The 5 Good and 5 Bad Lessons from the Happiness Project

thesuccessmanual on 10/05/10 city: New-York tags: remarkable book summary quotes  Comment: 0

The Happiness Project is the name of the website and the resulting book from Gretchen Rubin, and is an account of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom theories about how to be happier. [From the 100 Ways To Be Being Remarkable Series, a special project that brings you business and self-development advice from The Success Manual. ] First, some links The Best of The Happiness Project 153 Amazing Happiness Quotes A Concise Summary of The Happiness Project How did The Happiness Project start? Gretchen says, I was riding on the cross-town bus one rainy afternoon ride, I asked myself, "What do I want from life, anyway?" I thought, "I want to be happy. But I don't spend any time thinking about whether I am happy, or how I could be happier." On the spot, I resolved to dedicate one full year to my happiness project. 1. “Best is good, better is best.” In other words, the perfect is the enemy of the good. When you spend too much time pursuing the best, you’re bound to be unhappy. 2. You can make yourself happier. Don't get hung up on the word "happiness" and whether it's possible to be "happy." Just ask yourself, "Could I be happier? If so, how?" Then take concrete, manageable steps to be happier. 3. There is a difference between goals and resolutions. You hit a goal, but keep a resolution. “Run a marathon” makes a good goal. It’s specific, easy to measure success, and once you’ve done it, you’ve done it. “Sing in the morning” and “Exercise better” are better cast as resolutions. You won’t wake up one day and find that you’ve achieved it. It’s something you have to resolve to do every day, forever. 4. People don’t believe they need to be rich to be happy. People just want to have more money than most of the people they know. During one study mentioned respondents were asked would they like to earn $100,000 while their friends around them earned $200,000, or would they rather earn $50,000 while their friends only earned $30,000. Over half of the people asked chose to earn $50,000 less money, but earn more than the people they knew. It seems when it comes to money we just can’t think logically. 5. Fake it till you feel it. Feelings follow actions. If I’m feeling low, I deliberately act cheery, and I find myself actually feeling happier. If I’m feeling angry at someone, I do something thoughtful for her and my feelings toward her soften. 6. The biggest misconception about happiness. That it's selfish to try to be happier. Wrong. Studies show that, quite to the contrary, happier people are more likely to help other people, they're more interested in social problems, they do more volunteer work, and they contribute more to charity. They're less preoccupied with their personal problems And now,  the controversial (some might say 'superfcial') part of the Happiness project Gretechen writes about the five great don’ts of the happiness project 1. Don’t get organized. 2. Don’t use my self-control. 3. Don’t treat myself. 4. Don’t practice random acts of kindness. 5. Don’t try to keep that resolution. This is pretty confusing and banal, I think. Apart from this, The Happiness Project is good. Read The Successmaanual Online  | Get Our RSS Feed  | Follow us on Twitter Buy The Success Manual - Encyclopedia of advice to 130 most important skills. Permalink

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