21 Days to Resilience

Forget About the Pursuit of Happiness. Master the Art of Resilience. Happiness is not about wishful thinking, good luck, or avoiding negative thoughts. In fact, the only path to true happiness requires seeing challenges as opportunities and discovering emotional strength during times of struggle. In other words, it's about resilience. Resilience is a quality most of us want to possess. The big issue is that no one knows how to access it in their day-to-day life. We understand that it's important-that it's crucial, even-but it seems like an ephemeral thing that you either have or you don't. How we actually attain the skills to become resilient has been left out of the conversation . . . until now. In 21 Days to Resilience, Dr. Zelana Montminy, a leading expert in positive psychology, offers a practical, science-backed toolkit to develop your capacity to handle whatever life throws your way-and thrive. Each day of her powerful program, Dr. Montminy introduces a key trait necessary to improve resiliency and enhance well-being-such as gratitude, focus, playfulness, self-respect, and flexibility-then provides three simple tasks to accomplish that day: one in the morning, one during the day, and one in the evening. In addition, the book offers a "Take Stock" section that will help you gauge your current level of resiliency, and each chapter ends with a "Lifelong" exercise that offers ways to build skills as needed to keep your resiliency muscles strong. Combining proven science, unique exercises, and insights from real-life experience, 21 Days to Resilience lays the foundation for happiness and shows you how to build your strength to carry you through the rest of your life. A Practical, Day-by-Day Guide to Strengthening the 21 Key Traits That Determine Lifelong Happiness "More than a decade of research proves that by making small changes to our lives we can dramatically raise our power over our environment and strengthen our resilience. Dr. Montminy helps translate this life-giving research into practical daily steps. From research to real life, Dr. Montminy makes the path to positive change clearer than ever."-Shawn Achor, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage "It's hard to have a calm mind and clear purpose when life gets crazy and chaotic. Dr. Montminy gets it. This book is like having her at your side as part therapist, part life coach, and part friend, walking you through a process that will change your outlook and help you push through challenges towards your best self." Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress, producer, and cofounder of Foodstirs "What I love about 21 Days to Resilience is how comprehensive, pragmatic, and actionable it is. If you want to build your resilience muscles, these daily workouts are just what the doctor ordered. You'll be amazed how effortless life will feel as a result."-Shirzad Chamine, New York Times bestselling author of Positive Intelligence and Stanford lecturer "Dr. Z glows with health and vibrancy, has boundless energy, and seems to get it all done without any stress. Now she lets us in on her seemingly magical and mystical secrets. 21 Days to Resilience gives us a powerful map to grab hold of radical well-being and happiness in our daily lives, for real."-Tara Stiles, bestselling author of Make Your Own Rules Diet and Slim Calm Sexy Yoga and founder of Strala Yoga "Dr. Zelana Montminy has captured the secrets underlying human behavior. A must-read for anyone looking not just for change but also for a spiritual uplift and sustainable transformation!" -Dr. Mao Shing Ni, bestselling author of Secrets of LongevityAuthor BiographyDr. Zelana Montminy is a positive psychologist and health and wellness expert who has contributed to Good Morning America, The Today Show, FOX, E!, People, Redbook, Shape, and PopSugar. Dr. Montminy is a member of the American Psychological Association, is a consultant for the Institute for Applied Positive Research, and serves on several boards, including the Pacific Region of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and the program advisory board of the Respect Institute. She holds master's and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology with a specialization in health and a focus in positive psychology, and she studied nutrition at Cornell University. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young children.