The Happiness Project: Does Everyone Need a Theme Song? Come On, Get Happy.

The Happiness Project

THE HAPPINESS PROJECT is the memoir of the year I spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier – happily, it was a #1 New York Times bestseller. As one of the hundreds of experiments I've conducted, I started this blog. Here, I recount my daily adventures in pursuit of happiness. –

Gretchen Rubin

What Started Me Thinking

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up." Mark Twain
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.” Robert Louis Stevenson
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.” Simone Weil
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” Colette
“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” G. K. Chesterton
“A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart.” Joseph Addison
“Best is good. Better is best.” Lisa Grunwald
“Order is Heaven’s first law.” Alexander Pope

Happiness Theories I Reject

Flaubert: "To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness; though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless."
Vauvenargues: “There are men who are happy without knowing it.”
Eric Hoffer: “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”
Sartre: "Hell is other people."
Willa Cather: “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them…”
Alexander Smith: “We are never happy; we can only remember that we were so once.”
John Stuart Mill: “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.”

Because I literally cannot resist this call to happiness, here is the “Come On, Get Happy” theme song from The Partridge Family television show. I sat grinning away as I listened to it.

If you need it, here’s the link.

And speaking of getting happier, join the 2010 Happiness Challenge! Start your own happiness project and make 2010 a happier year.

To help people stick with their happiness projects, I’ve set up a sign-up sheet so you can add your name to the 2010 Year of Happiness challenge. It’s worth taking a second actually to sign up; studies show that doing an action, like signing this pledge, will help you hold yourself accountable for your resolutions.

The areas of focus will be:
• January--Energy
• February--Love
• March--Work
• April--Money
• May--Mindfulness
• June--Order
• July--Spirit
• August--Fun
• September--Parenthood
• October--Friends
• November--Attitude
• December--Boot Camp Perfect

Of course, these categories are just my suggestions. You might choose to focus on very different areas for your happiness project.

January 1 is always a good time to make a resolution – 44% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions – so by adding your name now, you’re committed to taking action when January 1 rolls around. You might also consider using the online tools over at the Happiness Project Toolbox (bonus: you can see what other people are doing, which is fascinating.)

Also, check out the great material at Woman’s Day Happiness Project page. I particularly enjoyed this recent post on Gym Culture, Some Observations.

Make 2010 a happier year. Come on, get happy.

* The book The Happiness Project is coming out on December 29, so you can...
Pre-order! (if you pre-order, here’s how to get your bonus materials)
Check out the book tour info!
Read sample chapters!
Watch the one-minute book trailer!