The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
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- Create Date：2021-04-15 13:57:48
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Gretchen Rubin
- ISBN：006293788X
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Summary
"This book made me happy in the first five pages。" --AJ Jacobs， author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Award-winning author Gretchen Rubin is back with a bang， with The Happiness Project。 The author of the bestselling 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill has produced a work that is "a cross between the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat， Pray， Love。" （Sonya Lyubomirsky， author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want） In the vein of Julie and Julia， The Happiness Project describes one person's year-long attempt to discover what leads to true contentment。 Drawing at once on cutting-edge science， classical philosophy， and real-world applicability， Rubin has written an engaging， eminently relatable chronicle of transformation。
Award-winning author Gretchen Rubin is back with a bang， with The Happiness Project。 The author of the bestselling 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill has produced a work that is "a cross between the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat， Pray， Love。" （Sonya Lyubomirsky， author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want） In the vein of Julie and Julia， The Happiness Project describes one person's year-long attempt to discover what leads to true contentment。 Drawing at once on cutting-edge science， classical philosophy， and real-world applicability， Rubin has written an engaging， eminently relatable chronicle of transformation。
Reviews
Brian Kerr
，
Listened to it based on a book recommendation I got from within another book。 Not really my cup of tea， listened to it on audiobook and finished it even out of curiosity of what was going to be covered。Some nice ideas and contemplations by the author amongst the content。
Geoff Last
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The story is compelling。 Good job writer！ If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on Novel Star， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top
Jane Sweatt
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I am reading this for a book group I enjoy participating in once a month。 I don't know that I have really benefited from reading this book。 There are lots of creative ideas， concepts and paths one can take to achieve greater happiness shared in this book。 Benefiting oneself， spouse， children， in laws， friends， professional acquaintances， etc。 I am sure that I can apply things from the book in my life and have implemented concepts from the book over the years。 Or my version of them shall I say。 I I am reading this for a book group I enjoy participating in once a month。 I don't know that I have really benefited from reading this book。 There are lots of creative ideas， concepts and paths one can take to achieve greater happiness shared in this book。 Benefiting oneself， spouse， children， in laws， friends， professional acquaintances， etc。 I am sure that I can apply things from the book in my life and have implemented concepts from the book over the years。 Or my version of them shall I say。 I'm glad I read it but wasn't really invested。 。。。more
Andre Engco
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Did I learn what it means to be happy？ No。 Has the key to happiness shown itself？ Nope。 But am I happier now that I read this book？ Maybe a little :）
Natasha
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Audiobook
Laura Boudreau
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I read the entire book， but I don't think I learned anything I didn't know。 Pretty well written， though， and had some interesting parts。 I read the entire book， but I don't think I learned anything I didn't know。 Pretty well written， though， and had some interesting parts。 。。。more
Misty
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Entertaining self help book with some good ideas！
Layla Albassam
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Didn’t like it at all。
Mindy
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I have very mixed feelings about this book。 There are so many useful bits of information lodged in between vaguely appropriate quotes and obscure literary references。 I struggled to finish it which surprised me considering how excited I was to pick this one up。 It was too specific to the author which made it hard to connect to， far beyond the “each journey is different” and bordering on irrelevant。 I wanted to scream when the author refused to try meditation but willingly gave HYPNOSIS a shot。 T I have very mixed feelings about this book。 There are so many useful bits of information lodged in between vaguely appropriate quotes and obscure literary references。 I struggled to finish it which surprised me considering how excited I was to pick this one up。 It was too specific to the author which made it hard to connect to， far beyond the “each journey is different” and bordering on irrelevant。 I wanted to scream when the author refused to try meditation but willingly gave HYPNOSIS a shot。 The inclusion of external quotes is a hard to pull off without it feeling like a cop out， and I’m not sure Gretchen got away with it in this book。 There were so many towards the end that it felt pushy， like she was just trying to show how many books she’s read。Overall the tone was frustrating and bit brash， but I did find a lot of good points in here。 Lots of them came from the excerpts from her blog responses。 。。。more
