Delivering Happiness by Tony Heish
I picked this book off of Whitney’s bookshelf in her Seattle apartment and could not put it down. Thank you Whitney for letting me pack this book as I traveled and kept reading.
When Tony passed, my social timelines were filled with others’ condolences and heavy hearts. I think after reading this book, I can better understand why because while he was a business thought leader, he was a really good person. Someone with a big heart.
A notable thing about Delivering Happiness is that Tony wrote it himself and didn’t outsource it to a ghostwriter. I appreciated that throughout his story.
Here are a few parts of his story that stood out to me most:
Happiest moments: “I made a list of the happiest period in my life, and I realized that none of them involved money. I realized building stuff and being creative and inventive made me happy. Connecting with a friend and talking through the entire night until the sun rose made me happy… I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.”
Friendships: “I made a note to myself to make sure i never lost sight of the value of a tribe where people truly felt connected and cared about the well-being of one another. To me, connectedness— the number and depth of my relationships— was an important element of my happiness and I was grateful for my tribe.”
Enabling experiences: “I bought the 810 loft, not because I wanted to own more property, and not because I thought of it as a real estate investment. I bought 810 so I could architect our parties and gatherings. Owning the loft would ultimately enable more experiences.”
Choosing a table: “I learned that the most important decision I could make was which table to sit at. In a poker room, I could only choose which table I wanted to sit at. But in business, I realized that I didn’t have to sit at an existing table. I could define my own, or make the one I was already at even bigger. (Or just like in poker, I could always choose to change tables.)
“Envision, create, and believe in your own universe and the universe will form around you.”