Happier With Gretchen Rubin

We suggest several practical solutions to common, but challenging, socialsituations. We also address a listener’s question, “Do Questioners ever experienceQuestioner-rebellion?” and discuss the know-yourself-better question of “Is yourbirthday important to you?”Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/452Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest New York Times bestselling book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now availablewherever books are sold.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit

At the top of one of the most significant pages of his notebooks, Charles Darwin wrote “I think.” There are three good reasons to explain why he might have done so.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens wi

We talk about how Elizabeth’s novel-writing is going, now that the Hollywood writers’ strike is over. Inspired by a recent wedding, we discuss the huge contribution that old friends can make to our happiness. Plus we highlight a great suggestion from a listener about how Obligers (and people around Obligers) can create useful accountability.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest New York Times bestselling book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now availablewherever books are sold.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https

We talk about why making a visual representation of a challenge can help usmake tough decisions. We also share listeners’ suggestions about improvementsthey’ve made to their daily routines, and Elizabeth reveals the brand of runningshoe that cured her foot pain.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/451Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest New York Times bestselling book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now availablewherever books are sold.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit

My daughter’s experience helping with little kids at school illustrates the same principle as the sponsorship program in A.A.: by giving support, we gain.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bo

In this Very Special Episode, we discuss ideas, hacks, and habits related to the challengeof performance. We all have to perform—give a wedding toast, make a presentation to co-workers, give an announcement to a group, or make a formal speech to a large crowd. Weshare tips from our own experiences, as well as many suggestions from listeners, for dealingwith stage fright, memorization, mistakes, mishaps, and audience engagement. Plus, we havenew merch!Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/450Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order

After people die, their possessions often seem transformed, because they’re no longer animated by the animating force of their owner. It’s startling and transcendent to experience this change.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywo

In honor of International Podcast Day, we talk about all the ways that listening to podcasts boosts our happiness—by making it easier and more fun to exercise, fall asleep, learn information, do chores, relieve anxiety, commute, and stay connected to others.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest New York Times bestselling book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now availablewherever books are sold.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https:/

We discuss why making a mindful investment in ourselves is a good way to spendour time, energy, and money. We also suggest a hack for falling asleep moreeasily, and we tackle a listener’s question about a messy adult son who hasmoved back home. Plus, we talk about the nostalgia we felt when we shared afrosted cherry Pop-Tart—fun with the five senses!Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin on TikTok and YouTubeGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode: http://happiercast.com/449Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest New York Times bestselling book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now availablewherever books are sold.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and

The familiar fable of “The Tortoise and the Hare” offers many possible lessons, and the most common moral—“Slow and steady wins the race”--actually isn’t the most apt.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens

There are 100 days left until the end of the year, so if something needs to getdone, start the countdown! We also read a listener’s suggestion for anotherreason to visit your local library, and we take a deep dive into listeners’ responsesto two listener questions related to Rebels and school: How to help a Rebel childwith ADHD, and how to help a Rebel child succeed when starting college.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/448Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selli

Our attitude toward a habit or an activity can be dramatically changed by the words we use to describe it. I love the idea of a “happiness project,” but to some people, that sounds too much like homework.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happie

A Case of Obliger-Rebellion, Advice About Waking Up a Child, and Do Spoilers Spoil Stories?We talk about Elizabeth’s rare episode of Obliger-rebellion (spoiler: it involved a box of chocolates) and about advice for helping children get themselves out of bed in the morning. Speaking of spoilers, we discuss surprising research, and our own views, about whether spoilers spoil stories.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gre

We talk about why we should pay someone a meaningful complement, and weshare many wonderful, moving compliments received by listeners. We alsohighlight a quick, easy hack that can protect your digital privacy and discuss anamusing (and also enlightening) know-yourself-better question.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/447Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin

New terms allow us to understand the world in a deeper way. Opportunity cost, abstainers vs. moderators, finishers vs. openers—sometimes, having the right vocabulary helps us see more clearly.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywo

We talk about why it’s a good idea to re-examine our personal, work, and familyroutines to look for opportunities to improve. We also discuss how Obligers canrecognize when they’re entering the state of Obliger-rebellion, and we answer alistener question about our reading habits.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/446Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is p

During the covid period, my daughter Eliza returned to live on campus for her final semester of college. She was told to pack lightly, and as an Upholder, I took that to mean that she should pack very, very lightly. But an Obliger friend had a wiser approach.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the ot

We talk about the eleventh anniversary of “Happier at Home,” which is Elizabeth’s favorite book written by Gretchen. We also discuss a lesson in standing up for yourself, and about the energy that comes from getting rid of clutter.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out th

We reflect on two questions that can help us make our work lives happier, moreproductive, and more creative. We also talk about why it’s a good idea tonominate people for awards, and how to manage the breakdown of the linebetween work time and leisure time.Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/445Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Proj

A story from the life of writer Shirley Hazzard illustrates the conundrum: When do we think, “It can still be better,” and when do we decide, “It’s finished?”Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on YouTube@GretchenRubin on TikTok@GretchenRubin on Instagram@GretchenRubin on ThreadsGet the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotesGet Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kat