BOOK OF THE WEEK: "The Algebra of Happiness" by Scott Galloway

Remember sitting in middle school math class and saying to yourself "when am I ever going use algebra in real life?" Brace yourself folks, algebra is back - well, not quite, it's only in the title of the latest book I've picked off the shelf in Harvard Square. (Seriously, I may have a problem. Books are way too much fun. Wow! I bet none of my high school English teachers would ever imagine those words coming out of my mouth.)

It is NYU Stern School of Business professor Scott Galloway's second book. His first book was "The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google." Now, I haven't read that book yet, but since watching his Ted Talk on the subject is on the list of future books. Book number two is a little more introspective. He talks about his life and goes deep into truly finding happiness and what has made him happy.

Because he talks about his life and some deeply personal experiences everyone that reads it will take something different from it. It's a quick and easy read. It took me (a relatively slow reader) only two days to go through. I couldn't put it down.

Early on in the book I was able to draw a parallel to last week's book "Flow." Galloway talks about the correlation of money and happiness, mentioning money can only bring happiness up to a certain dollar amount (usually $75,000 annually). The true thing that makes people happy is finding the activities that bring joy (aside from mind altering substances like drugs or alcohol). These are interests and hobbies like playing basketball, going for a bike ride, cooking, reading, or whatever let's you get lost an activity for hours.

This concept is called 'flow.' Flow what a person experiences when doing something he/she loves and time seems to fly by. For a moment, think about yourself reading a novel. The book is so good you can't put it down and just have to keep turning the page. Before you know it, you look at the clock and it's 1 a.m. and you think "oh crap, I have to go to sleep, work is in six hours." That's flow. (Also that does happen when reading this book, which is why I finished it in two days.)