Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being by Shawn Achor
Synopsis -
In a world that thrives on competition and individual achievement, we are measuring and pursuing potential all wrong. By pursuing success in isolation - pushing others away as we push ourselves too hard - we are not just limiting our potential, we are becoming more stressed and disconnected than ever.
In his highly anticipated follow-up to The Happiness Advantage, Achor reveals a better approach. Drawing on his work in 50 countries, he shows that success and happiness are not competitive sports. Rather, they depend almost entirely on how well we connect with, relate to, and learn from each other.
Just as happiness is contagious, every dimension of human potential - performance, intelligence, creativity, leadership ability and health - is influenced by those around us. So when we help others become better, we reach new levels of potential, as well. Rather than fighting over scraps of the pie, we can expand the pie instead.
Small Potential is the limited success we can attain alone. BIG Potential is what we can achieve together. Here, Achor offers five strategies - the SEEDS of Big Potential--for lifting the ceiling on what we can achieve while returning happiness and meaning to our lives.
The dramatic shifts in how we approach work today demand an equally dramatic shift in our approach to success. Big Potential offers a new path to thriving in the modern world.
Review -
I am part of a business book club, an unusual choice for me. When it came time to select the next book to read, I suggested this one I was curious about. I had just finished two amazing books on habits that really changed how I viewed things from a personal standpoint. But over my time as a writer, I had discovered the importance of community as well and was intrigued to know if the science backed up what I had learned. The answer is yes.
Big Potential takes you through the science of what has been learned about community and its importance to both personal success as well as the success of the group, whether that be a sports team, a corporation or an organization. How the whole works together is a great indicator of what can be achieved than how many star employees you've hired.
More than that, the author shares that each of us can lead no matter what our position is. He shares of a school with terrible stats that when someone new stepped in he brought everyone on board. From cafeteria worker, to janitor, to bus driver, to teachers - all were told they were important to creating change and given training on how to do it. The turnaround was awe inspiring.
For years I have been saying how I would never have made it to becoming a published author without the community that uplifted and supported me. So reading this book was validation of all that I stand for. Every time you uplift the community around you, you uplift yourself. It's a fab read.
Buy the Book - Amazon US ~ Amazon CA
Meet the Author -
Shawn is the author of New York Times best-selling books The Happiness Advantage (2010) and Before Happiness (2013), as well as Ripple’s Effect and The Orange Frog. Shawn was published in the top psychology journal last year for the work he did at UBS in partnership with Yale University to create a more effective stress training. And he recently did a two-hour interview with Oprah at her house discussing happiness research and perception of success.
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