Book From the Happy Side
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (Part 1)
The Happiness Project chronicles Gretchen Rubin’s year-long experiment to see if simple life changes could increase her happiness. After much research, she identified twelve elements in her life to address, made action items for each, and dedicated a month to each one. Here is a summary of her first 6 months.
January: Boost Energy (Vitality)
Research shows that happiness energizes you, and being energetic leads to a more active and fulfilling life. Feeling weak and stressed, on the other hand, makes things seem harder. Following these action items, Gretchen gave her energy a boost:
- Go to sleep earlier
- Exercise more
- Toss, restore, organize
- Tackle a nagging task
- Act more energetic
February: Remember Love (Marriage)
After reading respected books about relationships, Gretchen worked to have fewer negative experiences in her marriage (which research shows is more important than having a higher number of positive experiences) through these action items:
- Quit nagging
- Don’t expect praise or appreciation
- Fight right
- No dumping
- Give proofs of love
Though she could not control her husband’s reactions to her efforts, she was pleased with the changes she made in her relationship.
March: Aim Higher (Work)
To find happiness through challenge and novelty, Gretchen launched a blog. Though she knew little about it, she let her enthusiasm and determination carry her through with these action items:
- Launch a blog
- Enjoy the fun of failure
- Ask for help
- Work smart
- Enjoy now
April: Lighten Up (Parenthood)
In April it was time to address parenthood by singing each morning (which her daughter once told someone she loved, though Gretchen had rarely done it) and acting the way she wanted to feel:
- Sing in the morning
- Acknowledge the reality of people’s feelings
- Be a treasure house of happy memories (revisiting/ remembering happy moments)
- Take time for projects
May: Be Serious About Play (Leisure)
Gretchen worked at adding more fun to her life. She experimented, learned to better know herself, and found her own path to fun:
- Find more fun
- Take time to be silly
- Go off the path
- Start a collection
June: Make Time for Friends (Friendship)
Gretchen’s research showed her that friendships, relationships and social interactions are key elements of a happy life, so she worked on nurturing friendships and helping others through these action items:
- Remember birthdays
- Be generous
- Show up
- Don’t gossip
- Make three new friends
She realized, to make yourself happy, make others happy.
As Gretchen chronicles her experiment, in The Happiness Project, her writing is honest and straightforward. We follow her successes and failures as she systematically moves through her experiment. Stay tuned for our next newsletter to learn about part two of The Happiness Project.