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Learner Reviews & Feedback for A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment by Indian School of Business

4.8
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5,808 ratings

About the Course

What are the determinants of a happy and fulfilling life? This is surely one of life’s biggest questions, and a question that has interested many of our ancestors. Buddha famously gave up his kingdom in search of happiness. Several Greek philosophers (from Aristotle to Epicurus and Plato to Socrates) had their own views on what it takes to be happy. And of course, we all have our own theories about happiness too. How valid are our theories? Until recently, if you wished for an answer to this question, you would've been forced to base it on discussions with spiritual leaders. Or, if you were lucky, you could've based it on late-night (and perhaps intoxicant-fueled) conversations with friends and family. Happily, all that has changed now. Over the past decade-and-a-half, scientists have gotten into the act big time. We now have a pretty good idea of what it takes to lead a happy and fulfilling life. This course, based on the award-winning class offered both at the Indian School of Business and at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, developed by Prof. Raj Raghunathan (aka "Dr. Happy-smarts") draws content from a variety of fields, including psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral decision theory to offer a tested and practical recipe for leading a life of happiness and fulfillment. Although not mandatory, reading Prof. Raj's forthcoming book, titled If you're so smart, why aren't you happy? can help you review and assimilate the material covered in this book at your leisure. For Coursera learners alone, the hardcover version of the book is available for a deep discount of 50%, plus shipping and handling. You can order the hardcover for 50% off by writing to Aaron at: Aaron@800ceoread.com. Please mention that you are a student of the "coursera happiness course" in your email. The course will feature guest appearances by several well-known thought leaders, including: - Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational and, soon to be released, Irrationally Yours), - Ed Diener (“Dr. Happiness”), - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow), By taking this course, you will discover the answers to questions such as: - Why aren’t the smart-and-the-successful as happy as they could—or should—be - What are the “7 Deadly Happiness Sins” that even the smart and the successful commit?, and - What are the “7 Habits of the Highly Happy” and how can you implement them in your life? By the end of the course, I expect students who have been diligent with the lectures and exercises to not just gain a deeper understanding of the science of happiness, but to also be significantly happier....

Top reviews

CR

Apr 23, 2018

Excellent course, Professor Raj is great. I found it very helpful to see what types of personality traits I have that may contribute to my happiness level and possible approaches to dealing with them.

LS

Jan 23, 2017

This course is a joy! I cannot recommend it highly enough. Practical advice based on long-term research, interviews with worldwide experts on the topics discussed, and a fabulous professor. So great!

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151 - 175 of 2,036 Reviews for A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment

By Baburao M

Jul 4, 2020

As Roger Bacon has said , " some books are to be chewed and swallowed " ,this course is also to be chewed and Swalloed , not once ,but again and again .What a excellent course ! Moreover this is based

on thorough scientific studies. I am grateful to Prof. Raj for such an excellent treatise purely churned out of thorough scientific knowledge.

Dr B. R. Madnurkar

drmadnurkar@gmail.com

By Jesse M

Sep 28, 2020

Professor Raj was very charismatic. I could tell he was trying to relate to students by using different languages in his greetings, and incorporating humor into the beginning of videos. He always went out of his way to ensure students understood material. Class exercises were amazing-I still perform most of them to this day. I felt committed to this course the whole way through, and he helped me soak in a lot of interesting material. Great for people all around the world

By Brianne C

Aug 21, 2015

I really enjoyed this course, Raj's sense of humor kept the course interesting! I felt the reviews at the end of each module were too repetitive and unnecessary, and Catherine's explanation of the exercises too drawn out - they are simple exercises and I don't think they required and explanation other than what was there when you actually completed the exercise.

Other than that, I feel that I learned quite a lot, and am grateful I took this course :)

Thank you Raj!

By Olivera S

Jun 18, 2020

Coursera offered me the opportunity to explore new skills and gain new knowledge.

