leads to more choice.

The Happiness Equation is a book that will change how you think about pretty much everything—your time, your career, your relationships, your family, and, ultimately, of course, your happiness.

Critic reviews

Praise for Neil Pasricha

“Neil joined the Audi Executive Team on Customer Immersion events across the United States and his lessons were the highlight of the show, engaging dealer associates and invigorating the audience. His talk was on point, thought provoking, and received near-perfect ratings. What more could we ask for?” —Peter Donnellan, director of After Sales, Audi of America

“Neil’s models for living life provide a clear window for seeing the world and making tough decisions. He made the University of Ottawa buzz with energy and positivity!” —Nicolette Addesa, VP of University Affairs, University of Ottawa

Excellent book for sure

I really enjoyed this audio book for sure. The author does a great job narrating and I would recommend this book for any professional in today’s western society, or for anyone actually. There are some great analogies and a couple slow sections but overall greatness here. The author does point out the importance of exercise, but I feel that he could do a better job of exploring multiple options. I don’t recall much detail on spending time in nature, which I think is tremendously important for the people that have the luxury of doing so on a regular basis. Though not for everyone, nature can be very healing and could be explored further to expand upon the happiness equation.

A real good insight on happiness

I really liked the format, it is easily understandable, and chapters are well built. It has many different approaches which means that some can be true for you and other don't. To summarize, it's a lovely book with many good examples and valid points.

Self help with real tools.

This is a rare self help books that presents real tools to get instead of cute words.

A must read and must keep forever book

Neil Pasricha does a terrific job on summarizing his ideas into this book. His everyday sincere examples makes the book relatable. Yes, there are so many books on happiness. However, this book outstands from others by giving you tips on how to reach to initial "happiness" level while the brutality of life continues. This is a book to read while feeling down/alone/lost. You will keep returning to your notes as life happens (or his notes really because his subtitles are exactly what you wanna remember later.) Not only the book content is amazing but also Neil Pasricha narrates the book in an excellent way. After listening to the audio, I decided to keep it on my phone as if it's a podcast episode and keep listening to the sections as I felt down. I also bought the hard copy of the book to see the notes in an organized way. This is a book to read, give as a gift and listen occasionally! Highly recommend it!

Muy práctico, muy completo, me gustó mucho

Me gustó mucho. Lo escuché dos veces porque tenia muchos detalles, mucho contenido que encuentro muy útil. Me hace mucho sentido lo que dice, algunas cosas son de sentido común y otras hasta contra intuitivas. Lo recomiendo completamente. Uno de los libros de felicidad y productividad (ahorro de tiempo) que más me han gustado. Aprendí harto y me entretuve harto.