I have a minor crush on Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. He is so inspirational, and I love reading all the interviews and tweets I can by him. His whole mantra is learning about that which makes people happy, and basing his business around it.

Hsieh just recently came out with a book called Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. It is an incredibly quick read – not at all like a typical business book might be. The preface itself is enough to buy the book. Then again, I love reading about other people’s successes to become inspired!

He starts off in chronological order, starting with his early childhood and talking about his first business idea: a burgeoning worm empire. He discovers after 30 days or caring for his earth worms, that they were no longer there and had escaped into the garden. How crushing! But haven’t we all been there? I think my first experience with a business was selling cookies and lemonade at a homemade lemonade stand. Talk about disappointing! I remember it cost me $11.52 to make the cookies and lemonade, and I only made $7.50 that day. What a tough first hands-on economic lesson!

Hsieh also has a knack for picking out great inspirational quotes that every entrepreneur should post on their bathroom mirror:

I failed my way to success. – Thomas Edison

If you have more than 3 priorities, then you don’t have any. – Jim Collins

If the person you’re talking to isn’t listening, be patient. Maybe he has a small piece of fluff in his ear. – Winnie-the-Pooh

I especially loved how he called upon some of his employees to write excerpts of their experiences with Zappos.com as a brand, a company, and a family. In today’s world, more and more people are looking to satisfy that which makes them happy: personal fulfillment.

Hsieh does a great job giving the dirty details of what life is really like for a startup company. There are certainly moments in the book that are less than glamorous, and frankly, downright terrifying. Since we the readers already know the outcome, it’s easy to digest the possibility that had their luck and finances not turned around right when it did, Zappos.com wouldn’t exist today! It’s a completely inspirational book, and one that I think every entrepreneur should own. He even includes how social media affected the business!

My favorite part of the book has to be the closing chapters. I am in my own pursuit of happiness, and Hsieh delivers in his final chapter titled End Game. He breaks down happiness into four different things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness, and vision/meaning. He gives real life examples of how he implemented each of the four happiness measurements at Zappos.com. The next section talks about Maslow’s Hierarchy, which reaches the peak at “self actualization.” Again, Hsieh talks about real life examples, and how delivering happiness to investors, customers, and employees is all possible.  He ends the chapter with another great quote:

When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny. – Bertice Berry

What  I took from the book is to pursue happiness not only for myself, but to continuously surprise friends, family and coworkers with little gifts of happiness each day. It’s not enough to focus only on yourself, but you must also think about the impact your actions will have on others. In the words of Buddha: “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.“

In light of Buddha’s quote – we received not 1 but 2 copies of the book! We’d love to send one to you, so the first person who writes about his/her idea of happiness will win a copy!

-Disclaimer: I received two free advanced copies of the book, and my statements are honest opinions of it!

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