Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky

Sonja Lyubomirsky, bestselling author of “The How of Happiness,” reveals how to find opportunity in life’s thorniest moments

Focusing on life’s biggest, messiest moments, Lyubomirsky provides readers with the clear-eyed vision they need to build the healthiest, most satisfying life. Lyubomirsky argues that we have been given false promises—myths that assure us that lifelong happiness will be attained once we hit the culturally confirmed markers of adult success. This black-and-white vision of happiness works to discourage us from recognizing the upside of any negative and limits our potential for personal growth. A corrective course on happiness and a call to regard life’s twists and turns with a more open mind, Lyubomirsky shares practical lessons that prove we are more adaptable than we think we are. She empowers people to look beyond their first response, sharing scientific evidence that often it is our mindset—not our circumstances—that matters most.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University. Her research – on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness — has been honored with a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation grant, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and a million-dollar grant from NIMH. Lyubomirsky’s 2008 book, “The How of Happiness” (Penguin Press) has been translated into 19 languages, and she is the author of “The Myths of Happiness.”