Victoria R。
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I don't really get all the 1 star reviews for this book。 I found the author to be intelligent， educated and fun to read。 Yes， she has a way different lifestyle/income level than most people but that didn't change the intent or content of the book。 I appreciate that she doesn't claim all I need to do is pray， read the bible and wash my face to feel happy。 She also doesn't dismiss actual depression or tell you that this book will "cure" your sadness。 She owns her personality "faults" and openly st I don't really get all the 1 star reviews for this book。 I found the author to be intelligent， educated and fun to read。 Yes， she has a way different lifestyle/income level than most people but that didn't change the intent or content of the book。 I appreciate that she doesn't claim all I need to do is pray， read the bible and wash my face to feel happy。 She also doesn't dismiss actual depression or tell you that this book will "cure" your sadness。 She owns her personality "faults" and openly states that every "Happiness Project" will be unique。 Found many takeaway ideas and look forward to reading another one of her books。 Only negative note would be that due to the age of the book （2009）， some parts read a bit dated。 。。。more
Lord Zion
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I got as far as April。 I couldn't find much in common with a somewhat spoilt middle class American writer with two kids living in Manhattan。 Decided to read a book about snipers instead。 I got as far as April。 I couldn't find much in common with a somewhat spoilt middle class American writer with two kids living in Manhattan。 Decided to read a book about snipers instead。 。。。more
Shawna
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I followed the blog that the author started while writing this book and as such I did not feel it super important to purchase and read the book。 It was a great thing for me to read now with the last year under my belt and considering factors of resilience。 I picked it up at a second hand sale and it’s been sitting on my ‘to read’ shelf for a couple of years。 I really love that she acknowledges her privilege。 And I really love that she knows that her journey to happiness doesn’t look like anyone I followed the blog that the author started while writing this book and as such I did not feel it super important to purchase and read the book。 It was a great thing for me to read now with the last year under my belt and considering factors of resilience。 I picked it up at a second hand sale and it’s been sitting on my ‘to read’ shelf for a couple of years。 I really love that she acknowledges her privilege。 And I really love that she knows that her journey to happiness doesn’t look like anyone else’s journey。 There were lots of little pieces of wisdom for gleaning。 。。。more
Melissa Scruggs
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I liked the concept and potential of this book， but found myself annoyed by the author。 I felt like I was reading a student’s homework assignment where they were trying to put in as much fluff as they could in order to fill a set number of pages。 This whole book could have just been a blog post or magazine article。 There were some awe inspiring quotes and good tips， but not enough for a book。 I felt like she rambled on about how she couldn’t do what she set out to do， which is realistic， but not I liked the concept and potential of this book， but found myself annoyed by the author。 I felt like I was reading a student’s homework assignment where they were trying to put in as much fluff as they could in order to fill a set number of pages。 This whole book could have just been a blog post or magazine article。 There were some awe inspiring quotes and good tips， but not enough for a book。 I felt like she rambled on about how she couldn’t do what she set out to do， which is realistic， but not the motivation I was looking for when I selected the book。 。。。more
Sami Diaz
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OOF。 i had this book on my to read list for years and i finally sat down to listen to the audiobook。 i could barely get through the end of chapter two。 this reads less like a self-help book and more like observing a trainwreck in motion。 i threw in the towel after the author describes her week of being Extremely Nice to her husband， since it seemed like she was just doing the bare minimum to be considered a decent wife/human being。 and she STILL was annoyed that her husband didn't notice she'd b OOF。 i had this book on my to read list for years and i finally sat down to listen to the audiobook。 i could barely get through the end of chapter two。 this reads less like a self-help book and more like observing a trainwreck in motion。 i threw in the towel after the author describes her week of being Extremely Nice to her husband， since it seemed like she was just doing the bare minimum to be considered a decent wife/human being。 and she STILL was annoyed that her husband didn't notice she'd been "Extremely Nice" to him！ she simply couldn't do anything without expecting to be lavished in praise for it — no wonder she doesn't feel happy。 further， her relief that she no longer had to be that level of nice after 7 days made it seem like maybe she should consider other peoples' happiness before her own。 。。。more
