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1-Page Summary of The Happiness Project

Overview

For thousands of years, humans have tried to find the meaning of life and happiness. The Greek philosopher Aristotle declared that happiness was the purpose of life, but he didn’t really define what it meant. For a long time people have struggled with this question, but we now know more about what makes us happy and how we can achieve it.

To answer the question of how to be happier, Gretchen Rubin researched happiness and came up with many different facets. She also factored in her personal experiences, leading her to this conclusion: we know when we’re happy and there are ways to enhance it.

With that in mind, she launched her happiness project. She dedicated a month to each of the following areas: marriage, parenting, friendship, work life and personal growth. During each month she tried to boost her own level of happiness in those areas.

The author believes that the following areas of life can be improved for people to feel happier: Relationships with partners, children and friends; Time management (work, play and hobbies); Positive attitude towards life in general; Viewing money as a tool rather than an end goal.

She set out to find happiness and it was a long process. She started by doing things that she thought would make her happy, like exercising and eating healthier. But, in the end, all of those things just made her feel temporarily better. So instead of spending so much time on herself, she focused more on others and learned how to be more grateful for what she has. By doing this small things each day like counting her blessings or taking a walk with someone special, she became happier than ever before

In her book, Rubin describes how she increased her happiness. She also explains that we can apply these methods to our own lives and increase our own happiness.

Big Idea #1: On the road to happiness: make good resolutions and take small steps.

Gretchen Rubin’s research showed that people are more likely to be successful if they focus on concrete goals rather than abstract concepts. In order to test this, she set herself up with measurable resolutions and requirements that she followed throughout the entire experiment.

Rubin knew what made her upset and tried to avoid those things using her resolutions. She told herself to “Do it now!” and “Be Gretchen!” in order to achieve positive feelings all the time. What she saw was a basic opportunity for more happiness by, for example, simply carrying out tasks as they arose (rather than putting them off) and staying true to herself every step of the way.

Rubin knew what easily soured her mood and tried to avoid those things using her resolutions. By giving herself instructions such as “Do it now!” and “Be Gretchen!” she hoped…

The author had some general guidelines that she learned in her life. She then repeated these to herself whenever she was working on something, regardless of whether it was a professional challenge or a personal issue.

For example, phrases like “People usually notice your mistakes less than you think,” “You don’t have to be good at everything,” and “What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while” helped her stay focused when things got rocky.

Finally, Rubin realized that the small steps and moments of happiness were what really helped her achieve the desired change. She wanted to attain the highest level of happiness possible from mundane situations. Rather than completely changing her life by moving to the rainforest or turning it upside down in a search for happiness, she simply wanted to become happier with her current situation.