Practical principles for creating conditions for happiness at scale
from the program director of the Gross National Happiness Center of
Bhutan, the only country in the world to measure progress by the
happiness of its citizens.
Despite countless happiness programs focused on individual well-being,
are we any happier, really? Is it in fact possible to be fully happy
within a miserably dysfunctional society built to keep structures of
inequity in place? Possible, perhaps, but not easy. While the pursuit of
happiness is a much-celebrated ideal, how can countries and communities
design the right environments for people to lead happy lives?
Personal programs for happiness that include mindfulness, empathy, and
gratitude are a good start, but without structural changes, they can
only go so far. Taking the case of the country of Bhutan as an example,
the nation's first Gross National Happiness program director Tho Ha Vinh
explains how the principles of happiness can and must apply to people,
families, and communities at scale to produce the conditions for a truly
satisfying life.
More and more people feel that we live in a time of transition and that
our very survival on this planet depends on renewing the way we live
together in society. Gross National Happiness is an innovative
development paradigm that puts the interconnected happiness of all
people and the well-being of all life forms at the center of progress.
Based on real-life experiences, this book shows a multitude of practical
methods for strategic thinkers and change makers to apply the framework
of Gross National Happiness to bring about positive change in schools,
businesses, and communities.