The course A life of Happiness and Fulfillment by Indian School of Business and offered

through Coursera was a wonderful experience for me. The video lectures and the offered literature were at a high level, above all professional and interesting, thank you.

I had the opportunity to learn interesting and useful things that I hope will be useful in my life for the benefit of all.

By Sandeep

Jul 24, 2020

A gem of a course. Everyone knows what happiness is but not everyone knows how to be happy. Prof. Raj shows in this course how to be happy and keep being happy. His energy shows in every video of the course. The course content is very well researched and the exercises help you understand yourself more better. I loved the mindfulness part of the course and have enrolled into another full fledged course on mindfulness. Thank you Prof. Raj for course. ALOHA..:)

By Anna V

Oct 5, 2020

It was my first course on the Coursera. And it was really great and useful experience! I am impressed! There are so much important valuable and interesting material and, most importantly, absolutely real and practical recommendations, that really help make life better, rethink many aspects and get motivation for further self-development. After this course my happiness level really increase. I would like to thanks to all participances of this great project!

By Joseph O

Jul 8, 2020

The course, A life of Happiness and Fulfillment, was very useful and I enjoyed learning it. The content of the course and the evaluation process are very excellent. The commitment and dedication of Prof. Raj in conveying this course is highly appreciated. I would say that this is a life changing course. A sincere participant cannot but change his attitude towards life. I sincerely love the team led by Prof. Raj and invite many people to join the course.

By Ioannis E

Jul 6, 2017

This course is an amazing material that helped me enhance my knowledge about cognitive therapy and actually its goal. Happiness! Following the course you will not only see the levels of your happiness increasing but you will always keep the advised given as a luggage with tools that can be used in any time. Many thanks to the Professor and his team that have provided such a topic with the most simple way in terms of language and learning Technics

By Suzanne H

Apr 1, 2019

This course is fabulous and life changing. I thank Prof Raj for having the insight to create the course and all of the people that assisted him in putting it together. I look forward to continuing to enhance my skills with the many resources made available in this course. I am already happier, feel more fulfilled and will face the rest of my life with more joy and wonder. Thank you, thank you. I strongly recommend that everyone take this course.

By Faizan B

Apr 22, 2020

This is without any doubt the best course I have ever taken. Dr Raj is a gem of a person. I had this question which was very important for me and I reached out to him on LinkedIn, he not only replied but made sure that I was satisfied about the answer. I would highly recommend this course to everyone, whatever your background/job/industry is, because let's face it: our world today lacks the most important thing that it should have: "Happiness"

By Steve M

Oct 19, 2015

Really really enjoyed this course. Interesting and thought provoking material, all very well presented and referenced. The inclusion of various guest speakers, video and film clips, and a good dose of humour (only occasionally flat) all helped make this a very enjoyable 6 weeks.

If you have a curiosity about happiness, especially your own, but a mindset that values the evidence over other's opinions, then I strongly recommend this course.

By Subhalakshmi

Aug 8, 2016

Very good course- simple to follow videos- not so long that you cant concentrate- and its fun as well. Very well researched course- I like the way the optional readings are grouped by module- this helps pace you correctly and give you the flexibility to explore a particular topic further. Handy practical guidance on avoiding the happiness mistakes we make day to day- I didn't realise so many I make myself. Thanks Prof Raj and team!

By Theresa S S

Oct 6, 2015

The program was well put together. The class was what I call "bottom heavy" because the last part of the class had a lot of really good and relate-able information. I found my self replaying classes 2 -3 time to get the full value of what was being presented. I found myself saying "wow" a lot.

Could someone tell the lady that does the 6 week class to turn off her clock when on line. I dropped that class, the coo-coo was distracting

By Saumya V

Aug 14, 2015

I love this course! It helped me a lot in becoming stable and happy person. It helps in making life balanced. Thanks to Professor Raj! He is a mentor and seems like a good friend too. The fun lectures give so much useful insight about happiness and life. About how we go through our life journey by being unnecessarily sad, however we can take responsibility of our emotions and actually be happy. Thanks for making this course. :)

By K S

Jan 31, 2016

Wonderfully Amazing course. Lots of information to bring your happiness level high. Although, I would love it if there is daily format or to do list after course. Like 2-3 page summary and things to do on the course.

