Build the Life You Want

“Build the Life You Want” by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey

This is a book is about “happiness.” The central thesis is “when you can’t change the world, change how you experience it instead.” Three thoughts really hit home:

• You can’t really have happiness until you experience unhappiness. I feel sorry for business leaders who have never experienced a really crappy cycle. They don’t realize how little they know. Bad days make good days possible.

• Turn empathy into compassion. Empathy is great, but passive. Compassion is about making a better world for others. There is a difference. Don’t just feel, just do. Good friends connect when you are down. Great friends reach out ... see you ... help you.

• It is possible to love your family, love your friends ­and love your work. I bring a lot of my GE colleagues to class at Stanford and PAJ. Students see that we actively did good work and how much we care about one another. That is a blessing.

Brooks last chapter is ... “Now Become the Teacher.” That is my aspiration. These books will put into words some of the things you are thinking and feeling. They are worth a read. Thanks, Arthur for two inspiring books!