Leave a normal but happier life, through a one year project: one theme per month. This is different from other one-year project that takes off a year to travel, or switch to a different job in one year. The author also started small: from sleeping better and exercise from the first month, gradually move to “harder” topics like be mindful etc.
What genre is this book, memoir or practical/self-help book? For the author, it might be memoir, for the reader, it’s more of a practical book with self-help “instructions”. The author included many facts of her research when she does the projects, which are useful for the readers.
Another device, other than the research facts, the author used is her social network, blog comments from her readers. She used it expand the material of the book. It also looks like she get happier through that too.
- Your Note on page 141 | Location 2572 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:13:30 PM
How to make new friends with a targeted number? Thinking about that makes me feel depressed.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 141 | Location 2564-2572 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:13:30 PM
JUNE Make Time for Friends FRIENDSHIP Remember birthdays. Be generous. Show up. Don’t gossip. Make three new friends.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Note on page 146 | Location 2645 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:18:02 PM
shows she is organized in your projrct.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 145 | Location 2640-2645 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:18:02 PM
To do a better job of “Being generous,” I had to reflect on the nature of generosity. Giving presents is one way to be generous, but taking a box of chocolates to a dinner party wasn’t the answer for me. I don’t begrudge spending money on friends, but I dislike shopping. I didn’t want to create more errands for myself. So, okay. I don’t like to shop or do errands, but what could I do, within the confines of my own nature, to be generous? I needed to cultivate generosity of spirit. So I looked for other strategies. I hit on a few: “Help people think big,” “Bring people together,” “Contribute in my way,” and “Cut people slack.”
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 147 | Location 2660-2665 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:19:14 PM
As I was trying to stay alert for ways to “Help people think big,” I had an enormous happiness breakthrough: my Second Splendid Truth. I’m not sure why it took me so long to see this plainly, because I’d understood the principles involved for a long time, but there was a circularity to these ideas that confused me. At last, one June morning, it came clear: One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 147 | Location 2672-2673 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:20:26 PM
As Simone Weil observed, “Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.” That’s true no matter who is performing that real good.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 148 | Location 2674-2678 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:20:52 PM
Also, the Second Splendid Truth underscores the fact that striving to be happy isn’t a selfish act. After all, one of the main reasons that I set out to become happier in the first place was that I figured I’d have an easier time behaving myself properly if I felt less anxious, irritated, resentful, and angry; when I reflected on the people I knew, the happier people were more kind, more generous, and more fun. By being happy myself, I’d help make other people happy. And vice versa. “Do good, feel good; feel good, do good.”
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 148 | Location 2679-2683 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:21:24 PM
Bring People Together. My children’s literature reading group and my writers’ strategy group showed me that another way to be generous was to “Bring people together.” Studies show that extroverts and introverts alike get a charge out of connecting with others; also, because people are sources of information and resources for one another, if you help bring people together, you provide them with new sources of support.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 157 | Location 2828-2831 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:28:45 PM
Having a numerical goal seemed artificial at first, but it changed my attitude from “Do I like you? Do I have time to get to know you?” to “Are you someone who will be one of my three friends?” Somehow this shift made me behave differently: it made me more open to people; it prompted me to make the effort to say more than a perfunctory hello. Of course, “being friends” means different things in different stages of life.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 158 | Location 2841-2842 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:29:42 PM
Smile more frequently.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 158 | Location 2845-2845 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:29:52 PM
Actively invite others to join a conversation.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 158 | Location 2847-2848 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:30:01 PM
Create a positive mood.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 158 | Location 2853-2853 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:30:16 PM
Open a conversation.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 158 | Location 2856-2856 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:30:26 PM
Try to look accessible and warm.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 159 | Location 2860-2862 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:30:43 PM
Show a vulnerable side and laugh at yourself. Show a readiness to be pleased.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 159 | Location 2864-2865 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:31:06 PM
Follow others’ conversational leads.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 159 | Location 2868-2868 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:31:15 PM
Ask questions.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Note on page 163 | Location 2945 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:33:31 PM
great examples!
