Drawing on contemporary science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from pop culture, and her own experiences, Gretchen Rubin reveals unexpected truths about how we can live happier lives—and how to transform abstract ideas into concrete action.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
Podcast
On the top-ranking, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Gretchen discusses happiness and good habits with her sister, Hollywood show-runner Elizabeth Craft.
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. An acclaimed writer, she’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity.
An atmosphere of growth is a key to a happier life. Find articles about a range of topics, consider concrete tips and strategies, and download additional resources.
Drawing on contemporary science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from pop culture, and her own experiences, Gretchen Rubin reveals unexpected truths about how we can live happier lives—and how to transform abstract ideas into concrete action.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
Podcast
On the top-ranking, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Gretchen discusses happiness and good habits with her sister, Hollywood show-runner Elizabeth Craft.
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. An acclaimed writer, she’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity.
An atmosphere of growth is a key to a happier life. Find articles about a range of topics, consider concrete tips and strategies, and download additional resources.
Drawing on contemporary science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from pop culture, and her own experiences, Gretchen Rubin reveals unexpected truths about how we can live happier lives—and how to transform abstract ideas into concrete action.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
A chronicle of the twelve months Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, and lessons from popular culture for her “happiness project” about how to be happier.
Podcast
On the top-ranking, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Gretchen discusses happiness and good habits with her sister, Hollywood show-runner Elizabeth Craft.
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. An acclaimed writer, she’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity.
An atmosphere of growth is a key to a happier life. Find articles about a range of topics, consider concrete tips and strategies, and download additional resources.
I love to use a particular calendar date as a catalyst for reflection or action, and I find that a date has special power when it has a catchy name.
For instance, the midpoint of the year is July 2, and calling it “Halfway Day” makes it more compelling as a time to look back and to look forward. Using the national holiday of “Labor Day” makes it easier take some time to consider my own labor and whether I’m achieving my work aims for myself.
Do you have a date that you use as a catalyst for reflection or action? I think it’s funny that each year, MIT sends out its undergraduate acceptance letters on Pi Day—March 14.
Onward,
5 Things Making Me Happy
One item on my “23 for 23” list is to explore a new part of New York City every month. Last month, I just squeaked under the deadline when I visited the terrific new artificial island park, the “Little Island,” on March 30. It’s wonderful. The designers absolutely had the five senses in mind: I saw sparkling water all around; played with some chiming bells; smelled daffodils; tasted water from the water fountain; and touched the polished wood of the railings.
Do you know that it’s supposed to be good luck to say “Rabbit, rabbit” on the first day of the month? According to this superstition, if you remember to say those words before you say anything else out loud, you’ll have good luck all month. I’m very happy that I remembered to say “Rabbit, rabbit” for April—Life in Five Senses hits the shelves on April 18, so I want all the April luck I can get! (I’m not superstitious, but I’m a littlestitious.)
I love a good April Fool’s Day prank, and this year I borrowed an idea from a listener of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast: I stuck goggly-eyes on several items in the fridge. Easy, fun, and provoked a yelp of surprise from both Eleanor and Jamie—which made me very happy.
In my daily trips to the Met, one of my favorite places to visit is “Visible Storage.” This area is like the giant walk-in closet for the Met, where rows and rows of similar objects are tightly packed into cases. Many people don’t know about “Visible Storage”—it’s tucked into a dim mezzanine level—and I love bringing people there for their first visit. Recently, I was very pleased to see this beautiful tribute to the gallery from illustrator Aubrey Nolan in The New York Times: “Finding Peace in the City that Never Quiets Down.” In Life in Five Senses, I write about my encounter with “Visible Storage”—and I also invoke it for my ending. (If I do say so myself, I’m good at writing endings.)
In my neighborhood, one sign of the changing seasons is the different plants in the tree wells. When I walk Barnaby, it’s such a pleasure to see the new springtime flowers start to appear.
Updates
This month’s Jump-Start in the Happier™ app offers seven days of actionable prompts to help you spark your creativity using the power of the senses. It’s free to join and starts Tuesday, April 11th. Find it on the home screen of the Happier app.
This week on Happier with Gretchen Rubin
PODCAST EPISODE: 424
We talk about why it’s a good idea to taste a new food, or listen to a new kind of music, before the age of 25. We also discuss why the date of April 10 makes a good catalyst to think about harnessing the Four Tendencies, and executive coach Michael Melcher describes many practical ways to make networking easier—and why it matters.
Former rocket scientist and bestselling author Ozan Varol’s new book Awaken Your Genius shares a simple guide to stop living life on auto-pilot, unlock your originality, and unleash your unique talents.
Q: From your book, can you share an observation about how we might help ourselves to become happier, healthier, more productive, or more creative?
A: I wrote my book Awaken Your Genius because genius isn't for a special few and it can be awakened in anyone.
The trick is learning to unlock it—and little tweaks can make all the difference. For example, there’s a room in our home that I’ve called my “home office” since we first moved in. I had no good reason for the name—other than an “office” is what people conventionally call a room where work is supposed to get done.
