BOOK REVIEW: 9 Things I Learned From Sheikh Mohammed’s New Book On Happiness & Positivity
2017 is the year of giving, but ‘happiness’ is something of a life mission for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He believes it can be achieved for the people of the UAE and beyond. There are some tangible things we have seen recently, such as a Happiness Minister and a street called the Happiness Street. Now, in new book, he lays out his vision for Happiness & Positivity. Here are nine things I took away from reading the book…
1. The Chapters Are Short And To The Point – You’ll Get Through This Book In 2-4 Hours
Here is an example of the titles of the chapters, there are 24 chapters in total
- 1-Why Happiness?
- 2-Happiness and positivity. are we singing out of tune?
- 3-Two options against challenges
- 4-Positivity.. in my perspective
2. It’s more than a book on happiness
… and even more than positivity. Although HH Sheikh Mohammed has published about nine books, this is the first one since ‘My Vision’ in 2006, that aren’t published works on poetry, or ‘Flashes of Thought’ in 2013. In other words, this is a book on leadership and the first one since he became Ruler of Dubai over 10 years ago. In it, he shares a lot about what he has learned while implementing his vision. The book is more about what a happy state can do for positivity of its people than a theory about how to a achieve personal happiness.
3. The book is full of stories, anecdotes, and real-life examples
It isn’t all theory. Stories from his father’s time, how he decided to build the World Trade Center, the biggest building in the Middle East at the time, in an undeveloped area to set the example for more skyscrapers to come. The area developed to Downtown Dubai and the SZR became a super highway. There is another great example of the struggle to get permission from British Aviation authorities to build an Airport in the late fifties, after two years of getting know where, Sheikh Rashid eventually went above them with a visit to the UK, and got permission. The rest is aviation history.
4. Happiness is a tangible goal for a state
He twice quotes Aristotle who says that a state is a living being, therefore a state can achieve happiness. Much of HH Shiekh Mohammed’s role as a leader of that state is to achieve happiness through positivity. He also references that happiness is stated both in the US constitution and UN manifestos.
5. Happiness Can Be Measured
.. but he doesn’t go so far to explain the KPI’s. He sets targets for performances for each of his departments as head of state, however, when asked by a journalist how much he will invest of the government’s budget in happiness, he said ‘all of it’, because every department has a role in achieving happiness.
6. Achieving happiness isn’t forcing people to smile
He admits that happiness and positivity can’t always have rules, such as making people in all government departments to smile. A smile has to come from the heart. He gives examples of leaders and people who work for him, how some people in their departments feel unencouraged, and asked them to consider if they are doing enough as leaders to foster positivity.
He says, rather revealingly so. That sometimes legislation can be restrictive, and he takes this opportunity to remind people that they have a role, to treat each day as new, to have a positive outlook and that if they do so, there will be more productivity and satisfaction as a whole.
7. There is a call to action to all Arab leaders
If this book is more about leadership, and how that can play a role in achieving happiness for others, then it is also a book for people of the Arab world. He asks three things of all 200 million Arab people and their leaders
- To be positive – there is an awful lot to be positive about
- To think of the future
- Not to wait – act now
8. Stay positive in the face of crisis
HH Sheikh Mohammed does not believe in luck. He completely refutes any question that Dubai is lucky. He says the success has come from hard work and focus. If you have a vision, then work with a team to achieve it. Reflect and focus on positivity in the face of adversity, anything is achievable.
Most people will quote the financial crisis of 2008 as a time Dubai needed to stay positive, but the example given is in the 1920s, when Dubai’s main source of revenue, pearl trading, was disrupted as they were all of a sudden able to be mass produced in Asia, many lost their jobs, but innovation ensured that the people of Dubai found new ways to prosper.
9. If you stay positive in your personal life, you can also be happy
He reminds people how important family is. His family gives him an enormous sense of happiness and he always makes time for them. He says exercise is for the spirit and meditation is for the soul. He walks for 10km every day in the desert as a source of meditation.
Final thoughts
This came at a good time for me, when I needed inspiration, I found it through a leader that was largely talking to his people and not directly to me. One who, although we live in the same part of the world, I would not have expected for finding as a source of guidance. There are many western leaders or people in the public life that I could Identify with more. Yet HH Sheikh Mohammed not only has a vision but his mission to achieve happiness for his people the catalyst for all that he has set out to achieve.
The book thought me that to achieve a vision will be succeeded if I manage to lead a team properly. I will only be able to do that if I stay positive, and be disciplined with time for family, reflection, and exercise.
