The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World’s Happiest People
Written by Meik Wiking
Narrated by Meik Wiking
4/5
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About this audiobook
Join the happiness revolution! The author of the New York Times bestseller The Little Book of Hygge offers more inspiration and suggestions for achieving greater happiness, by practicing Lykke (LOO-ka)—pursuing and finding the good that exists in the world around us every day.
While the Danes are the happiest people on the planet, happiness isn’t exclusively Danish; cultures around the world have their own unique approaches to leading a contented, fulfilled life. For his work at the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, Meik Wiking travels the globe from Dubai to Finland, Rio de Janeiro to Bhutan, South Korea to the United States, to discover the secrets of the very happiest people.
In The Little Book of Lykke, Meik identifies the six factors that explain the majority of differences in happiness across the world—togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness—and explores what actions we can take to become happier. As he reveals, we can deepen our blissfulness and contentment with little adjustments in our behavior, whether it’s eating like the French (sitting around a table and savoring our time) or dancing the tango like Argentinians in Buenos Aires.
With his trademark warmth and wit, Meik explores the happiness gap for parents, how much money you really need to buy happiness, how we can be healthier without having to go to the gym, how we can learn to build trust and collaboration, how we can help ourselves by helping others, and why our expectations often outweigh our reality. Weaving together original research and personal anecdotes, The Little Book of Lykke is a global roadmap for joy that offers a new approach to achieving everyday happiness that not only improve our own lives, but help us build better communities and a better world.
Meik Wiking
Meik Wiking is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, research associate for Denmark at the World Database of Happiness, and founding member of the Latin American Network for Wellbeing and Quality of Life Policies. He and his research have been featured in more than five hundred media outlets, including The Washington Post, BBC, Huffington Post, the Times (London), The Guardian, CBS, Monocle, the Atlantic, and PBS News Hour. He has spoken at TEDx, and his books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Reviews for The Little Book of Lykke
140 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely loved this book!! I listened to the audiobook & I liked it so much that I ended up purchasing the printed edition to add to my happiness library!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm completely inspired to #lookforlykke. Thank you for this. In the era of animosity, this book is a beacon of hope.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Makes you want to visit Denmark and other places of the world :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So uplifting and inspiring to make good things happen.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Overt Socialistic proselytism with few ideas that are broadly applicable.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A call to true happiness. This book is an inspiring look at how to cultivate happiness in your life! A great look into principles that create happiness in cultures around the world. Grab a cinnamon bun, a warm blanket and a good cup of tea!… You’re sure to enjoy this one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a fun and feel good read. This book gives you scientific permission to hang out with your friends and eat great food! Play board games and meet your neighbors. Basically don't be a butt head and enjoy the life you've got.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'd read Wiking's Little Book of Hygge last year, and absolutely loved it; it was one of those right time/right books moments, and I took away a lot of good suggestions. So when this book's publication was announced, I kept an eye out for it. In some ways, The Little Book of Lykke is a more interesting one; it's focused heavily on the research behind happiness both on an individual and cultural level. There are more studies cited, more graphs, more statistics, and case studies from around the globe about how people and communities have come together to create a better atmosphere for themselves and others. Wiking includes practical tips for the reader, but I don't think that's the book's strength; I think it serves as food for thought about the larger idea of what makes individuals and communities really happy, and the downstream benefits of being happy. My only niggle against the book is that the last chapter ends a bit preachy. This is not entirely the author's fault, as the last chapter, entitled kindness was the chapter with the least amount of available stats and studies, so it was almost entirely anecdotal. It's really difficult to talk about being kind to others without sounding preachy, I get that. But it did leave the book ending weaker than it started by just a smidgen. Overall, a good book for inspiring introspection and an inspiring one in terms of new ideas.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a book that you can sit down to read, or just read little sections at a time. It really gives some insightful information and insights (sorry for this sentence using repetitive sounding words, it’s too late at night to be creative). Some are things I’ve been aware of for quite some time, but it’s still nice to see how the author finds the connections the stories of people and culture around the world. Definitely a worthwhile read to give you hope about the world and small steps we can take to increase our personal happiness as well as to try and increase the happiness of those we encounter.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heartwarming and a nice tonic to some stress. Wiking basically looks at happiness around the world and tries to formulate some basic ideas about generating more happiness.Interesting and entertaining.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From now on Meik Wiking should release a new book every December and that is how I should start my new year. Always. This is how I started 2017 and how I started this year. Even though I pre-ordered this book and received it the day of its publication, I was hard pressed to pass up listening to the audiobook. I would really like to marry Meik Wiking's voice (oh yes he's nice to look at too *wink*).I think for many my fascination and desire for hygge to become a huge part of my life was a little strange and as always you have the people jumping at the chance to say something derogatory about a trend. Hygge did become quite a worldwide trend/phenomenon in 2017, but is that so bad? If the idea of Lykke, which is the Danish word for happiness and not a lifestyle choice, took off quite the same way... you know the only downside would be the world would be happier."The aim of this book is not to belittle the challenges we face. I am painfully aware of the struggles of many, how difficult times are, and how big the stakes are for much of humanity."In this book I was in a perpetual state of goosebumps showing up, several times of passionate "let's do this", and yes, as strange as it may sound, crying. There is a deep desire to be content in life and when you can recognize this does not come from possessions, people, or status, it only serves to increase your desire to find the answer.If in the United States we can't achieve many of the ideas in Lykke on a government level then we need to strive to see them happening on a corporate level and most definitely in the public forum. I would say if you own a business, add this to your reading right now. I would say give it to your employees, your family, your friends. I don't see why everyone shouldn't read this and be touched in one way or another by the idea that we can make our world better and we can find simple ways to be happier and help others to do so too.I can't say that I like this book better than Meik Wiking's Hygge book, but I can say I love how he incorporates EVERYONE. He doesn't only speak to or about the Danish people. Through his research and travels he touches on how other countries are fighting for happiness and how while Hygge is a huge part of Danish culture...they are not in fact the perfect country. He is quick to tell you that your problems will not be solved simply by moving to Denmark and that for some that is not even a plausible endeavor. Read here: You can find happiness (lykke) and implement lifestyle changes (hygge) to your life RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.I still want to move to Denmark. When the statistics are presented that the United States is one of only two countries in the world not offering compensation for things like maternity leave...it's hard to not get a little disenchanted with your patriotic push.I already can tell you this is going to be a 2018 favorite.If you listen to the audiobook, definitely get a physical copy of the book too because there are graphs and pictures throughout!