Rating: 
Summary: Everyone should own a copy of this book
Review: As a rule, I do not read "self-help" books - ever. One afternoon while browsing in the new release section of my local library, I discovered Dr. Baker's book. The title sounded a little cheesy, but since it was meant for a lazy summer day reading, I decided to borrow it. Dr. Baker's book is surprising smart and engaging. The information he presents is based on his experiences and scientific research. This book is mostly common sense and clarification on the human response. We are learning quite a bit about how the primitive human body has not evolved along with the increase of intellect and cultural advances. It makes perfect sense that while we, as a race, are geared toward survival, the conditions that were once necessary to overcome to ensure survival are no longer present. If you have ever wondered why happiness eludes you, this book may hold your answer. There are no promises, however, the principles set forth will indeed change the way you view your life. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Focus on strengths, rather than weaknesses or past failures
Review: Dan Baker provides a guide to creating a meaningful life through tools for fulfillment, self-awareness, gratitude, and finding joy. Happiness, according to Baker, encompases a healthy outlook on life, physical and mental wellness, a sense of spirituality, and personal fulfillment through acts of altruism and kindness.The book addressses the "new" psychology which, contrary to the standard medical model of emotional health - in which healing is based on "curing" one's past - instead focuses on building on individual strengths to help sustain people not only in times of crisis and but in making their lives meaningful overall. The book is not a sophistcated academic text and should not be approached as such. Rather, the book is written in the first person, in a very conversational style that is accessible to all readers. Although the title might lead some potential readers to think the book is the standard psychobabble self-help text that is ubiquitous today, the book is not psychobabble at all - it is clear guidance and tools that anyone can use to build a foundation of happiness on which to live one's life. Dan Baker has a wealth of personal experience and vignettes drawn from his experience at Canyon Ranch and in other settings. These stories and the lessons drawn from them provide helpful guideposts for all of us as we continue our life journeys.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational Reading
Review: Dr. Baker teaches us to nourish our minds and spirits through intellectually and spirit driven responses. By practicing appreciation and making perceptual shifts, EACH and EVERY ONE OF US can find happiness in our lives. The writing style is superb! This is a book I'll read again!
Rating:
Summary: REMARKABLE INSIGHTS
Review: dr. dan baker has written a book that everyone can read and understand with ease.. we've been taught that happiness is elusive when in fact it's a learned response to lifes experiences. Without any airy fairy explanations, dr. baker leads the way for us to find happiness when life perhaps has other plans for us. The examples given in this book are worth the price of the book alone.. We sometimes think there is a magic bullet that will make us happy.... lots of money will buy us happiness.. things will make us happy... when in fact, the only thing that can make us happy is how we respond to what happens in our life and dr. baker has captured the words for our feelings.. Bravo, dr. dan.
Rating: 
Summary: Happiness is yours for only [$$]
Review: I cannot say, honestly, that I loved or hated this book. I loved SOME of the (obvious) advice, enjoyed a FEW of the anecdotes; I even made a few notes to myself. But what I didn't like was the preachy, New Age tone of the book, the arrogant sounding voice of the author; I didn't like the way the author tried to keep things scientific and spiritual and psychological simultaneously. I also didn't like how most of the stories were about rich people not being happy and how he was able to miraculously inspire them to fix themselves. Voila. It's so easy. You can do it, too. Happiness is so freakin' simple! But haven't I heard all of this before? This book definitely lacks something, but I can't quite put my finger on what. For me, it was simply trying to be too many things---a psychology lesson? a lesson for the money obsessed? a guide to finding God? Perhaps I wasn't expecting it to be so self-helpy---a rehashing of all the other return-to-love-escape-from-fear kind of books that are out there. And there are so many of them. Is this one really any different?
Rating:
Summary: Time to get happy
Review: I found this book through reading an interview with Dan Baker in Time magazine about happiness. He is an inspiring author and this book is excellent -- practical, useful, down to earth. Since I spent last year trying to learn how to get in touch with the positive power of negative thinking (as I am a bit of a pessimist), my New Year's resolution is now to learn more about happiness and how happy people do it. Depression is such a drag (physically and spiritually). Dan Baker's new book is helping me to learn happiness skills by example.
