Mindfulness is about being present in the moment without judgment. It helps you focus on what’s happening now, rather than being lost in worries about the past or future. 	“Mindfulness allows us to experience life directly, without the filter of our thoughts.”

Concept of Mindfulness

Committed action involves taking steps, however small, towards living a life aligned with your values, even when it’s difficult. This approach leads to a more meaningful existence. 	“Small steps taken consistently lead to big changes over time.”

Committed Action

Living according to your values is key to a fulfilling life. Harris encourages identifying what truly matters to you and using these values to guide your actions. 	“Values are your heart’s deepest desires for the way you want to live your life.”

Role of Values in Life

The “happiness trap” is the cycle of seeking constant happiness while avoiding discomfort. This pursuit only leads to greater unhappiness because it’s impossible to feel good all the time. 	“Happiness is not about feeling good, it’s about living a meaningful life.”

Happiness Trap Explained

Defusion involves separating yourself from your thoughts. Instead of getting caught up in them, you observe them as just words or images, reducing their impact. 	“You are not your thoughts. You are the observer of your thoughts.”

Defusion Techniques

The feeling of love comes and goes on a whim; you can't control it. But the action of love is something you can do, regardless of how you are feeling.

Self-compassion means treating yourself with the same kindness you’d offer a friend. It helps you cope with setbacks and encourages growth without harsh self-criticism. 	“Self-compassion is the antidote to self-judgment and a key to emotional resilience.”

Power of Self-compassion

Avoiding unpleasant emotions only intensifies them. Harris suggests that accepting these feelings and allowing them to exist can reduce their power over us. 	“What you resist, persists. What you accept, you can manage.”

Problem with Avoiding Unpleasant Feelings

The “struggle switch” is our tendency to resist negative feelings. When it’s on, we fight our emotions, which only makes them stronger. Turning it off means accepting emotions as they are. 	“Turn off the struggle switch, and you’ll find peace, even in the midst of discomfort.”

The Struggle Switch

Focusing on the present moment, rather than being lost in thoughts about the past or future, allows you to experience life more fully and reduces unnecessary suffering. 	“The present moment is the only place where life truly happens.”

Embracing the Present Moment

True happiness, according to Harris, is not about constant pleasure but about living a life that’s meaningful and aligned with your values. It’s about embracing the full range of human experience. 	“Happiness is not about feeling good all the time; it’s about living a rich, meaningful life.”

Path to True Happiness

Harris warns against the trap of forced positive thinking, which can lead to ignoring real problems. Instead, he advocates for a balanced approach that acknowledges all emotions. 	“Positive thinking can become toxic when it denies the reality of our experience.”

Pitfalls of Positive Thinking

Expansion involves making room for your emotions rather than trying to push them away. By expanding your awareness, you can coexist with difficult feelings without being overwhelmed. 	“Expand your awareness, and you’ll find that your feelings don’t have to control you.”

Expansion: Making Room for Feelings

9.	Expand Your Awareness: Make room for feelings without being overwhelmed.	10.	Practice Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with kindness and understanding.	11.	Stay Present: Focus on the here and now.	12.	Develop Psychological Flexibility: Adapt to challenges while staying true to your values.	13.	Avoid Forced Positivity: Accept all emotions as part of the human experience.	14.	Seek True Happiness: Focus on living a meaningful life, not just a pleasurable one.	15.	Embrace the Full Range of Life: Understand that happiness includes all of life’s experiences.

ACT is the foundation of the book’s approach. It encourages accepting negative emotions rather than fighting them, and committing to actions aligned with your values. 	“It’s not about getting rid of difficult feelings; it’s about living a rich, full life in spite of them.”

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Society often tells us that happiness is a constant state we must achieve. However, Russ Harris argues that this belief is a trap. Happiness is fleeting, and chasing it constantly leads to disappointment. 	“The more we try to achieve happiness, the more we suffer.”

Myth of Happiness

1.	Recognize the Myth of Happiness: Understand that constant happiness is unattainable.	2.	Avoid the Happiness Trap: Embrace all emotions, not just positive ones.	3.	Practice Acceptance: Allow negative emotions to exist without resistance.	4.	Use Defusion Techniques: Separate yourself from your thoughts.	5.	Cultivate Mindfulness: Stay present in the moment without judgment.	6.	Align with Your Values: Live a life guided by what truly matters to you.	7.	Take Committed Action: Move towards your values with consistent effort.	8.	Turn Off the Struggle Switch: Accept emotions rather than fighting

Psychological flexibility is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and to live according to your values, even in the face of adversity. It’s a central theme in ACT. 	“Flexibility in your thinking and behavior allows you to navigate life’s challenges more effectively.”

Psychological Flexibility

1.	The Myth of Happiness	2.	The Happiness Trap Explained	3.	Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)	4.	The Problem with Avoiding Unpleasant Feelings	5.	Defusion Techniques	6.	The Concept of Mindfulness	7.	The Role of Values in Life	8.	Committed Action	9.	The Struggle Switch	10.	Expansion: Making Room for Feelings	11.	The Power of Self-Compassion	12.	Embracing the Present Moment	13.	The Importance of Psychological Flexibility	14.	The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking	15.	The Path to True Happiness

Topics You’ll Master Today

Escape the happiness trap by embracing all emotions and living a life aligned with your values.

A guide to ACT: the revolutionary mindfulness-based program for reducing stress, overcoming fear, and finding fulfilment – now updated. International bestseller, 'The Happiness Trap', has been published in over thirty countries and twenty-two languages. NOW UPDATED. Popular ideas about happiness are misleading, inaccurate, and are directly contributing to our current epidemic of stress, anxiety and depression. And unfortunately, popular psychological approaches are making it even worse! In this easy-to-read, practical and empowering self-help book, Dr Russ Harries, reveals how millions of people are unwittingly caught in the 'The Happiness Trap', where the more they strive for happiness the more they suffer in the long term. He then provides an effective means to escape through the insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), a groundbreaking new approach based on mindfulness skills. By clarifying your values and developing mindfulness (a technique for living fully in the present moment), ACT helps you escape the happiness trap and find true satisfaction in life. Mindfulness skills are easy to learn and will rapidly and effectively help you to reduce stress, enhance performance, manage emotions, improve health, increase vitality, and generally change your life for the better. The book provides scientifically proven techniques to: reduce stress and worry; rise above fear, doubt and insecurity; handle painful thoughts and feelings far more effectively; break self-defeating habits; improve performance and find fulfilment in your work; build more satisfying relationships; and, create a rich, full and meaningful life.

Psychological Flexibility

Similar ideas to Psychological Flexibility

Resilience: bouncing back from adversity

How to be more resilient

Create a people-first culture