About
Max Ansbacher, author of a ‘Practical Guide to Happiness’, realizes that many people struggle to be happy and assume it is not achievable. The reason he wrote the book is that for much of his life he was deeply unhappy. Though he was educated at the most prestigious schools and had a stellar professional career, he struggled with feelings of failure.
He decided to do something about it and read every book he could find on the science of happiness. Max studied himself, his friends who were happy, and because of his research and observations, became a happiness coach. Science-backed tips combined with his personal experiences are what sets his book apart. Max discovered that it is important to tend to your emotional health and happiness and nurture it every day. An emotional fitness coach can be just as essential as a personal trainer at the gym.
In his book, Max maps out the three keys to finding happiness. It’s not magic, it’s common sense.
Biography
Max Ansbacher has brought his talent and charisma from New York City to Palm Beach. In 2022, Max published ‘A Practical Guide to Happiness: How to Bring Optimism, Confidence and Self Esteem into Your Life’. He is a featured speaker on the lecture circuit as well as a personal happiness coach.
In New York City, Max was a Vice President and investment advisor at Bear Stearns for 20 years. Later, Max opened his own Wall Street trading firm, Ansbacher Investment Management, Inc. He wrote his first book, ‘The New Options Market,’ which became a best-seller, had four editions, was translated into Chinese, and was even used in Harvard Business School’s curriculum. It has been said he groomed two generations of options traders and investors for success.
In writing his book, Max’s background in finance and his pragmatic personality enabled him to approach the subject of happiness in a different way. On Wall Street, everything is very precise and measured. If you buy a stock, it either goes up or down and so that is how you gauge your results and success. Max took that type of thinking into studying the art of happiness.
The gold standard of studies on happiness, The Harvard Study on Adult Development, took place over 85 years and followed generations who answered detailed questions at two-year intervals. These Harvard researchers embarked on this decades-long study to find out: What makes us happy in life? The most consistent finding was that: Positive relationships and friendships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer. Another startling discovery revealed in the Harvard Director’s TED talk (which has been downloaded 13 million times!) was that loneliness kills. That is right. It’s as powerful and threatening as smoking or alcoholism. So, it is vital to nurture and treasure your close relationships with family, friends, and your community. Their findings, along with his own, informed his conclusions, which have resonated with readers.
Max with his 1930 Model A Ford
Max’s three principles, outlined in his book, are: Want What You Have, Be True to Your Own Values and Nurture Your Friendships. People want something they can apply in their own lives. They want to take action and do things. These rules transform finding happiness from unattainable magic to commonsense exercises! The key takeaway is that happiness is a choice and the decisions you make every day will lead you to happiness.
Max is very committed to helping those in need and spent over 10 years on each of two nonprofit boards in New York City: The Carter Burden Center for the Aging, which provides wide-ranging support services to the elderly and infirm in NYC as well as The Fortune Society, which provides recently released prisoners, with all-encompassing programs.
Max continues his commitment to public service in Palm Beach where he, and his wife Chris, support The American Red Cross, Palm Beach Island Hospice Foundation and The Cancer Alliance of Help and Hope. They are also very active in the vibrant cultural life in Palm Beach via The Palm Beach Opera where they support a Bailey Emerging Artist; The Kravis Center as Founders Room members; The Round Table speakers’ series where Max is on the board; The Coudert Institute; The Palm Beach Symphony where Chris serves on the Development Committee and The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach where Chris serves on the board.
