Stop Chasing Happiness: Counterintuitive Life Advice From the World’s Happiest Country

Frank Martela

Author: Frank Martela

Published: 2024

Genre: Personal Growth & Lifestyle

A guide to finding happiness by Finland’s leading happiness expert

  • Frank Martela, PhD, is Finland’s #1 internationally bestselling non-fiction author - his previous title, A WONDERFUL LIFE, has been sold to 30 countries!
  • Finland has been ranked the happiest country 6 times in a row, with Frank Martela as the leading expert explaining the secret to Finnish happiness for media ranging from Fox News and New York Times to Scientific American and New Scientist.
  • Unique blend of personal stories and quirky anecdotes from Finland combined with deep understanding of the latest psychological research on well-being

Want to be happier? Stop searching for happiness. Obsessing about happiness is, paradoxically, one of the key obstacles for a happier life. For six years in a row, Finland has been the world's happiest country and the wisdom emerging from this land of darkness and heavy metal teaches you to stop caring about happiness, about what others think, and about what happens next. This liberates you to take life as it is.

In this book, Finland’s leading happiness expert offers straight-talking life advice on why finding happiness is not about learning new things – it is more about unlearning patterns of thinking holding you back. Combining ancient wisdom with latest research and mixing it all together with quirky stories and Frank’s encounters with peculiar Finnish characters met in the forest, in rock festivals, and during his hitchhiking and other travels around the country, the book guides you to build a way of living where you are content and serene, yet actively engaged and energized to pursue your self-chosen purposes in life.

About author

Frank Martela

Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review, Salon, CNBC and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Personality, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Academy of Management Review. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on five continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Vice News, Fox News, and Monocle Observer among others. He is University Lecturer at Aalto University in Helsinki.

Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children, an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.

Bibliography


2023, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Frank Martela

The Meaning Manifesto: Why Work Needs to Have a Purpose


2020, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Frank Martela

A Wonderful Life: Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence