After spending over a decade researching the psychology of well-being, and even writing his first book on the topic, it took a struggle with his own mental health for Ryan A Bush to integrate the data he had studied to form a groundbreaking new psychological theory. Become Who You Are argues that the peak form of human happiness is determined, not by pleasure or pain, loss or gain, but by the admirability we observe in our own behaviors.

This philosophy-infused self-development guide takes readers on a kaleidoscopic journey through Stoic philosophy and neuropsychology—Nietzschean virtue ethics and evolutionary psychology—spiritual wisdom and psychotherapy. It offers a moving account of Ryan’s own descent into depression, his climb back to flourishing, and the ambitious new framework this journey led him to for decoding and directing our lives.

The good life is not the sum of simple pleasure or the fruit of success. Its essence is not comfort, struggle, purpose, or even love. You don’t need meaning. You need virtue.

Become Who You Are: A New Theory of Self-Esteem, Human Greatness, and the Opposite of Depression is Bush’s best, most rigorous, and most personal work to date. The theory it presents will have radical implications for our understanding of the mind and countless individual lives. And it will provide readers with an invaluable guide for reaching the peaks of flourishing and a powerful call to personal greatness.