The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness: A Four-Step Plan for Resilient Living

Excellent book. Mayo Clinic is always a good reference for learning.

Overall learned great skills from this and gained lots of knowledge about how to start control of my anxiety and depression. My one major critic is that if you aren't married (with typical gender roles) with children, the examples are difficult to relate the material or engage with some of the exercises.

I have read both Dr. Amit Sood's books on this subject: Guide to Stress-Free Living and Handbook for Happiness. Whether you are heavy into therapy or just need help to navigate everyday, these books paint a clear and helpful picture of how to construct your life to work for you and everyone around you. Helps you to see things from others' perspectives and how that relates to you. I re-read Stress-Free lately (the Notes on my Kindle). In reflection, got so much more out of it than the first time around. Would recommend to anyone.

I read Sood's Guide to Stress-Free Living first. I followed with this book, and it was mostly redundant of the stress-free work with the exception of a lot of personal work plans (writing down issues and feelings) Sood covers the five core principles of gratitude, compassion, acceptance, higher meaning, and forgiveness but nowhere in the detail as in the stress free book. He uses many of the same examples in both books. I would recommend this book even if you have already read the stress-free one, but only if you think you'd like to go a lot of thinking and writing about your own personal issues as they relate to the content of his book.

I bought this to donate to the women's domestic violence shelter's library. It's a great book. Really contains helpful information. Thinking about getting another one for my own library. I don't know why I was surprised at how good it is. Mayo Clinic.... I should have known it was good.

I first read of Dr. Sood's work on happiness in an article in Next Avenue. I was very interested in the concept and thus ordered the book. I find the book reads like a seminar training manual (which I suspect it is) and therefore not as in-depth as I was hoping for. However, having said that, the descriptions of the five focal points has helped me grapple with their meaning.

This book is amazing! I've read so many self-help books looking for answers to help with my anxiety and depression. The answers are here! Very well written, not at all dry or boring. Will help you understand how your mind works so you can have more of a say in how you react. I keep going back over chapters. I'm so grateful I finally found this book!

This book seems to assume I have freedom.That I'm not woken daily by my children having woken and requiring supervision.That I can spend time in my yard without having to devote my attention to keeping my children out of the road, or from eating the berries and mushrooms in the yard.Perhaps those with small children aren't allowed to pursue their own happiness? I can't say it would surprise me at this point. I'll try to look at more of the book, but the problem is that I lack the time and liberty to make myself joyful. I need to know how to be happy *without* that.I'm updating my remarks, now that I'm nearly halfway through. This is the Happiness Handbook for the Extrovert with mostly-to-completely independent children (or none). This is how I lived before I became the (nearly-sole) caretaker of my children, except for the emphasis on spending time with other people. The author appears to assume that spending time with people will make you happier. I find nearly every person in my life to drain me. I'm an introvert. It's not that I don't enjoy spending time with others, but I have to spend time alone to recharge. Oh, and my children count as other people...

Pleasant, easy to read and follow, a very practical approach to eliminate all negative thoughts and trends leading to a happier more fulfilling life.Guides you towards achieving happiness as if once you have decided that you want to be happy you can achieve it.Happiness is a state of mind! Cultivate it or work towards it, set it as a goal and you are almost there - this is what I get out of this book as I read it, I recommend it as a positive read to all who seek peace and contentment in life.

Excellent content and just brings to the forefront of our thoughts things that should be more important. Explains how, as humans, we will dwell on deep rooted negatives. This author really explains how it happens, why we should look at things differently and, most importantly,motivates the reader to change their thoughts to be more positive. My personal change in thinking is to have gratitude for everything I have and have had. Reading this book has given me the thoughts to change my life for a better work/life balance. I trust Mayo Clinic and that in itself gave me a positive attitude to reading this book.

A lot of good quality information

It was good. Haven't read it completely yet.

Excellent review of human emotions and their management. Easy to read, informative and positive. Language is everyday with the underlying principles solidly based in good medicine and psychiatry and psychology.