{"id":2689,"date":"2011-06-06T15:38:47","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T20:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2012-01-01T18:40:20","modified_gmt":"2012-01-01T23:40:20","slug":"book-review-the-happiness-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=2689","title":{"rendered":"Book Review-The Happiness Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/em><\/strong>J.D. Roth<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of my core beliefs is this: <\/span>It\u2019s more important to be happy than it is to be rich.<\/span><\/a><\/strong> My personal experience bears this out (though I\u2019m fortunate to be both), as do the anecdotes I receive from GRS readers. In fact, of all my fourteen philosophies, this one is most important\u2026.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>No surprise then that for the past couple of years, one of my favorite blogs has been Gretchen Rubin\u2019s <\/span>The Happiness Project<\/span><\/a>. Rubin is a former lawyer who abandoned her promising high-paying career to follow her bliss: She decided to become a writer. She started her blog as a part of a year-long experiment to find new ways to be happy. She\u2019s now turned that experience into a best-selling book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Happiness Project<\/a><\/span> (the book) <\/span>was released in late December. I\u2019d hoped to review it when it was published, but work on my own book got in the way. Last week, as I was happily soaking up the sun in the jungles of Belize, I finally<\/em> found time to read Rubin\u2019s book. It\u2019s fantastic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Happiness Project<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\nI\u2019ll admit that, on paper, The Happiness Project<\/em> may seem sort of lame. Rubin decided to spend one year consciously pursuing happiness. Each month, she tackled one specific aspect of life \u2014 marriage, work, attitude, and so on \u2014 and during that month, she attempted to meet a handful of related resolutions she hoped would make her happier. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her financial resolutions for July, for instance, were about money. Rubin is an \u201cunder-buyer\u201d; she\u2019s frugal by nature. For this month, she wanted to indulge in a modest splurge, buy needful things, spend out (meaning to actually use the stuff she has), and give something up (Rubin stopped obsessing over office supplies).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, the book isn\u2019t<\/em> lame. Rubin\u2019s style is warm and engaging. Though The Happiness Project<\/em> includes tons of info from research into happiness and well-being, this data isn\u2019t presented in a dull, dry way; it\u2019s neatly woven into Rubin\u2019s account of her day-to-day progress toward happiness (or lack thereof). She shares the research in casual prose, not in academic jargon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Among my favorite findings, I bookmarked these:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n