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The Happiness Project
www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project
114
I'm working on a book, THE HAPPINESS PROJECT--a memoir about the year I spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study I could find, whether from Aristotle or St. Therese or Martin Seligman or Oprah. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT will gather these rules for living and report on what works and what doesn’t. On this daily blog, I recount some of my adventures and insights as I grapple with the challenge of being happier. THE HAPPINESS PROJECT will hit the shelves in late 2009 (HarperCollins).
#12120 in All

“If God Had Not Made Brown Honey, Men Would Think Figs Far Sweeter.”

“If God had not made brown honey, men would think figs far sweeter than they do.” –Xenophanes They say that “Comparisons are odious,” but lately, I’ve been thinkin...

1 day ago

Do You Love Paradoxes? Embrace Happiness Paradoxes.

I’ve always loved paradoxes and koans, and was very struck by an observation by physicist Niels Bohr: “There are trivial truths and great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The...

3 days ago

“A Perfect Evening Involves Dorky Friends and Ridiculous Hijinks.”

Happiness interview: Liza Palmer. Liza Palmer is a bestselling writer with a new novel, More Like Her. One element of the novel is our assumption that we understand the realities of other people̵...

4 days ago

7 Tips I Use to Spark My Creativity.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day. This Wednesday: 7 tips I use to spark my creativity. I’ve read a lot of advice about how to spark creativity. Everyone’s creativity takes a different form, however, so the...

5 days ago

“I Want to Make Time for Fun.”

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we’re also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent. This week’...

6 days ago

What I Learned About Myself from Steve Martin.

Last week, I read Steve Martin’s memoir of his time learning and doing stand-up comedy, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life. I loved it. It’s a terrific example of one of my favorite k...

21 may 12

“To Be Happy At Home Is the Ultimate Result of All Ambition.”

“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends.” – Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No.68 This quotation is one of the t...

20 may 12

Guess: What’s the Most Popular Resolution for Happiness?

When people tell me they’ve done their own happiness projects, I always ask, “What resolutions did you try? What worked for you?” One answer comes up more than any other. I’m ...

19 may 12

Just Because Something is Fun For Someone Else Doesn’t Mean It’s Fun For You.

Further Secrets of Adulthood: Why it took me so long to grasp this, I’m not sure–but I’ve been much happier since I realized it. To have fun, I have to do something that’s fun...

17 may 12

7 Tips for Good Behavior–from the 16th Century.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day. This Wednesday: 8 tips for how to behave yourself, from sixteenth-century scholar Erasmus. One thing is true about happiness: there are very few new truths out there. The ...

16 may 12

An Overlooked, Exquisite Source of Hapiness? Giving Deserved Praise.

One of the most exquisite of pleasures, and one that’s too often overlooked, is the joy of giving well-deserved praise. I’m a gold-star junkie myself, and maybe that’s why I love th...

14 may 12 1 person likes this

Trying To Be More Virtuous Can Undermine Your Sense of Virtue.

Further Secrets of Adulthood:

12 may 12

Do You Make Time to “Treat” Yourself? You Should.

Last week, I posted a question: What are the small treats you give yourself? I was very interested to see the range of “treats” people identified in the comments, and I got some good idea...

11 may 12

“Happiness Without a Good Work Ethic Is Pretty Impossible.”

Happiness interview: Hugh MacLeod. Hugh is a cartoonist with a wildly popular blog, gapingvoid. He is the master of capturing a large idea in a single drawing, and a great deal of his work focuses on...

10 may 12 1 person likes this

7 Tips for Giving Gold Stars (From a Gold Star Junkie).

Oh, I’m a gold star junkie. I always want to see those gold stars stuck to the top of my homework. I crave praise, appreciation, recognition. I’ve done a lot to combat my craving for gold...

09 may 12

Pigeon of Discontent: “I Say Yes; I Want To Say No.”

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we’re also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent. This week’...

08 may 12

Secrets Revealed: A Simple (Lazy?) Way to Solve a Difficult Problem.

Over the weekend, I re-read Bertrand Russell’s The Conquest of Happiness. It’s all about happiness (no surprise), but in an aside, Russell explains how he solves difficult intellectual is...

07 may 12

Nothing Is More Exhausting Than the Task That is Never Started.

Further Secrets of Adulthood:

06 may 12

“Happiness Shouldn’t Be Associated with Guilt.”

Happiness interview: Jenny Lawson, also known as The Bloggess. Last week, amid a lot of buzz, Jenny Lawson’s new book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) hit the sh...

03 may 12

Quiz: Are You an “Abstainer” or a “Moderator”?

Every Wednesday is Tip Day, or Quiz Day. I’ve posted this quiz before, but because I think it’s such a very helpful thing to know about yourself, I’m posting it again. Recognizing t...

02 may 12

Pigeon of Discontent: “No One Appreciates Me.”

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we’re also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent. This week’...

01 may 12

What Are the Small Treats You Give Yourself?

Assay: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of small treats, small pleasures. They’re fun to experience, of course, and I think they also have a very important role to pla...

30 apr 12

“It Is a Sign of Maturity Not To Be Scandalized…”

“From 15 to 18 is an age at which one is very sensitive to the sins of others, as I know from recollections of myself. At that age you don’t look for what is hidden. It is a sign of maturity not to b...

29 apr 12

Proposed Resolution: Do Something Every Day.

One of my Secrets of Adulthood–perhaps counter-intuitively–is “It’s often easier to do something every day than to do it some days.” I post to my blog six days a week. I...

27 apr 12

Being Very Accessible Sometimes Makes It Hard To Connect With People.

Further Secrets of Adulthood:

26 apr 12

5 Tips For Resisting Impulse Shopping.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day. I just finished re-reading Paco Underhill’s fascinating book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. (Note: the book has been updated, but I read the first edition, so...

25 apr 12

Pigeon of Discontent: “I Waste Time on Mindless Things.”

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we’re also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent. This...

24 apr 12

Here It Is! The New and Improved Blog Design.

As promised, here’s the new and improved design for The Happiness Project blog. At last!Re-designing a blog is a bit like renovating your kitchen. You have to think about everything you want to...

23 apr 12

Resolution: Cross a Finish Line.

A common happiness hurdle is the arrival fallacy. We think that we’ll be happy once we arrive at some destination: a new job, a new apartment, a promotion, whatever. But often, arriving doesn&#...

20 apr 12

Resolution: Cross a Finish Line.

A common happiness hurdle is the arrival fallacy. We think that well be happy once we arrive at some destination: a new job, a new apartment, a promotion, whatever. But often, arriving doesnt make us...

20 apr 12

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