Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan
This books is full of ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life, he explains in-depth how to manage harmful emotions with mindfulness. It also contains a great deal of science backing up all of his claims, not to mention the book contains personal testimonials from other Google employees, about how a mindfulness practice has influence their life.
This is an interesting book and has valuable information for those who wonder why nothing seems to satisfy or fulfill themselves. The author, who has had a successful career as one of Google's early pioneering engineers, covers meditation and mindfulness as well as emotional intelligence. The combination of familiar information we all hear touted daily about meditation and philosophical attitudes that derive from Buddhism, with psychological techniques and knowledge of emotional intelligence is powerful stuff. The question is, will every reader be able to implement these concepts? Possibly not--but if you find there are areas of, say, emotional intelligence that you cannot grasp or you cannot seem to master, it's a signpost for you. Perhaps someone, a professional counselor, pastor, teacher or other guide can give you tools to move you past the roadblock.
The text is easy to read and well-illustrated with amusing cartoons and drawings. The book is engaging. Yes, there are many many of these "new-age" how to be happy books, but this one is so clearly written and so concise.
The emotional intelligence section, in particular, is laid out as clearly as a roadmap. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills are the five pillars. In additional to getting you to a happier state, emotional intelligence can boost your work performance, and improve your relationships. The author chooses a most delightful example of someone who learns emotional intelligence: Ebenezer Scrooge! My fave, A Christmas Carol. Who doesn't love the story of the reformed curmudgeon, who goes from an insensitive, mean, unhappy man who begrudges even a handful of warming coals to his hapless clerk, to the joyfully generous uncle who dispenses his bounty only to find the more he gives, the happier he himself becomes. Great example, and the five steps of emotional intelligence are all there in Scrooge as he transforms himself in the Christmas miracle.
If you are unfamiliar with the concepts of emotional intelligence and of mindfulness and being in the moment, this is an easy-to-read book that can entice you to delve deeper into the subject.
Product Details
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: HarperOne (April 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062116924
ISBN-13: 978-0062116925
