I've got a crush on you, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay)

I recently finished reading Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. On top of it being a book about business, it touched on how to find meaning in life and promoted the idea of thinking, acting, and being beyond yourself. He shared the three types of happiness that people experience:

Pleasure lasts the shortest (e.g., the thrill of drugs) whereas living and working toward a "higher purpose" provides for a long period of joy and happiness. Makes sense, right?

I just love any opportunity to share Maslow's Hierarchy. I always thought it was one of the few things from psych and philosophy classes that I could actually agree with. (BTW, these images were in the book and also available to distribute online at the Delivering Happiness website.)

What's the point to this post? (1) I loved the book and would recommend that you read it. It's a very quick and interesting read that's not just about business, but also about life, happiness, and living a fulfilling and challenging life. Plus, it's a very cool story that Tony shares! (2) I learned a lot about Zappos' core values. From their site:

As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service

2. Embrace and Drive Change

3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness

4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

5. Pursue Growth and Learning

6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication

7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

8. Do More With Less

9. Be Passionate and Determined

10. Be Humble

I love all of these, and especially reading how the employees have applied these values to their personal lives. I was really inspired to come up with my own set of core values "in life as in business." I'll be sure to share them as soon as I get them done! If you were to create of core values (e.g., life philosophies), what would be on your list? Feel free to comment and share (and let me know if you read this book - I highly recommend it!).