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“EMOTIONAL SUCCESS is as inspiring as it is practical. DeSteno shows us how to [...] improve our lives – and the world.” – Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution
“If you think the key to self-control is overriding your emotions, think again. Moral emotions can strengthen your willpower – and this fascinating book uses the latest social science to explain how.” – Adam Grant, author of GIVE AND TAKE, ORIGINALS, and OPTION B with Sheryl Sandberg
Kick-start your motivation using gratitude, employ compassion to build your network, and take pride to maximise success.
Using cutting-edge research, world-leading psychologist David DeSteno shows you how positive emotions are far more powerful than willpower and self-denial in achieving your goals. Willpower is quickly depleted, but our prosocial emotions become stronger the more we use them. Even better, they’re contagious.
· Cultivating gratitude, compassion, and pride leads to better cardiovascular health, immune function and sleep
· Students who feel proud of their work will work 40% harder and longer than others
· Empathy and compassion are the best predictors of team success
Our prosocial emotions evolved specifically to help us resist immediate temptations in favour of long-term gains. But they can also be adapted to strengthen our bonds with our own future selves – who will benefit most from the grit we need to succeed in life.
Emotional Success is as inspiring as it is practical. DeSteno shows us how to use our feelings of gratitude, compassion, and authentic pride to improve our lives – and the world.
Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution
Are high achievers simply blessed with more willpower than the rest of us? DeSteno's provocative argument is that the science of success is, in fact, very much the science of social emotions like gratitude and compassion. I, for one, am convinced!
Angela Duckworth, author of Grit
One of the leading psychologists of our time has discovered the keys to success: our emotions. They give us strength, they help us stick to our goals, they make us better friends and better people. DeSteno shows how gratitude, compassion, and—surprisingly—pride are essential to the good life. Emotional Success is a beautifully written and very important book.
Paul Bloom, professor of Psychology at Yale University and author of Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion
