Solve for Happy, by Mo Gawdat

Solve for Happy, by Mo Gawdat is a wonderful book, in which I recognise a lot of yoga philisophy, but it is a non-yoga book (Mo was  Chief Business Officer for Google X) on how to be happy by identifying what makes us unhappy (he believes that everyone is born happy); it dismantles 6 illusions and 7 blind-spots, before leading to the 5 truths which connect us all. The 6 illusions are Thought, Self, Knowledge, Time, Control and Fear which are all concepts our mind wants to cling onto, but are destined to make us disconnected from ourselves. It is followed by the blind-spots which are hard-wired into our DNA, but outdated in the modern world; Filters, Assumptions, Predictions, Memories, Labels, Emotions and Exaggeration. Finally the 5 universal truths of Now, Change, Love, Death and Design.  It is all packaged in some way or another in our yoga philosophy (awareness, being present, letting go of judgement, what causes us to suffer) so it was fascinating to read it in a scientific way. It is easy to read; I am a very slow reader and I read it in one go and have gifted it to many friends.

I was lucky to be able to hear Mo speak live at an ActionForHapiness event recently and he is such an inspirational, eloquent, insightful, grounded and open person; hearing him talk about Solve For Happy revealed more insights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Please check out his #onebillionhappy mission; together we can make the world a happier place!