Acclaimed psychological researcher Raj Raghunathan, in his book If You’re So smart Why Aren’t you Happy?, speaks about bringing happiness in your life. Sapna Sarfare finds out how…
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| Raj Raghunathan |
Here’s where acclaimed psychological researcher Raj
Raghunathan comes in the picture with his new book on finding answers for
happiness for all. The well-researched book,
If You’re So smart Why Aren’t you Happy?, reveals the path to finding
true success of love, importance and control which will bring in lasting
happiness. The book is published by publishing giant Penguin Random House UK.
A popular blogger for Psychology Today, Raj Raghunathan happens
to be an Associate Professor at the University of Texas McCombs Scholl of
Business. He received the Best MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) 2015 for his
free online course – A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment.
How would you really
define this book? Is it a self-help book or there is something more to the
book?
It’s a scientifically-based book that addresses one of life’s
big questions: What are the determinants of a happy
and fulfilling life? In doing so, it arrives at a set of recommendations
that are relatively easy to implement, but eventually lead to a set of
deep-rooted changes. If you want to call that a self-help book, I
(Raj Raghunathan) am totally fine with it. But it’s important to note that this
book is based entirely on scientific findings - and is not faith-based.
Your book is the
outcome of your interactions with successful; friends who were unhappy. What
were the specific pointers that made you think a book is a good way to help
others with similar problems?
I wouldn’t really say that the book is the outcome
of my interactions with friends who are successful and still unhappy. I would
say that observing the unhappiness of smart-and-successful
people (me included) motivated me to explore the topic further.
The book emerged organically from this exploration.
I first started teaching a course on the topic, and then started
blogging about some of the course content on Psychology Today. I then taught an online course on the topic - a
course that was rated the Best MOOC of 2015. I finally took all of the
content and experience and synthesized it in the book.
How are the book’s contents
aid the readers in realising issues and getting a solution by themselves?
The book is written in a “user friendly” way. That is,
despite being based on science, it does not use jargon. I also weave in many
personal anecdotes & stories to help the reader better relate to the
material. Finally, I have many exercises that I recommend to the reader. The
reader can do these exercises on my website (www.happysmarts.com).
Doing these exercises will help the reader assimilate the concepts in the book
better and see for him or her that it’s possible to put in place a recipe that
leads to happiness and fulfillment.
Is the book really
for anybody who wants to find the true meaning of happiness?
It’s a book for anybody who is a “serious seeker” – someone
who is deeply interested in figuring out the answer to the question, “what are
the determinants of a happy and fulfilling life?” I feel that almost everyone
– even if some does not realize it - is interested in the question. Some believe
that they already know what it takes to lead such a life. Even these
people will find the book interesting (because it covers a lot of science that
they may not be aware of) – providing they are open-minded.
How do you balance
teaching marketing and helping people seek happiness? They are so different
topics from each other from my point of view.
Ultimately, the aim of any business is (or should
be) to improve the welfare of the customers. (Even if a firm wants to make
a profit, it can only do so by improving the welfare of customers.) What better
way to do this than by understanding what makes the happy and trying to improve
their emotional well-being? After all, isn’t that what we all ultimately
seek?
So, I really don’t see any conflict between
teaching marketing and teaching happiness. I would say they are
complementary topics, even if this doesn’t seem apparent at first.
How have the readers
responded as yet? Any interesting stories to share
It's early days yet, but I have already had a few readers
write back to me. They find the fact that I have so many resources available:
the online course, my website, and the book (which, by the way, is available in
e-book and audio versions as well), to be very helpful. A few of them are
doing all three at once!
Lastly, do share one
tip for happiness whether successful or not.
Ultimately, you can’t really sustain a state of happiness unless
you feel a sense of abundance – that is, that you have everything you need in
life and more. Of course, it’s difficult for those living in conditions of
scarcity (e.g., war or poverty struck zones) to feel this sense of
abundance, but the rest of us can feel this way. And all of the exercises in
the book are, in one way or another, aimed at nurturing this sense of
abundance.
One simple (but powerful) exercise is to maintain
a gratitude journal. Just make a note of three good things that happened to you
each day. They needn’t be anything big. Even little things like, ‘a stranger
smiled at me’ or ‘I found a rupee on the road’ will do. You’d be surprised at
how big an effect this has on your happiness if you do it for even just 2
weeks.
IF YOU’RE SO SMART WHY AREN’T YOU HAPPY?
AUTHOR: Raj
Raghunathan
PUBLISHER: Penguin Random
House UK
PUBLISHED: 10th May
GENRE: Self-help,
Personal Development & Psychology
LANGUAGE: English
PRICE: Rs
499
PAGES: 352
Photo Credit for Raj Raghunathan's Photo: www.telegraph.co.uk
