The Happiness Project

A chronicle of my attempts to test-drive every tip, principle and scientific study that promotes happiness

by Gretchen Rubin

How Well Do You Know Yourself? Take This Quiz

A key–perhaps the key–to a happy life is self-knowledge, because as the Fifth Splendid Truth holds, I can build a happy life only on the foundation of my own nature. In my own case, I’ve found that the more my life reflects my real interests, values, and temperament, the happier I become. Read More

A Surprising Way to Figure Out What Someone Really Thinks

Sometimes when we ask a question, we know that people might be reluctant to give a true opinion. Maybe they’re worried about angering someone else, or appearing unsophisticated, or admitting what they actually think or do. Read More

7 Tips for Making Other People Feel Smart and Insightful

We all want to get along well with other people, and one way to do this is to help people feel good about themselves. If you make a person feel smart and insightful, that person will enjoy your company. The point is not to be manipulative, but to help other people feel good about their contributions to a conversation. Read More

Does Announcing a Resolution Make You More Likely to Keep It

My recent post, Beware of “decoy habits,” spurred a lot of conversation, and it’s clear to me that the subject is much more complex, and interesting, than I initially realized. Read More

The 10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader

A thoughtful reader pointed out a wonderful list written by French author Daniel Pennac, in The Rights of the Reader. Read More

Now I Stop Reading a Book If I Don’t Enjoy It—Do You?

One of the most important elements of my identity is my identity as a reader. I love to read–really, if I’m honest with myself, it’s practically the only activity that I truly love to do. Read More

Happiness Becomes More and More About Being Content

For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by Heidi Grant Halvorson’s work: she studies the science of motivation. Read More

Paralyzed? When Two of Your Values Are in Conflict

I spend a lot of time thinking about questions such as, “How do we change?” “Why is it so hard to make ourselves do things that we want to do?” ( for instance, why is it so hard to make myself go to bed?) and “How can we stick to our resolutions?“ Read More

My Imagination and My Reality Don’t Match Up

Recently, I had a very strong yet puzzling emotional experience, and I realized that I’ve felt before. I wish there were some wonderful term for this (perhaps there is, in German or Japanese). Read More

If Blueness Threatens, I Look for the Humor in Any Situation

I’ve long been an admirer of Trish McEvoy — both for her beautiful products and for her entrepreneurial acumen in establishing her cosmetics company and her brand. So I was thrilled to hear that she was a fan of my writing. Read More

Are You a Tortoise or a Hare? About Work

I love paradoxes, parables, koans, aphorisms, fables, and teaching stories of all kinds. Lately I’ve been thinking of the Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. Read More

I Have Two Comfort Activities

The brilliant (and gorgeous, not that it matters) Hilary Reyl has been a friend of mine since college, and I’m thrilled that her fabulous debut novel, Lessons in French, has just hit the shelves. Read More

Do You Agree About These Motivations?

With all modesty, I do think my Four Categories of Personality may be one of my finest contributions to the study of human nature. Right up there with my abstainer/moderator split and under-buyer/over-buyer distinction. Read More

The Things That Have Made Me Most Happy

It’s a great guide for anyone who wants to have a happy home life, by keeping things simple, calm, and in tune with family values. Read More

Try These 6 Quick Story Exercises to Spark Your Creativity

At the recommendation of a friend, I read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need. Read More

Want a Simple Way To Calm Yourself?

Over the weekend, I read David Rock’s very interesting book, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long. Read More

Don’t Wait, Start Stuff, Live Now, Be Present

I heard about Richie Norton’s new book, The Power of Starting Something Stupid when a friend told me about it — and what a great title, right? It reminds me of my resolution to Enjoy the fun of failure. Read More

7 Tips To Fight the Deadly Feeling of Boredom

One of the patron saints of my Happier at Home project, Samuel Johnson, wrote, “It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.” Read More

Do You Make Excuses For Yourself?

I love paradoxes, parables, koans, aphorisms, fables, Secrets of Adulthood, and teaching stories of all kinds. Read More

72 Proverbs From Hell (Not the Usual Hell)

Blake’s “Hell,” by the way, is not the traditional Hell, but a place of “unrepressed, somewhat Dionysian energy” (at least that’s what Wikipedia says). Read More

Do You Agree With These Four Levels of Mental Energy?

What do you think of these four levels–did I get it right? Read More

Embrace Good Smells—In a Museum

One of my very favorite resolutions is my resolution to Cultivate good smells. I’m obsessed with the delights of the sense of smell. Read More

What Are Your “Broken Windows?" Here’s a List of Mine

The “broken windows theory” of policing holds that when a community tolerates minor examples of disorder and petty crime, such as broken windows, graffiti, turnstile-jumping, or drinking in public, people are more likely to commit more serious crimes. Read More