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 163 | Location 2938-2945 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:33:31 PM
It was amusing to see that some people’s commandments directly contradicted other people’s commandments, but I could envision how different people would benefit from opposing advice: Just say yes. Just say no. Do it now. Wait. One thing at a time. Do everything all at once. Always strive to do your best. Remember the 80/20 rule.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 165 | Location 2968-2975 | Added on Thursday, December 22, 2016 8:37:08 PM
JULY Buy Some Happiness MONEY Indulge in a modest splurge. Buy needful things. Spend out. Give something up.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 166 | Location 2989-2990 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 6:03:45 AM
Prosperity allows us to turn our attention to more transcendent matters—to yearn for lives not just of material comfort but of meaning, balance, and joy.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 170 | Location 3053-3055 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 7:36:31 AM
The First Splendid Truth holds that to think about happiness, we should think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. Money is most important for happiness in the “feeling bad” category. People’s biggest worries include financial anxiety, health concerns, job insecurity, and having to do tiring and boring chores. Spent correctly, money can go a long way to solving these problems.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 194 | Location 3456-3462 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 7:39:54 AM
AUGUST Contemplate the Heavens ETERNITY Read memoirs of catastrophe. Keep a gratitude notebook. Imitate a spiritual master.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 197 | Location 3513-3516 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:48:37 AM
As a consequence of reading these accounts, I found myself with a greatly heightened appreciation for my ordinary existence. Everyday life seems so permanent and unshakable—but, as I was reminded by these writers, it can be destroyed by a single phone call. One memoir after another started with a recitation of the specific moment when a person’s familiar life ended forever.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 200 | Location 3558-3559 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:50:56 AM
Several people shared their own versions of a one-sentence journal.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 203 | Location 3606-3609 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:51:56 AM
But I find it hard to stay in a grateful frame of mind—I take things for granted, I forget what other people have done for me, I have high expectations. To cure this, following the advice repeated by many happiness experts, I started a gratitude notebook. Each day, I noted three things for which I was grateful. Usually I logged my gratitude entries at the same time that I made my daily notes in my one-sentence journal. (These various tasks were making me happier, but they were also keeping me busier.)
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 203 | Location 3609-3616 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:52:47 AM
After keeping the notebook for a week, I noticed something: I never thought to mention some of the most important bases of my happiness. I took for granted that I lived in a stable, democratic society; that I could always count on my parents’ love, support, and general lack of craziness; the fact that I loved my work; the health of my children; the convenience of living right around the corner from my in-laws—not to mention the fact that I loved living right around the corner from my in-laws, a situation that many people might consider undesirable. I loved living in an apartment instead of a house: no yard work, no shoveling snow, no going outside to get the newspaper in the morning, no carrying out the trash. I was grateful that I would never again have to study for an exam or a standardized test. I tried to push myself to appreciate better the fundamental elements of my life, as well as the problems that I didn’t have.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 205 | Location 3640-3644 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:53:45 AM
But after two weeks of keeping a gratitude notebook, I realized that although gratitude boosts happiness, my gratitude notebook wasn’t having that effect anymore. It had started to feel forced and affected, and instead of putting me in a grateful frame of mind, it made me annoyed. Later, I read a study that suggested I might have had better luck with my gratitude notebook if I had kept it twice a week instead of every day; expressing gratitude less often seemed to keep it more meaningful. But by then I’d soured on the task. I gave it up.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 221 | Location 3925-3932 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:55:00 AM
Pursue a Passion BOOKS Write a novel. Make time. Forget about results. Master a new technology.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 222 | Location 3941-3944 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:57:01 AM
Long ago, I read the writer Dorothea Brande’s warning that writers are too inclined to spend their time on wordy occupations like reading, talking, and watching TV, movies, and plays. Instead, she suggested, writers should recharge themselves with language-free occupations like listening to music, visiting museums, playing solitaire, or taking long walks alone.
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The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Rubin, Gretchen)
- Your Highlight on page 235 | Location 4160-4167 | Added on Friday, December 23, 2016 10:57:36 AM
Pay Attention MINDFULNESS Meditate on koans. Examine True Rules. Stimulate the mind in new ways. Keep a food diary.
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