Hacking Happiness

Book excerpt: Learn to love uncertainty—and shape the future you want You have a successful life; a professional career, nice home, maybe kids or even a dog, so why are you so damn unhappy? Spread so thin at work, nothing gets the attention it needs; tasked with leading others through rapid change, you’re not sure where you’re heading yourself. Disruptive technology, catastrophic global events and increasing mental health problems means your secure and linear pathway to happiness no longer exists. Success today is not about the perfect plan to achieve more, manage change and mitigate risk. Our brave new world is calling us to throw out any rulebook and leap into what we fear most—the unknown. That’s exactly what Penny Locaso did when she turned her life upside-down to tackle our happiness-deficit problem. She emerged as the world’s first Happiness Hacker and the inventor of the Intentional Adaptability Quotient®: a quantifiable method for individuals and organisations to become more skillful at, and even relish, adapting to rapid change. Welcomed by business leaders worldwide, IAQ® catapulted Penny to prominence as a TedX Talk star and faculty member at the acclaimed Singularity University by showing that in our highly disruptive present we must embrace instability and complexity to achieve clarity, purpose, and the sense of meaning that brings real joy. Learn how experimentation, danger, and even failure are crucial to happiness and success Take courage and focus on what you’re avoiding, not what you’re missing Reskill yourself and others to accept—and even enjoy–uncertainty Explore your IAQ®: focus, courage, curiosity, accountability, connection, experimentation and reflection This book is an opportunity to look at work and the world through a new lens and see that by surfing on the edges of our comfort zone we—professionals, leaders, everyone—can intentionally adapt to create a successful and fulfilling future.