Rating:
Summary: Reading This Book Will Change Your Life!
Review: I have already passed my copy of the book on to friends. I hope each of them passes it on to another - and I hope it NEVER makes its way back to me. :)
This book helped me understand my thoughts and behavior. (Whew! I'm not crazy after all! It's just my reptile.)
Most importantly, this book gave me the tools to put my new insight to work for me right away.
Please read this book. I think you'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You! Thank You! Thank You, Dr. Baker!
Review: I have been in and out of counseling for 18 years and have read many self-help books. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what was "wrong" with me, so that I could fix it. Until about four years ago, my life was a story of three steps forward, two steps back, one forward, two or three steps back. I then finally found the courage to make some difficult decisions that allowed the movement to be three steps forward, two back... three forward, one back. At least it was finally, consistently moving forward. But, I still wasn't happy and was convinced it was because something was "wrong" with me that I needed to "fix." About a year after my father passed away (an event that completely rocked my world) my mother entered grief therapy. After about a year of therapy, she was introduced to this book by her counselor. My mother has NEVER been the self-help book type of person. She always lovingly said that I've always read more than enough for us both. So, I was stunned when I saw that she was not only reading this book, but was taking notes and I could see a noticible, positive difference. She finally was becoming happy! I, of course said that I was grateful she finally realized what I had been trying to explain to her all these years and was glad that she had found a book that worded my "lessons" in a way that she could relate to and understand. I believed that my years of counseling, self-help books, introspection, and research had taught me everything I could know on the subject of how to be happy. About a year later, through a variety of circumstances I realized that I still was not as happy as I pretended to be and decided that I needed to try therapy again - that I still didn't know what was "wrong" with me. Long story short, my mother ordered this book for me and all I can say is Thank you, Dr. Baker. Thank you for having the courage to go against traditional psychological approaches to therapy and working to develop an approach that actually works! Thank you for writing about it in such effective language that helped me to understnand the clinical basis for fear and for unhappiness. Thank you for providing the tools, in every-day language to help me defeat the fear of not being enough and to learn to live a happy, fulfilling life. Thank you "Christopher Conner" for providing Dr. Baker the inspiration to write this book. Some may read this book and cynically choose to believe that because Dr. Baker's Canyon Ranch is expensive, he is just a money-hungry doctor who offers no real guidance. I choose to focus on the results of this book and am not concerned with what his motives may or may not be. What I know is that this book have provided guidance into the root cause of my 20+ years of unhappiness and has provided practical tools that I have seen work with my mother. He teaches that "There is no resolution to an unspeakable experience... Your worst memories don't go away, and they don't get better." But, he further teaches how focusing on your strengths, rather than what's "wrong" with you - along with other tools he outlines will result in true happiness. I will take notes and will read, reread, and then read again. I also used the books to supplement "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" by Stephen Covey; in that it provided many ideas in selecting my personal values that matter most to me.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You! Thank You! Thank You, Dr. Baker!