But in my mind, an office is where good ideas go to die. An office conjures up images of cubicles, half-empty cups of awful coffee, and headache-inducing fluorescent lights.
Creativity, in other words, hates offices.
So instead of calling my room an office, I started calling it an idea lab. An idea lab is where innovative ideas are born. An idea lab involves experimentation. An idea lab is for daydreaming. I love my idea lab (and I hated my office).
You might be wondering: What’s in a name? Who cares what a room is called?
Names matter, much more than you might assume. This is called priming. Mere exposure to a word or an image can have a powerful influence on your thinking. And the importance of naming extends far beyond your office.
Don’t call it a status meeting. Call it something that inspires the attendees to show up in a way that will move the needle—a visioning lab, a collaboration cave, or an idea incubator.
Don’t call it a to-do list. When I hear “to-do list,” I want to run as far and fast as possible. Call it a playlist or a design list—a title that will delight you and pull you in.
Don’t call the position Senior Director of Operations. Call it Head of Getting Moonshots Ready for the Real World (which was the real title of my friend Obi Felten when she worked at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory).
If you want unconventional results, pick an unconventional name. Find your own words that ignite your imagination and prime you for what you’re trying to achieve.
Q: In your own life, have you found ways to tap into the power of your five senses? (For instance, I often take a sniff of a spice jar as I pass through my kitchen to help ground me in the present moment.)
A: Petting our dogs, Sputnik and Einstein, instantly grounds me in the present moment. They remind me every day of what’s truly important in life (food, cuddles, play, and sleep).
Q: Is there a particular motto that you’ve found very helpful? (I remind myself to “Be Gretchen.”) Or a quotation that has struck you as particularly insightful?
A: “Show Your Purple.” I grew up in Istanbul, where the education system was deeply conformist. In elementary school, all boys were expected to have the same short haircut. I thought haircuts were a waste of time, and I frequently skipped them. My school principal—a bulldozer of a man better suited to be a prison warden—spotted my longer-than-standard hairdo during a school assembly, grabbed a hair clip from a female classmate, and stuck it in my hair in front of my classmates to shame me publicly.
Shame, for Turks, is worse than death. I never skipped a haircut again.
Once my eccentricities turned into liabilities—once I began to get pushed around literally and proverbially—I turned into an octopus, changing my colors to match the colors around me. I even changed my favorite color. When people asked, instead of revealing the truth—purple—I’d say blue. Because blue was what normal boys were supposed to like, and I really, really wanted to be normal.
Here’s the thing: We notice things because of contrast. Something stands out because it’s different from what surrounds it. If you blend into the background—if there’s no idiosyncrasy, no fingerprints, no contrast—you become invisible. You become the background. The only way to attract people who like purple is to show your purple.
Shortly after my now-wife, Kathy, and I first met, she asked me, “What’s your favorite color?” I was about to blurt out “blue,” but I swallowed the word and returned to myself. “Purple,” I said, “I love purple.” She looked at me and smiled one of her gorgeous, infectious smiles. “Ever since I was a kid,” she said, “I thought I’d marry a boy whose favorite color is purple.”
And I knew I finally belonged.
Q: What simple habit boosts your happiness or energy?
A: I call it “putting yourself in airplane mode."
When I get on an airplane, I usually follow the same ritual. I take my seat and open up my laptop to do some work. When it’s time for takeoff, I begrudgingly put the laptop away. I twiddle my thumbs until the plane reaches 10,000 feet and that comforting chime tells me that I can pull out my laptop and go back to being productive.
But on a flight I took a few years ago, my ritual was disrupted by a voice from within telling me to keep my laptop in my backpack. I honored that voice, ordered some crappy airplane wine and stared out the window—for 4 hours straight.
As my mind and body relaxed, and as I stepped into the void with no intention to do anything, something strange happened. Amazing ideas started to come. The solution to a problem that had been bugging me for weeks. Thoughts for future books and keynotes. The more I listened, the more insights arrived. Those 4 hours spent staring out the window ended up being the most productive four hours I’ve had in recent memory.
One of the biggest lies we’ve been told is that productivity is all about doing. But your best work will come from undoing—from slowing down and giving yourself time and space.
Being idle isn’t the same thing as being lazy. As the saying goes, it’s the silence in between the notes that makes the music.
The void can’t be reserved for your twice-a-year vacation in the sun. Shut down the noise, if only for a little bit, throughout your day. Put yourself in airplane mode. Sit and stare at the ceiling. Wander aimlessly through a park without a podcast or audiobook. Allow interior silence to oppose contemporary chaos. Sink into the rhythm of no rhythm.
Step into the void—where all things that never existed are created.
Q: Has a book ever changed your life – if so, which one and why?
A: How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. This book took me to places that I didn’t even know existed—and set me on a path to deep healing and transformation.
Want to find more ways to explore your senses?
ON SALE APRIL 18, 2023
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World
Pre-order Life in Five Senses and get access to an exclusive five-video series with quick, easy experiments you can use to explore your own senses.