Also, I don't know how Raj manages to remember so many experts in the field and get their feedback and involvement in the research. I would love to hear that :)

Amazing course definitely recommended for everyone :)

By Jessie Z

Mar 5, 2016

I am SOOO happy I took this course. The material is so eye opening and it's presented in a very engaging way with a variety of speakers, references and visuals. I thought the assignments were quite relevant and made you think in ways you typically do not.

The only slight drawback is organizational- sometimes links were missing the readings and the assignments require too many unnecessary steps. It can very easy be simplified.

By PallaviPandavula

Sep 30, 2020

It was a life changing experience for me ,taking this course. I found answers to many of my unanswered questions about a happy life. I truly feel very grateful that this course was made. I feel every person needs these sort of perspectives to lead life better and happy . The course content and the way of presentation ,both were awesome. I found change in my thoughts after taking this course and started practicing the ideas.

By Mary P

Apr 1, 2017

This course changed my life! I truly never thought of happiness as a value until it was pointed out in this course. Prior to taking it, feeling happy really was a bonus to what my family and I valued. I was raised to work hard and provide for my family. Now, happiness by my definition is a value that is considered in my decision-making framework, and I choose to foster an environment to let it grow. Mahalo and Aloha!!

By Maria A

Mar 3, 2016

Very good and useful course. And all the knowleges which I'd got from it I began to use now and will continue to use later in my usual life.

P.S. Sometimes there were too many names of researchers in the videos, but all of the findings were interesting by themselfes.

And I want to give personal gratitude to Prof. Raj: thank you Mr. Raj for your positive, passion and help! I wish you a life of happiness and fulfillment!

By Brooke

Nov 27, 2023

A little cheesy, but definitely NOT DRY! I'll take a cheesy presentation any day over a dry one. The information is sticking & I am truly enjoying this course more than I have countless other courses on topics related to happiness. I looked at the professor's list of courses to see if he had more! Highly recommend! I may take this course over again a few times throughout the years to refresh my perspective on life.

By Gunjan R

Feb 9, 2024

The course helped me get connected with myself, and make it meaningful for living. Dr. Raj's way of teaching in 2015 is so pro and valid for even in 2024. I am in total amazement that how the lectures were designed with learnings from such scholars and interesting fact studies. I am totally up for it and has already set-up my outlook schedules with activities to remind myself. Thank you Team for your good deed.

By Santosh S

Jun 29, 2020

Very good course, one of the best online courses I have came across. Happiness is the ultimate goal for any individual this courses teaches how to be Happy, what more do you want.. Instructor Dr. R Ranganathan has done a terrific job by creating this course, content is extraordinary, I would recommend every one to take this course. Thank you to team ISB, courser and people involved in developing this course.

By Jayesh K

Jun 12, 2020

I found this course one of the life time god gifted opportunity to further make life more meaningful and en-joyful. Pro. Raj , excellent was of explaining the concept, otherwise complicated, in a very simple and easy to understand way. Thank you very much. I thank entire Coursera Family and stakeholder for this excellent course and helping society to learnt things that will enhance happiness in their life.

By Christy

Sep 30, 2015

I haven't completed the course yet but so far, I am enjoying it. My only complaints are the technical difficulties. The discussion forum does not load properly on my computer and right now, I can't even access the course.

Update: The technical difficulties that bugged me most were not the course's fault. And I am still loving the material. So, I've amended my rating from 3 to 5 starts. Well deserved.

By Della H

Jul 25, 2020

I totally enjoyed the A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment. I learned that life is a process to be appreciated and it encompasses positive and negative experiences, however, it is not always the event that is the defining factor but often the experience gained. determines the final result.

The 4-star rating is justified because, to me, it was a perfect well-rounded course that needed no improvement.