The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

by Gretchen Rubin

psychologist William James explained, “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.” Advice from every quarter, ancient and contemporary, backs up the observation that to change our feelings, we should change our actions.

Since "The Happiness Project" came out, this idea seems to have really struck people. It's perhaps not obvious, but once you try it, it's clear that it works: we can change our emotional state by changing our actions. In my own life, I often do this to raise my energy. When I'm dragging, I do jumping jacks, run down stairs, clean out a drawer in the medicine cabinet, race around the apartment clearing clutter, putting more enthusiasm into my voice. When I act with more energy, I really feel the boost.