Gretchen Rubin's Blog, page 254

Re-Consider the Rules of Thumb You Use in Everyday Life.

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project.

My adventures in the lands of happiness research led me to the concept of heuristics. Heuristics are "rules of thumb," the quick, common-sense principles people apply to solve a problem or make a decision. They...

"Flirting, Watching Clips from Broadway Shows and Nature Documentaries, and Reminding Myself to 'Suck It Up and Deal With It Now.'"

Happiness interview: Natasha Vargas-Cooper.

My love for all things Twilight, books and movies, both fascinates and puzzles me. Obedient to my Personal Commandment to "Be Gretchen," I wear my passion on my sleeve, and so last year, a movie-critic friend emailed me to say, "Hey, I know you love Twilight stuff. You should check out this review."

I read the attached review of New Moon, and I recently read the review of the new movie Eclipse, and I was blown away by the writing of Natasha...

"The Things That Go Wrong Often Make the Best Memories" -- and Further Secrets of Adulthood.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.

What have I learned, with time and experience? Not much, I fear. Here are my latest Secrets of Adulthood. Although these items may not seem particularly profound, each one was a revelation when I finally figured it out:

The things that go wrong often make the best memories.
Approval from the people you admire is sweet, but it's not enough to be the foundation of a happy life.
If you don't really want something, getting it...

Video: Be Happier -- Put Your Values into Action in Your Everyday Life.

2010 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2010 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2010 a happier year – and even if you haven't officially signed up for the challenge -- this month's theme is Eternity. Last week's theme was Do good, feel good. Did you try to follow that resolution? Did it help to boost your happiness?

This week's resolution is to Put your values into action in your everyday life.

How about you? What ways have you found to put your values into action in...

Do You Ever Feel That You Have Two Personalities, Existing Side by Side?

I'm re-reading, for the fourth time, Carl Jung's Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

One of my chief preoccupations (along with happiness, of course) is a subject that I call "symbols beyond words," so I can't get enough of this book. Its vision is so huge.

Each time I read it, I'm struck by different passages. This time, I was particularly interested in Jung's discussion of his "No. 1" personality and his "No. 2" personality.

Somewhere deep in the background I always knew that I was two persons...

"To Study and Learn How To Know Ourselves...Is the Foundation of Wisdom and the Highway To Whatever Is Good."

"The most excellent and divine counsel, the best and most profitable advertisement of all others, but the least practiced, is to study and learn how to know ourselves. This is the foundation of wisdom and the highway to whatever is good."

* As a person who reads every possible minute that I can, I'm always looking for good reading recommendations and for places to read about, and revel in, books (whatever physical form they may take). I loved finding this blog, Nathalie Foy

Want Some Tools To Boost Happiness? Try the Happiness Project Toolbox.

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project.

I love visiting this blog's companion site, the Happiness Project Toolbox – it's fun to add to my own Inspiration Board, keep up with my own One-Sentence Journal (mine is a journal of what I'm reading), check my...

"Doing Is the Hard Part...When It Comes to Eating Right and Exercising, We Know What We Should Do."

Happiness interview: Adam Gilbert.

I got to know Adam Gilbert and his site, My Body Tutor, because, like me, he's very interested in the question of how and why people are able to keep resolutions. We've all made resolutions, very sincerely and enthusiastically, but then not kept them. Why not? How can we do better? Adam is focused on helping people stick to their resolutions related to health, fitness, and weight, which are certainly among the top areas for resolutions that people make -...

Want To Be Happy at Work? Dozens of Tips, Plus a Few Quizzes, To Consider.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.

One issue that comes up frequently in the area of happiness is -- no surprise -- the relationship of work to happiness. How to be happier at work. Why happiness is good for business. How to feel happier if you've lost your job. Etc.

Happiness is a critical factor for work, and work is a critical factor for happiness. In one of those life-isn't-fair results, it turns...

Video: Do Good, Feel Good. It Really Works.

2010 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2010 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2010 a happier year – and even if you haven't officially signed up for the challenge -- last week's resolution was to Cultivate gratitude. Did you try to follow that resolution? Did it help to boost your happiness?

This week's resolution is Do good, feel good. It's related to the Second Splendid Truth, Part

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.
One...