The Happiness Project

Im a total nerd. First a post about my Grandma, and now yet ANOTHER post about a book. What can I say, I have no recent slutty Garfs pics of me and my friends pouring booze on each other. Maybe next week. ;)

I just finished a new book that I am obsessed with. Part, Eat Pray Love, part The Saint, The Surfer, and The CEO, The Happiness Project, is a memoir of Gretchen Rubins quest to make herself happier. Or, as she puts it "Sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun.

What's particularly interesting, is that Gretchen has a great life. She's not depressed, divorced, unhealthy, or recovering from a tragedy. She is a successful author, happily married, and lives in New York with her two young daughters. She even admits that she actually isn't unhappy at all. However, she takes on this project to create gratitude for her everyday life, and to show that simple steps like "Going to bed early" can increase ones happiness exponentially. 

Gretchen begins her project by identifying how one achieves happiness and by laying out her 12 Commandments, which she then turns into actions through her Resolutions chart. Each month represents a new resolution, combined with the actions necessary to make the resolution happen. For example, January's is "Boost Energy" which she decided to do through: clearing her closets, tackling nagging tasks, keeping a food diary, identifying the problem, and observing the one minute rule - which by the way states that "If it can be done in one minute or less, do it now. i.e hanging up your coat. Pure Genius.

Im not going to go into too much more detail about how she goes about achieving more happiness, but I will say, that this book is an inspiring and insightful read. It's motivated me to start fresh this year, and shed some of the habits I have created that truly don't add to my well being. My Happiness Project starts today. Bye bye oversleeping, not making my bed, throwing my clothes on the floor, and procrastinating until I am in a panic. I'll keep you updated from time to time on how I am doing with my resolutions, and I really do hope that some of you read this book and take from it as much as I did. Keep in mind that everyone's Happiness Project is different, you may not need to go to bed earlier. However, I sure do. 

For more information on The Happiness Project visit: http://www.happiness-project.com/