Lozana Alzakzok
Psychology 2301
November 7th 2013
Book Report Happiness is an inside job by John Powell

“Why am I afraid to tell you who I am? I am afraid to tell you who I am, because if I tell you who I am, you may not life who I am, and it’s all that I have...” (John Powell). This author influences many teenagers in his books that there is a common sense to approach happiness. Many people claim happiness comes to anyone, but Powell gets to inform the reader in many of his books that everyone is within the reach of it, if they just reach inward and not outwards. In his books, you see that Powell offers insights of awareness and other interpersonal communication. He tries to discuss the human condition that each person develops in their life, and show how people deal with their emotions as growing up as a better person. Convincing the readers that it takes courage to reveal themselves to others and time. Powell brings out his interpersonal self and his life throughout his books, being a painter at a young age and that being melded in his life, it shows how he expressed his love and other interesting things that made him who he is today.
The authors thesis of” Happiness is an inside job” shows that anyone can be in reach of happiness without even trying, but if they just try not to move in the wrong direction which is always trying to move inwards and not outwards will help them become a better person. Other things, like pursuit of happiness come as a long as you’re living. Powell tries to get the reader to try to believe in their selves and convince them if they only try it will eventually work out as it being just a self-testing thing. “No Pain, No Gain” (John Powell).
Yes, I agree with the author, that being said he shows everyone that is reading his books and mainly this book that happiness can come for anyone that is willing to put in as much effort to have it come to them. Without trying to practicing, it will eventually fade away, and you won’t have the happiness you always wanted to have. Basically you are just being put on a test, that’s how I see it. If you just show the people around you that you accept your own full responsibility you won’t have trouble perusing that in your life as days go by. If you wait till, someone else gives you that happiness, you won’t get it and it would never get to you as Powell says it’s an “inside job”.
Yes I absolutely do recommend this book to a friend and others, I read this book and I was thinking differently about it, I didn’t think it would be all great, and it would just try to persuade others on how happiness could be taken in your own hands if you put the effort to get it, but I was mistaken. This book goes back to a quote that I remembered reading a while back that shows me that many people don’t actually believe that we take our happiness in our own reasonability; we are just too quick to start blaming the people around us for the lack of happiness we don’t have or don’t even try to get. “Growth beings where blaming ends.” (Powell) . This quote stands out to me, and shows me and others around me that need to read this book that if we stop blaming the people surrounding us about our ungrateful happiness we can perhaps enjoy our happiness from not just the inside but from the inside out as well. We should just be thankful for everything and quit over exaggerating when you think that happiness is not there when you’re not even putting any effort to get happiness on your own behalf. Scientific support in this book I think should be included, because this book doesn’t just show how you can prevent yourself from blaming other people around you but it shows how in life events happen every day. Where people go through grief, pain and get hurt all the time. I know we can’t go through our emotions all the time but many of these are jobs, which you have to work with them and part of working is that you have to show have it is the be real and to feel for yourself. “To live fully, we must learn to use things and love people, and not love things and use people.” (John Powell).