Robert Biswas-Diener

If most of your goals are unpleasant to work for, you better change either your goals or your attitudes.

The former justice of the US Supreme Court Benjamin Cordozo expressed this well: “In the end the great truth will have been learned: that the quest is greater than what is sought, the effort finer than the prize (or, rather, that the effort *is* the prize), the victory cheap and hollow were it not for the rigor of the game.

Research shows that most people are mildly happy most of the time.

Cultivating positive relationships is essential to overall psychological wealth. Although people differ in their need for social relationships, and in the types of social relationships they most enjoy, we all need to receive and give social support. We all need to be loved and to love others.

Money can be a help in attaining psychological wealth, but it must be considered in the bigger picture of what makes people genuinely rich.

Maximize your psychological wealth, and this will mean occasionally experiencing a few negative emotions.

To put this into a formula, subjective well-being = positive affect - negative affect + life satisfaction + flourishing.

Bear in mind that selecting the products, relationships, and outcomes that are good enough for you, regardless of what others may think, is a surer route to happiness.

As incredible as it sounds, having more choices can actually detract from happiness.

Positive thinking is not about ignoring negative events or pretending that life is better in the face of adversity. Positive thinking does not magically make things happen. Nor is an upbeat outlook alone enough to overcome hardship. Rather, positive thinking is a mindset in which you recognize your blessings more than you pay attention to daily hassles.

We are optimistic that just as science transformed our material world in the twentieth century, it can revolutionize our understanding of happiness in the twenty-first century.

Understanding psychological wealth is about having a “balanced portfolio.” This book provides an overview of the elements of psychological wealth that research reveals are good investments.

The take-home message here for you, and for your courage quotient, is to not treat mistakes as though they are barely acceptable but to embrace them as if they were your friends and also gateways to creativity, confidence, and spontaneity.

To be clear, I think that living courageously is synonymous with living well. I believe that living out loud and not letting fear hold you back is the key to the fullest, most rewarding life possible.

When I asked John what gives him the strength to speak out where others would be inclined to hold their tongues, he pointed me to these words spoken by the narrator of Nikos Kazantzakis’s Zorba the Greek: ‘When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage!’

And here is one of the most important take-home messages of this entire book: courage is often about others. You may very well feel afraid for yourself, but your focus on how your actions will affect—and specifically help—other people can be just the bump that is needed to raise your courage quotient.

If we choose courageous roles or think of ourselves as filling courageous roles, we are more likely to act boldly when the need arises.

If we can pinpoint what makes people act bravely—and we can—then we can offer insights into how all of us—you, me, everyone—can boost our own courage quotients.

To be clear, I think that living courageously is synonymous with living well. I believe that living out loud and not letting fear hold you back is the key to the fullest, most rewarding life possible.