Sarah Khan
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I listen to the Happier podcast and am a HUGE fan of Gretchen Ruben。 I loved reading this book; made me rethink about how I define happiness。
Alicia
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There are a few things I will try from this book。
Shannyn
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This book has some good advice， like exercise more， don’t nag your spouse， get rid of junk in your house etc。 But there is also some cringe worthy bad advice- like ‘start a collection’。 Who just randomly starts a collection？ Especially after realizing pointless clutter is bad？ Several of her statements rubbed me the wrong way。 She is constantly talking about her need for validation， even acknowledging it’s a flaw， yet constantly repeats that she needs this。 Doesn’t seem like she is following her This book has some good advice， like exercise more， don’t nag your spouse， get rid of junk in your house etc。 But there is also some cringe worthy bad advice- like ‘start a collection’。 Who just randomly starts a collection？ Especially after realizing pointless clutter is bad？ Several of her statements rubbed me the wrong way。 She is constantly talking about her need for validation， even acknowledging it’s a flaw， yet constantly repeats that she needs this。 Doesn’t seem like she is following her own rules， like to do things for yourself instead of others approval。 Plus， I have a hard time sympathizing for her since she is super rich and not all that unhappy。 This book seems more like ‘my to do list to show off what a good person I can be’ rather then how to be happy。 。。。more
Shubhashree
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Of the many self help books that I have read， this book stands out as each one of us relates to the term Happiness。 This book is all about the journey of a woman who took it upon herself to do a project for a year – the Happiness project。The author has picked a year to do the project。 Each month she considers following certain tasks and goals which she adds on to as she proceeds through the year。 The author starts by asserting “Be yourself” in January followed by “Let it go” in February and so o Of the many self help books that I have read， this book stands out as each one of us relates to the term Happiness。 This book is all about the journey of a woman who took it upon herself to do a project for a year – the Happiness project。The author has picked a year to do the project。 Each month she considers following certain tasks and goals which she adds on to as she proceeds through the year。 The author starts by asserting “Be yourself” in January followed by “Let it go” in February and so on for the next 10 months。 In order to achieve these goals she breaks down each goal into smaller tasks。 But the best part of the book is where the author tries something and does not like and drops it from her routine – an indication that we don’t have to like what we take up but can drop it mid way too。 It is not as if the author was unhappy and started this project。 But then think about it， do you first need to be unhappy to start a happiness project。 Being happy is a practice and happiness is a journey and not an end。 This book shows how small things can bring in some changes and how these small changes can make us happy in the long run。 Practice being happy。 An excellent read。 Don’t wait for a new year to begin to start making resolutions – any day you start to make yourself happy is a beginning of a new chapter in your life。 。。。more
Katie
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This interesting book is full of suggestions that the author actually undertook in her year long happiness journey。 A few of my favorites were being silly with your children， writing a book in 30 days， clearing clutter， buying needful things， and keeping written record of resolutions。 The text is written in a relatable and funny tone。
Ally
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This book is not deeply profound。 It’s exactly what it states on the back， the journey of a middle-aged upper-class New Yorker as she works to create a happier life for herself。 This book does not claim to be anything more than this particular persons experience， but it is well-researched and the way Rubin applies her findings to her monthly resolutions made it a read that can be beneficial to the reader if they’re open to it。 I didn’t expect to like this book after reading the reviews， but I no This book is not deeply profound。 It’s exactly what it states on the back， the journey of a middle-aged upper-class New Yorker as she works to create a happier life for herself。 This book does not claim to be anything more than this particular persons experience， but it is well-researched and the way Rubin applies her findings to her monthly resolutions made it a read that can be beneficial to the reader if they’re open to it。 