Read This Book

I'll try to avoid this post being a book report, but since I don't read as much as I should when I come across a book that resonates with me I feel compelled to share. Well Being, by Tom Rath and Jim Harter was one of those books.

It's an easy read (one of the key ingredients of a good book for me) on a topic many people struggle with most of their lives, myself included.  How to get the most out of your life and be balanced and happy.  And this book isn't just the qualified opinions of the authors.  It's backed up by Gallup research that ranks among the largest studies of human behavior on the planet.  They didn't survey 200 people to come up with the findings, rather millions.

And yet, the advice and guidance that comes from this research is very simple. Challenging to live everyday perhaps, but simple.  That's another ingredient of a good book, the ability to take a complex challenge that millions of people wrestle with and boil it down into simple and understandable actions that can address the issue.

So, without further adieu, here's the executive summary (a different way of saying 'book report'). There are five essential elements of Well Being:  Career, social, financial, physical and community. Each plays a prominent role in well being over your lifetime.  The five elements aren't completely mutually exclusive, so some decisions/actions in your life might have a positive/negative impact on multiple elements.  At the end of each chapter outlining each of the five elements there are three recommendations (see, only three) for boosting your well being in that element of your life.

Spoiler alert, here they are:

• Career Well Being
• Everyday, use your strengths (see StrengthFinders)
• Identify someone with a shared mission who encourages your growth, and spend time with them
• Opt into more social time with people and teams you enjoy being around at work
• Social Well Being
•  Spend six hours per day socializing with friends, family and colleagues
• Strengthen mutual connections in your network
• Mix social time with physical activity
• Financial Well Being
• Buy experiences, not material possessions
• Spend on others instead of yourself
• Establish 'default systems' to lessen daily worry
• Physical Well Being
• Get a minimum of 20 minutes of physical activity per day, preferably in the morning
• Sleep enough to feel rested (7-9 hours) but not too much
• Set positive defaults when you grocery shop, focus on buying foods that are red, green or blue
• Community Well Being
• Identify how you can contribute to your community based on your personal mission
• Tell people about your passions/interests so they can connect with you on relevant groups/causes
• Opt into one community group or event, start small

There are some really great nuggets of knowledge that are contained in each chapter on each essential element.  It's a great read, and one I got pretty fired up about after reading it.  I'm not a voracious reader but this book ranks among the best I've read all time.

Off the top of my head here are the books that have resonated with me the most:

• A Whole New Mind
• Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
• Sh*t My Dad Says
• It's All About the Bike
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

What are the books off the top of your head that you feel are among the best you've ever read?

Well Being is a superb book and easy read that I highly recommend.  If you're into self help/actualization as much as I am, and perhaps even if you're not.