--- title: Reading: 4 Books That Will Make You Happy And Successful description: Have a happy family canonical: https://time.com/3943190/books-happy-successful-good-life/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-03T04:01:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:18.420Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 4 Books That Will Make You Happy And Successful og:description: Have a happy family og:url: https://time.com/3943190/books-happy-successful-good-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3304680e2bf75e1/69885944e53aba56cb4de6eb/man-reading-book.jpg?branch=production&width=410&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 410 og:image:height: 231 og:image:alt: man-reading-book og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Books That Will Make You Happy And Successful twitter:description: Have a happy family twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3304680e2bf75e1/69885944e53aba56cb4de6eb/man-reading-book.jpg?branch=production&width=410&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Books That Will Make You Happy And Successful > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=80d7f1cd-dd99-4ee8-ba23-ef8c4e77e87e&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 30 Under 30: Brandon Stanton, Creator of 'Humans of New York' [Watch (HLS stream): 30 Under 30: Brandon Stanton, Creator of 'Humans of New York'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zT7Xss3H.m3u8) (5:10)  _Published 2013-12-12. Brandon Stanton is the street photographer turned culture spotter behind the blog "Humans of New York." His photos have been called capsules of a moment in time, and are being imitated all over the world._ by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 3, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Senior man reading book, mid section Senior man reading book, mid section Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 3, 2015 4:01 AM UTC **What is the good life?** That’s the primary question I’m trying to answer with this blog. Shortcuts and lifehacks are great. Surprising trivia is nice. But how can we really live great lives? I don’t have time for much less. And I don’t like corny fluff. I want answers backed by research, expertise or deep insight. **Here are four books that really helped me. And I think they’ll help you too.** ## Find Direction In Life **What is it?** Clayton Christensen’s [How Will You Measure Your Life?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ID0CH4/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006ID0CH4&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) **What did I learn from it?** Harvard professor Clayton Christensen combines personal experience and MBA principles to provide a path for good life choices. **Confused about a rational but ethical way** [**to find your life’s purpose**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/08/what-is-life-all-about/)**? What your five year goals are? This is the book for you.** **Video:** (Short on time? Just watch from 7:50-11:34 mins.) Check it out [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ID0CH4/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006ID0CH4&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). ## Be Happier **What is it?** Sonja Lyubomirsky’s [The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010O927W/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0010O927W&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). **What did I learn from it?** [**5 hugs a day**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/02/checklist-8-day-happier/) **makes you a happier person. We often pick the easy, lazy choice but it’s** [**the challenges in life that bring joy**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/happy/)**.** These and many other great insights you can use every day to increase your smile-to-frown ratio. **Video:** This one is a very thorough overview of happiness research. Settle in to cover all the big points. Need a quicker version? Read [this](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/word-sum-happier/). Check it out [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010O927W/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0010O927W&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). ## Be A Good Person Who Succeeds **What is it?** Wharton professor [Adam Grant](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/interview-wharton-business-school-professor-teaches-approach-give/)‘s [Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AFPTSI0/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AFPTSI0&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). **What did I learn from it?** People who give to others often get exploited and end up at the bottom of the heap. Not surprising. But givers also come out at the top of the heap: happier, more successful and loved. **Adam Grant’s well-researched book provides a strategy for being the latter:** [**a good person who succeeds due to their kindness**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/helping-happier/)**.** **Video:** (Short on time? Watch from 42 seconds in to 4:02.) Check it out [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AFPTSI0/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AFPTSI0&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). ## Have A Happy Family **What is it?** Bruce Feiler’s [The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089LOHHO/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0089LOHHO&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) **What did I learn from it?** **Feiler does an excellent job of rounding up the latest research on** [**what makes loving families thrive**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/how-to-have-a-happy-family/)**.** He gives surprising insights (kids should decide their own punishments), supports things we know in our hearts (grandmothers make a huge difference) and provides strategies you never would have thought of (the project management system used at the office can also help at home.) **Video:** (Short on time? Watch from 5:38 to 8:28.) Check it out [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089LOHHO/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0089LOHHO&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20). ## Sum Up Again, they are: * [How Will You Measure Your Life?