Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy

Written by Mo Gawdat

Narrated by Mo Gawdat

Solve for Happy is a startlingly original book about creating and maintaining happiness, written by a top Google executive with an engineer's training and fondness for thoroughly analyzing a problem.

In 2004, Mo Gawdat, a remarkable thinker whose gifts had landed him top positions in half a dozen companies and who - in his spare time - had created significant wealth, realized that he was desperately unhappy. A lifelong learner, he attacked the problem as an engineer would, examining all the provable facts and scrupulously following logic. When he was finished, he had discovered the equation for enduring happiness.

Ten years later, that research saved him from despair when his college-aged son, Ali - also intellectually gifted - died during routine surgery. In dealing with the loss, Mo found his mission: he would pull off the type of 'moonshot' that he and his Google [X] colleagues were always aiming for: he would help ten million people become happier by pouring his happiness principles into a book and spreading its message around the world.

One of Solve for Happy's key premises is that happiness is a default state. If we shape expectations to acknowledge the full range of possible events, unhappiness is on its way to being defeated. To steer clear of unhappiness traps, we must dispel the six illusions that cloud our thinking (e.g., the illusion of time, of control, and of fear); overcome the brain's seven deadly defects (e.g., the tendency to exaggerate, label, and filter), and embrace five ultimate truths (e.g., change is real, now is real, unconditional love is real).

By means of several highly original thought experiments, Mo helps readers find enduring contentment by questioning some of the most fundamental aspects of their existence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Mar 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781509833726

Mo Gawdat

Mo Gawdat is the Chief Business Officer at Google’s [X]. In the last ten years he has made happiness his primary topic of research, diving deeply into literature and conversing on the topic with thousands of people in more than a hundred countries. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has cofounded more than twenty businesses. He speaks Arabic, English, and German. In 2014, motivated by the tragic loss of his son, Ali, Mo began pouring his findings into his first book, Solve for Happy.

Reviews for Solve For Happy

[Nosindiso Myeni · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting read. Looking forward to applying the tools given to control my thoughts and deal with life as it happens.

[Nhl Kaan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a remarkable book! Inspiring, insightful. Mo gives human relation a true light during times when life as we know it seem to not make sense at all. I only have deep gratitude for his sharing and made me feel that we all do go through chaos and randomness of life and that we are all part of a whole. Thank you Mo, I felt every bit of you in every story and insight you have shared. I too wish Ali peace and that his last wish have been granted.

[Alvinus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing book. Thanks for writing it Mo.

[sahar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The magnitude of sincerity regarding this book is worth a standing ovation ..I had a very rewarding experience following the analytics of Mo Gawdat trying to serve salvation for himself and all of humanity...well done and worth the time given..salute

[Dima El Sorany · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing book, truly changed my perception of happiness. It touched my soul and heart. Lots of love and respect to the Gawdat family. Wish Ali peace, happiness and existence in the highest levels of heaven.. and all of our beloved ones who left this world.

[charmaine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There simply is not a man on this planet as remarkable as Mo Gawdat. His insights into the human condition and the ease with which he is able to unpack complex philosophical questions (chapter 14 Who Made Who ) had me revisit sections over and over.