We talk about a thought-provoking, helpful exercise to help prepare for the upcoming year. We also share an easy hack for making parties more fun, reflections on #Read25in25, and re-visit a whimsical know-yourself-better question.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Home cotton-candy machine
• Listen to episode 355
• Simon Haisell's Footnotes and Tangents on Substack
• Last chance to sign up for The Happiness Project Revisited course
• Elizabeth is reading: Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: The Rim of Morning by William Sloane (Amazon, Bookshop) 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With his characteristic skill, and with a powerful metaphor, Warren Buffett makes the point that even talented people won’t succeed if they’re working in very unfavorable conditions.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about a whimsical way to take better photographs, a useful question for making a hard decision, and the joy of field trips.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Join the "Happiness Project Revisited" before prices rise on January 1st 
• Bandolier
• Order your 2026 Moment of Happiness Calendar 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why the realization “I could this this task better myself” can help us identify possible opportunities. We also talk about how to give a bad review in a nice way, and share imaginative accountability strategies. 

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Obituary for John Charles Craft
• Take the "Four Tendencies" personality quiz
• Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill
• In Our Time podcast by the BBC
• Elizabeth is reading: Full House by Janet Evanovich (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Possession by A. S. Byatt (Amazon, Bookshop) 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a gift to listeners, I read O. Henry’s classic "The Gift of the Magi"—a timeless reminder of what really matters most for our happiness during the holidays.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• I read "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• I read "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we’re quoting someone who has articulated an important idea, it’s important to make sure that we’re quoting their entire point. Winston Churchill, Stewart Brand, and apocryphally, Harry Gordon Selfridge, are frequently only partially quoted.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the holiday crunch in full swing, here are three practical hacks that can make this week easier to manage.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Listen to Happier episode 96

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of “Design Your Year,” each of us made a list of 25 things we wanted to accomplish in 2025; here, we report on what we got done—and what we didn’t.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Happier in Hollywood Substack 
• Simon Haisell's Footnotes and Tangents
• Allie Coyle Photography
• The Earth Room created by American artist Walter De Maria
• Click here to find everything related to the Design Your Year challenge

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A familiar story about Gandhi is apocryphal, but nevertheless illustrates one of my Secrets of Adulthood: If we’re trying to encourage or enforce a particular behavior, we should be willing to observe that behavior ourselves.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My friend Chip Conley joins the “Dan Buettner Podcast” to explain why the old idea of a “midlife crisis” holds us back and how reframing this stage can open the door to purpose, curiosity, and stronger connection in life after 50.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• I read "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• I read "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.