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ID0CH4/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006ID0CH4&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) * [The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010O927W/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0010O927W&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) * [Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AFPTSI0/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AFPTSI0&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) * [The Secrets of Happy Families](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089LOHHO/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0089LOHHO&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) **Join over 195,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/11/what-is-the-good-life/)**_._** Related posts: [What are the top five books you must read?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/books-missed/) [What are five books that can change your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/books/) [Which books can teach you how to be the best you?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/how-to-be-the-best-you/) ## Transcript >> Brandon Stanton is the street photographer turned culture spotter behind the blog " Humans of New York ." His photos have been called capsules of a moment in time, and are being imitated all over the world. He is on TIME's 30 Under 30: World Changers list. Brandon. >> Hi. >> Your blog " Humans of New York" turned into a book. One week on sale and you hit the New York Times Bestseller list. You're 29 years old. What is the first thing that you think when you're on the New York Times Bestseller list at 29? >> Even when I got the call, I wasn't expecting it at all so it's more of an outpouring of emotion than it was any kind of a, you know, structured thoughts. >> You got a really interesting path to get to where you are. In 2010, you were laid off as a Chicago bond trader. >> Right. >> And the next thing you know, you're a huge success in New York City. >> Not the next thing. >> Walk me through the line then. >> So I lost my job. I've only been photographing for a couple of months. It was just kind of a hobby. And, you know, I lost my job- and I was in finance- and I kinda had this moment of realization that in the last 3 years of my life, I had really kind of been, you know, organizing all my thought, energy and all my time around making money, and so I wanted to do something that absolutely had nothing to do with money and I knew I enjoyed photographing and so I said I'm gonna take some time off. I'm gonna travel around and I'm going to photograph. You know, I'm a very obsessive person. You know, I- it's benefited me. I don't view that as a negative thing. But, you know, every time I decided I wanna do something, I just do it and that was photography at first. And so, you know, the very early success of the blog was built on to just kind of obsession with photography and then kind of as the obsession died down, my audience was growing and then it turned into devotion. >> So you've taken more than 5, 000 portraits. >> Right. >> Who has stuck with you the most? >> This one woman- 80- year- old woman- that I ran into just south of Central Park and she had this very bright umbrella and it's pouring down rain- context is important in the story. It's pouring down rain- I don't have an umbrella- and so this very old woman comes walking towards me and I take her photograph, and I get under the umbrella with her and I said " if you could give me one piece of advice, what would it be ?" And rain is coming down and she had this raspy voice like the narrator from the Titanic, and she said " I'll tell you what my husband told me when he was dying ." He said- I said, " Mo, how am I gonna to live without you ?" and he said, " Take the love you have for me and spread it around ." Isn't that beautiful? I kinda find that, you know, any experience I'm going through in my life at this time- you know, I can look back and I can say, you know, there's somebody I talked to on the street- it was going through the same thing. So, you know, memories of these interactions are always popping up contextually. >> Do you live your life by any motto or is there anything that runs through your head walking down the street? >> So many people want to share their philosophies and share their opinions, you know, and I'm just like- I kinda rebel against that- and just like, you know, " well, I just want to work hard ." I just want to work hard and kinda let the work speak for itself. So, you know, I try not to form these overworking philosophies about what hone is about. You know, what is it contributing to the world? What's the meaning behind the work? You know, why am I doing it? I'm doing it 'cause I love it. I- other people seem to enjoy it and I want to get better at it, and if there's meaning in the work, let that come out organically. >> What advice would you give to people who find themselves laid off? >> On a broader sense, I mean it all comes down to work. You know, I spent so much time trying to give people advice and then it's just like it's gotten narrow, narrow, narrow, narrow- just like, " God, dang it. Just work ." Just work. You know, don't wait. Everybody is waiting till they have the perfect idea to start working, you know. Just even if you have kind of an inkling of what you wanna do, start moving towards it and it's gonna flesh itself out through the process of moving towards the goal. And by the time you get to where you're gonna be, it's not gonna look anything like it did when you sat on the couch thinking about it and if you wait to get till it's perfect in your head before you get off the couch and start working on it, that's never gonna happen. >> Photography the rest of your life? >> There's this feeling, you know, of having built up this audience, you know, over this time period and having them rely on you for daily content in this case photography. You know, there's- it's a very good feeling but there's this feeling of being just attached to it, you know, that if you stop, it'll dissipate so- I mean right now I can't imagine stopping photographing. Just taking these 2 million people that are looking at my work everyday and saying, " Hey, guys. Thanks. It's been fun ," you know, I just- it's not- definitely not something on the radar now. >> Thanks, Brandon. >> Yeah. 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