I didn’t expect to like this book after reading the reviews， but I noticed that many negative reviews were against Gretchen herself and not the content of the book。 Rubin admits to not rating high in “agreeableness” and she knows that she can be a “nag” and a “pill”， and her self-awareness is the saving grace of this book and allowed me to see past those traits。 It seems like it caters to the Eat， Pray， Love demographic， but this book seemed a lot more substantial in my opinion and wasn’t created through exploitation of non-western cultures （which is probably why I enjoyed this far more than Gilbert’s work）。 This book is an easy， light read that is a good mental break between more dense non-fiction or books with darker themes。 Is it the best book ever？ No。 Is it a literary masterpiece？ Not at all。 But it was more enjoyable than I expected and I am happy that I found a self-help book in which the writer goes on a “journey” that also included a good chunk of self-awareness and acknowledgment of privilege。 I am probably the complete opposite of Rubin， as far as personality goes， and my resolutions list would look much different than hers， but I still was able to take away a thing or two from hearing her story。 For these reasons I am giving it four stars。 。。。more
Nicee
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Refreshing reads， somehow it feels like home。
Trishwah
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Some good ideas here。 I could not possibly keep up with that much tracking。
Shannon
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While I wasn't crazy about the book， the ideas are really awesome and fun。 While I wasn't crazy about the book， the ideas are really awesome and fun。 。。。more
Mallory Heinzeroth
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I found some of the principles of the books and a few of her specific techniques for managing to stick to her resolutions to be interesting and helpful。 Gretchen did highlight that this was her personal project and it really felt that way。 I’m in a different place I’m my life and some components did not resonate the same。
Kristina Nikolayeva
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I don’t want to give it a one star， because it’s not that it’s poorly written， it’s just that I didn’t enjoy it personally。 I didn’t finish reading it because I recognized that this book isn’t written for people like me。 I’m not really a straight， married， middle aged woman that has no interference from depression or anxiety。 And that’s not some kind of comment on people who are in that position， by the way。 There is absolutely nothing wrong with it。 I just happen to be on the complete opposite I don’t want to give it a one star， because it’s not that it’s poorly written， it’s just that I didn’t enjoy it personally。 I didn’t finish reading it because I recognized that this book isn’t written for people like me。 I’m not really a straight， married， middle aged woman that has no interference from depression or anxiety。 And that’s not some kind of comment on people who are in that position， by the way。 There is absolutely nothing wrong with it。 I just happen to be on the complete opposite end to her。Don’t recommend this unless you are in a relatively similar position to Gretchen Rubin， the author。 She is a married， middle-aged mother that notices she isn’t depressed but isn’t happy either， therefore takes on monthly challenges to combat it。That’s completely valid and if you relate then I say go for it！ 。。。more
Sam Barnes
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I DNF'd this after 75 pages。 It felt quite dated， and the conversational/casual nature of the novel made it hard for me to take much away from it。 At times， the author quoted random statistics， and I really wished there were sources to validate the opinions brought forward。 I also found it quite hard to have many take aways from this book because it was quite specific to the author - the entire chapter for February was dedicated to her marriage， which was incredibly irrelevant to me because I am I DNF'd this after 75 pages。 It felt quite dated， and the conversational/casual nature of the novel made it hard for me to take much away from it。 At times， the author quoted random statistics， and I really wished there were sources to validate the opinions brought forward。 I also found it quite hard to have many take aways from this book because it was quite specific to the author - the entire chapter for February was dedicated to her marriage， which was incredibly irrelevant to me because I am not married。All in all， I understand this book， it just isn't for me， and I think actual therapy would be better for me than reading this book。 。。。more
Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller
