Studies show that doing a good deed will make you happier – and here’s a (little) opportunity!

Now for a little arrant self-promotion.

If you know people who would enjoy The Happiness Project blog, please take a moment to pass them the link. Word of mouth really works, because people respect the opinions of their friends and colleagues.

Now, I know that as good deeds go, this isn’t a particularly lofty or important deed, but still, it’s a nice thing to do.

And it will likely make you feel happier, too. Current research and the wisdom of the ages teaches us that doing good deeds makes us happier, and I’ve been surprised by just how powerful that effect is. It’s really true: a surefire way to get a shot of happiness is to do something to increase the happiness of someone else.

Paradoxically – and this is really worth thinking about – a key way to increase the happiness of other people is to be happy yourself. As Mark Twain said, “Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.” The circularity here is confusing, but worth puzzling over.

Well, I feel a little sheepish making a plea for help with blog promotion, but one of my Secrets of Adulthood is “It’s okay to ask for help,” and now I’m asking.

Comments

[Janna]

Sure, I'd love to pass on the word! And please, if you have time, check out my blog, http://th1nk-p1nk.blogspot.com. Thanks <3

[Debbie]

Hi Gretchen,

I enjoy reading your blog & included it on a list of books and resources on happiness: http://mymindonbooks.com/?page_id=78

[meatbrain]

I've added your blog to my sidebar, Gretchen. Hope it gets you a few new readers.

[tracydo]

Of course, Gretchen! I've just passed along a link to your blog to some of my happiness-seeking friends. Keep up the good work. I'm at http://www.sachistorichouse.com

[sea]

Okay, I'll do it.
I have something I've been meaning to ask you. I'm one of those people who read every word of a post, so I read over and over again the words you have at the bottom of each and every post (except this one! - you left it out this time...). I find it draining, but don't know how to stop before I've already read through it. Today I actually read it first before looking up and scanning the Leonardo quote. I know I sound silly, but would you consider making your RSS feed request a little less obtrusive? (Most blogs have a permanent link for it off on the upper right or left or bottom of the page.)

"If you're new to the Happiness Project, you may want to consider subscribing to my RSS feed: Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or sign up to get email updates in the box at the top righthand corner"

[graham]

You're absolutely right that it's okay to ask. And I'm glad you did! (In fact, I'll soon begin promoting my own new site, which I find uncomfortable, but it needs to be done!)

You're already on my blogroll, but I'll happily point my readers your way.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Dear Sea -- I was so interested to see your comment about my RSS/email reminder. The reason I started adding that note is that, on various blogging sites I read, folks said that their readers responded very well to similar messages (they saw an uptick in their RSS numbers and email sign-ups, etc.) I put it after the asterisk as a sign that it's not part of the actual post, but Typepad won't let me put it in a smaller font...I know what you mean, I read everything, too. Hmmmmm...conventional wisdom does say that the message is useful, but I don't want to annoy everyone. Maybe I will do a post on the subject, and take a poll!

[Jude]

Sheesh, Gretchen. According to Bloglines, you have 433 subscribers to the feed I subscribe to. Besides, you're probably getting lots more readers via the Huffington Post. How many readers do you need? :)

[sea]

Hi Gretchen, I can see that those RSS announcements could be useful. Maybe you could just include them at the bottom of your long posts, and leave them off the shorter ones? (But I don't know the technology - maybe having it different for different posts would be a pain.) Anyway, thanks for the response. Even if you keep it the same, that's fine...
(Maybe you could do a post on people who read everything, signs, etc. Is it better to avoid such visual clutter in general? Or is it all insignificant, as soon as it's done one moves on... But I know I get really bothered by tv ads, mostly because everything is edited to go by so quickly and I can't 'read' everything at my pace, I find it stressful. So I don't have a tv. This is a little rambly, but maybe you get what I mean.)

[Gretchen Rubin]

Hey, I didn't realize I could look up my Bloglines numbers! Thanks, Jude! That's good to know.
I will keep thinking about the RSS notice. Just putting it in from time to time seems like a good compromise.

[Tina]

Okay, if it's good to learn that it's okay to ask for help, I have a request. I am generally a happy person and do much of what you talk about in your blog on a regular basis. But the one part of life that so far keeps happiness at bay for me is the hormonal rush of PMS - got any good suggestions for dodging the PMS funk that invades my body and sould each month for a few days - those are the days that I can barely stand being inside my own head - imagine what it's like for my poor family????