Christine Carter - The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work

When you are living in your sweet spot you feel both calm and energetic, accomplished and joyful, strong and at ease. Dr. Christine Carters The Sweet Spot illuminates the simple and sustainable path toward this precious and happy balance.

D EEPAK C HOPRA , M.D.

Timely, lively, and vital, The Sweet Spot is an immediately useful must read. Carter gets to the heart of how to pursue happiness in a busy world, without sacrificing excellence. This book spoke to me.

S HAWN A CHOR , New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage

Finally, an accessible guide to being more productive (and happier!). Dr. Carter is an acclaimed scholar and her advice is derived from data, studies, and proven methods, yet her readable, conversational style makes us think shes an old friend. The Sweet Spot is a must-read for every overworked executive, overwrought parent, or overscheduled human being.

J ENNIFER G RANHOLM , governor of Michigan, 200311; distinguished adjunct professor, UC Berkeley School of Law & Goldman School of Public Policy

My copy of Christine Carters The Sweet Spot is underlined, scribbled on, and dog-eared because of all the pages I want to come back to. Filled with evidence-based research, helpful, practical advice, and her own warm, generous, and funny stories, The Sweet Spot is a gift, like a good friend drawing a personal road map out of the crazy busy swirl of our overloaded lives toward the sweet spot of a happier and more meaningful one.

B RIGID S CHULTE , author of Overwhelmed, and Pulitzer Prizewinning Washington Post staff writer

I sat down to read Christine Carters The Sweet Spot on a particularly busy day, and oddly found that as I read, I could see a better way through obligations. In other words, this book did something I thought was impossible: It seemed to give me more time. In this age of overstuffed schedules, thats about as good as self-help advice can get. Thank you, Christine!

M ARTHA B ECK , author of Finding Your Way in a Wild New World and Expecting Adam

You can read stacks of the best books on stress management and well-being, sign up for classes about resiliency, and hire a personal coach to help you find true happiness or you can just pick up a copy of The SweetSpot. Refreshing, timely, and inspiring, it will help you experience a new way of being: calm, energized, and free to focus on what really matters most.

R ENE P ETERSON T RUDEAU , life balance coach and author of The Mothers Guide to Self-Renewal

If it isnt hard it isnt work, right? Carter turns this assumption on its head by showing us how to be stronger and make life easier, both through her own experience and new research. The Sweet Spot is worth finding, and she teaches us how.

L UCY D ANZIGER , New York Times bestselling co-author of The Nine Rooms of Happiness

The Sweet Spot has inspired me to make immediate changes that have increased my productivity and lowered my stress. Ive also shared Dr. Carters research-backed ideas with my executive coaching clientsmen and women eager to up their gameand I know it will help them manage their teams to better results, too.

D AN M ULHERN , Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

Funny, intimately honest, and so practicalDr. Carter pulls pure gold out of studies on the brain and happiness. Her book reads like a page-turning thriller full of proven ways to have the life you want.

R ICK H ANSON , Ph.D., author of Hardwiring Happiness

In this compelling and practical book, you will learn not only the latest research about how to wire your brain and body for your sweet spot, you will learn exactly how to use this information right now to create a much sweeter life!

C HRISTIANE N ORTHRUP , M.D.

I have a rich and full life, but I sometimes find myself bowled over by the waves of everyday life. Reading this book is like being given a surfboard and surfing lessons. It is full to the brim with research-based tips and tricks for living in flow. Adopting even a few of them will profoundly improve your quality of life.

C ASSANDRA V IETEN , P H .D., president and CEO, Institute of Noetic Sciences, and co-author of Living Deeply

Finally, the author of my favorite book on parenting has written a book on work-life balance. Christine Carter has once again created the perfect blend of science and story to give us practical tools for combating the overwhelm that seems to pervade modern life.

K ATRINA A LCORN , author of Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink

Filled with science-informed wisdom, touching and humorous stories, and practical suggestions, this inspiring guide will help you create a life of connection and purpose, ease and well-being, no matter your age or background. Read and enjoy!

D ANIEL J. S IEGEL , MD, New York Times bestselling author of Brainstorm, No-Drama Discipline, and The Whole-Brain Child

Like a wise friend you can depend on, Christine Carter takes you by the hand and, with gentle encouragement, shows you step by step how to create true well-being in your life. Honest, playful, unpretentious, and chock-full of wisdom, The Sweet Spot just might convince you to do whats really good for you and enjoy the process. I love this book!

J AMES B ARAZ , co-author of Awakening Joy and co-founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Copyright 2015 by Christine Carter

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

B ALLANTINE and the H OUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carter, Christine (Sociologist)
The sweet spot : how to find your groove at home and work / Christine Carter, Ph.D.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-553-39204-3 (hardback)ISBN 978-0-553-39205-0 (ebook)
1. Happiness. 2. Self-actualization (Psychology) I. Title.
BF575.H27.C387 2015
650.1dc23
2014032772

www.ballantinebooks.com

Book design by Elizabeth A. D. Eno

v3.1_r2

We all have a sweet spot where everything seems to flow; where we feel happy, competent, in sync with everything around us, uniquely talented, and predictably successful. It feels like magic, but its not.

Peter Bregman

This book arose, like a phoenix, as an experiment in having it all. Could I fulfill my career potential and have a fulfilling family life? Could I be a great parent and still attend to my own needs? Could I be successful and happy without also feeling stressed and anxious?

Having studied well-being and elite performance for the past decade, Ive long known what to do to be both happy and successful; after all, I coach people from all over the world on these topics. But to be totally honest, in my day-to-day life, I used to struggle to walk the talk. Five years ago, I was a single mother holding down three demanding part-time jobs, and my life was a blur. Yes, our family did find a way to eat dinner together most nights, and we talked about what we were grateful for. In some ways, I practiced what I preached. But in other ways, I was caught up in the busyness of modern lifewinded, running on a hamster wheel, afraid to slow down. Id lost my groove.