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Gretchen Rubin and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things， which made reading The Happiness Project a fulfilling endeavor。Having loved most of her organizing advice in Outer Order， Inner Calm， I bumped up this title from a “maybe someday” to “let me get ahold of that immediately” in my TBR。 And it did not disappoint。I think change of any sort starts with observing your own behavior and evaluating if it’s serving you。 In Gretchen’s case， she determined she wasn’t as happy as she thought she could be Gretchen Rubin and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things， which made reading The Happiness Project a fulfilling endeavor。Having loved most of her organizing advice in Outer Order， Inner Calm， I bumped up this title from a “maybe someday” to “let me get ahold of that immediately” in my TBR。 And it did not disappoint。I think change of any sort starts with observing your own behavior and evaluating if it’s serving you。 In Gretchen’s case， she determined she wasn’t as happy as she thought she could be and instigated a series of happiness goals over the course of a year。 Each month had a focus where she really dug into the why’s of her current behavior and constantly strove to improve， tracking her progress all the while。 My favorite thing about her method is that it’s not about attaining perfection in any one category， it’s about implementing new daily habits that over time add up to meaningful results。 It’s meant to be incremental。 Even the tiniest change can have life-changing results in the long run。I also like that it’s not a cookie cutter method。 Each person comes up with their own categories。 Many of my own personal growth goals were highlighted in Gretchen’s journey， of which I appreciated。 The book is definitely front-loaded， where most of the best ideas and experiences are in the first half， but there were still a few good moments throughout （a couple of her later categories got a little too much page time for my tastes， but that’s a small trifle）。Overall， this book gave me the opportunity to revamp my life goals， along with a slightly different lens through which to examine them。 A win。Recommendations: The book is more an exhibition of the author's life and her personal strategies for dealing with her own specific deficiencies rather than a typical self help book that gives research and steps on how to achieve happiness。 More creative non-fiction than self-helpy。 However， it gave me a good source of inspiration for my own personal goals and I found the process she went through really interesting。 Because of that， I liked the book more than most （。。。at least in relation to the reviews I'm reading below）。 Expectations before venturing in are everything with this title。My Personal Happiness ProjectLittle did I know， I’ve been running my own version of this for the past couple of years， only without the structure。 I call it my “Chasing Joy” objective which entails figuring out what activities brings me joy and packing my days with as many of them as possible。 Here are the things:1。 Spending more quality time with my kids。 And having more patience when I do。2。 Being creative every day。 Cross stitching， scarf making， diamond arting， scrapbooking – all blissful activities for me。3。 Memory keeping。 Much like Gretchen， I’ve decided to “become my family’s champion” for memory keeping。 I love how she phrased that – it gave my goal a lot more intention。4。 Practicing looking internally for validation。5。 Letting go of crazy perfectionism。 I’m still not convinced this is possible but any attention and effort will only serve me in the long run。6。 Stronger focus on physical health which entails working out， meal planning， cooking， and self care。7。 Striving for digital minimalism。8。 Work on reviewing every day and continue to establish a strong presence in the book world。9。 Mental health focus of meditating， journaling， Al Anon meetings， daily readers， and writing raw self-evaluation posts。10。 Household goals。 Decluttering， establishing routines， and getting housework out of the way as efficiently as possible so I have more time to work on other joyful things。What does your project look like？ 。。。more
Catherine
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Lots of good takeaways in here， things like lightening up and being more mindful， less sarcastic and cluttered。 I’m not sure I learned anything super new， but I do admire Ms。 Rubin for dedicating a full year to being more happy。 That’s some dedication。 I know many people are struggling to survive and， for them， happiness probably feels like a luxury they can’t afford。 I myself have been in that place and a book like this would probably have enraged me。 But I believe it was written with earnest i Lots of good takeaways in here， things like lightening up and being more mindful， less sarcastic and cluttered。 I’m not sure I learned anything super new， but I do admire Ms。 Rubin for dedicating a full year to being more happy。 That’s some dedication。 I know many people are struggling to survive and， for them， happiness probably feels like a luxury they can’t afford。 I myself have been in that place and a book like this would probably have enraged me。 But I believe it was written with earnest intentions。 I do believe we could all stand make improvements in our daily lives that would move the meter， even if ever so incrementally， toward happiness。 Myself included。 Here’s hoping we can move forward as a nation/world toward a place where the pursuit of happiness doesn’t have to feel like a pipe dream。 。。。more
Chan
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Smug and entitled drivel from a born-into-wealth， self-proclaimed perfectionist。 Irritating， snobbish and did I mention smug。Recommend for: Absolutely no one
Alexander Layman
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