The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
$7.99
The Happiness Project
- By: Gretchen Rubin
- Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Psychology & Mental Health
Publisher's Summary
Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.
In this lively and compelling account of that year, Rubin carves out her place alongside the authors of best-selling memoirs such as Julie and Julia, The Year of Living Biblically, and Eat, Pray, Love. With humor and insight, she chronicles her adventures during the 12 months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.
Rubin didn't have the option to uproot herself, nor did she really want to; instead she focused on improving her life as it was. Each month she tackled a new set of resolutions: give proofs of love, ask for help, find more fun, keep a gratitude notebook, forget about results. She immersed herself in principles set forth by all manner of experts, from Epicurus to Thoreau to Oprah to Martin Seligman to the Dalai Lama to see what worked for her - and what didn't. Her conclusions are sometimes surprising - she finds that money can buy happiness, when spent wisely; that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that "treating" yourself can make you feel worse; that venting bad feelings doesn't relieve them; that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference - and they range from the practical to the profound.
As an added bonus, this recording includes a sampling of Gretchen's podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. In this episode, "Choose the Bigger Life", Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth Craft, discuss happiness, good habits, and whether Gretchen is going to get a dog.
©2009 Gretchen Rubin (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers
Helen
Listening to this became a chore…
I was interested in learning how one woman applied happiness principles in her everyday life, but it was a very self-involved story and this, combined with the OTT narration, made it difficult to listen too. It may have been better to read in print form. I feel like her Happiness Project was too rigid and planned, which made it seem like a chore, rather than letting her happiness journey evolve naturally. It was also very centred around her role as a mother and her job as a writer, and if you don’t share these roles then these parts of the book will be less relevant. Honestly, I did get sick of hearing her voice narrate these self-involved stories that, for the sake of my own happiness, I had to stop listening…
9 people found this helpful
Monica Bradley
Life changing listen
Simple practical sometimes funny advice. Inspired to improve my automatic Obliger habits – thank you Gretchen
3 people found this helpful