Engineering Happiness

Rakesh Sarin and Manel Baucells have been conducting groundbreaking research on happiness for more than a decade, and in this book they distill their provocative findings into a lively, accessible guide for a wide audience of readers. Integrating their own research with the latest thinking in the behavioral and social sciences--including management science, psychology, and economics--they offer a new approach to the puzzle of happiness. What Sarin and Baucells have found is that well-being is not the capricious outcome of destiny or fortune, like winning the lottery, but that it can be influenced by our decisions--in fact, that the essence of happiness itself is choice.In this practical book they tell how we can master the six essential laws of happiness, avoid traps we face every day, and lay the groundwork for building a happier life over time. Woven throughout with wisdom from the world's religions and literatures, Engineering Happinesshas something to offer everyone--regardless of background, profession, or aspiration--who wants to better understand, control, and attain a more joyful life.