Review: I have been in and out of counseling for 18 years and have read many self-help books. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what was "wrong" with me, so that I could fix it. Until about four years ago, my life was a story of three steps forward, two steps back, one forward, two or three steps back. I then finally found the courage to make some difficult decisions that allowed the movement to be three steps forward, two back... three forward, one back. At least it was finally, consistently moving forward. But, I still wasn't happy and was convinced it was because something was "wrong" with me that I needed to "fix." About a year after my father passed away (an event that completely rocked my world) my mother entered grief therapy. After about a year of therapy, she was introduced to this book by her counselor. My mother has NEVER been the self-help book type of person. She always lovingly said that I've always read more than enough for us both. So, I was stunned when I saw that she was not only reading this book, but was taking notes and I could see a noticible, positive difference. She finally was becoming happy! I, of course said that I was grateful she finally realized what I had been trying to explain to her all these years and was glad that she had found a book that worded my "lessons" in a way that she could relate to and understand. I believed that my years of counseling, self-help books, introspection, and research had taught me everything I could know on the subject of how to be happy. About a year later, through a variety of circumstances I realized that I still was not as happy as I pretended to be and decided that I needed to try therapy again - that I still didn't know what was "wrong" with me. Long story short, my mother ordered this book for me and all I can say is Thank you, Dr. Baker. Thank you for having the courage to go against traditional psychological approaches to therapy and working to develop an approach that actually works! Thank you for writing about it in such effective language that helped me to understnand the clinical basis for fear and for unhappiness. Thank you for providing the tools, in every-day language to help me defeat the fear of not being enough and to learn to live a happy, fulfilling life. Thank you "Christopher Conner" for providing Dr. Baker the inspiration to write this book. Some may read this book and cynically choose to believe that because Dr. Baker's Canyon Ranch is expensive, he is just a money-hungry doctor who offers no real guidance. I choose to focus on the results of this book and am not concerned with what his motives may or may not be. What I know is that this book have provided guidance into the root cause of my 20+ years of unhappiness and has provided practical tools that I have seen work with my mother. He teaches that "There is no resolution to an unspeakable experience... Your worst memories don't go away, and they don't get better." But, he further teaches how focusing on your strengths, rather than what's "wrong" with you - along with other tools he outlines will result in true happiness. I will take notes and will read, reread, and then read again. I also used the books to supplement "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" by Stephen Covey; in that it provided many ideas in selecting my personal values that matter most to me.
Rating:
Summary: The Heart and Soul of Happiness
Review: I have known Dan Baker, PhD for about 15 years. I work with him at the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch Health Resort. This is a review, however, by a fan and appreciative reader of "What Happy People Know." For years guests who have seen him professionally have raved about Dr. Dan Baker. I now really know why! His book helped me.
The professional reviewer who said that it may be "too simplistic" or "New Age" must not have read it! Dan is not a purveyor of fairy tales. His book is as much about life's pain as it is about joy. The remarkable and real people about whom he writes are resilient human beings who have not succumbed to defeat. They typify the best in all of us. They are examples of success, but rather than fitting the model of what is wrong with people, they model what is wonderful about humankind. They are not in denial of pain, but recognize it and experience it fully. What makes them unique (or are they?) is their courage in rising above the horrors which have befallen them. One man who lost his entire business, all of his employees, and his son in the New York Trade Center disaster survived because of his love for those people. One can pass this off as 'superficial' but it is the common thread that enables all of us to make it through tough times. With numerous interesting citations of research, showing physiological and psychological benefits of the feeling of appreciation, the book despells any notion that this is a shallow endeavor. Life IS hard, but is filled too with beauty and love. Research is mentioned from the Heart Math Institute on improved heart rate variability with Freeze Frame technique - a volitional mind/body technique in which one focuses on feelings of love or appreciation. Some studies have indicated that improved heart rate variability may correlate better than cholesterol or blood pressure to morbidity/mortality. Sadly, however, the study of happiness or positive emotions are deemed "new age?"
In writings Dan discusses from the Bible to Victor Frankel ("Man's Search for Meaning"), finding joy, or love, or appreciation has been credited by wise people as worthy of our concern and study. It reflects the heartless cynicism of our age that someone would think that mere emotions such as love are trivial. In reading this book, the reader will experience a thoughtful, wise, and engaging strategy for living. Rather than fitting some New Age self help book, Dr. Baker's book espouses Dostoyevsky's advice, "in suffering is redemption."
Reading the book I was reminded of my own successes, hewn from my passions and joys and realized, again, that my joy fuels success better than the fear of failure. It filled me with excitment, saddened me to remember some of the wonderful guests with whom I've loved working too. I found the book intellectually arresting, very humorous at times, and it left me teary eyed at the end. In it Dan Baker provides a means of finding the joy in one's own life. He does not claim it to be easy. Life is not. Will it work for severely disturbed people? I don't know. It will not work for those expecting help from just reading a book - one must do the work he describes. Some people will not get this fact. But can ANYONE truly rise above baseline survival without using at least some of his ideas? I doubt it. He has cogently, with his "Positive Pyschology" collegues, not reinvented humanity -just begun to understand the best of humanity. It will feel like coming home to you, because it espouses truths you know to be true in your heart.
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