We talk why it’s valuable to “go for the no” instead of avoiding rejection and failure. Plus we give our suggestions for excellent same-day books and a hack for making email more efficient.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Get the Winter Bingo card here
• Subscribe to my "Five Things" newsletters here 
• The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Foster by Claire Keegan (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark(Amazon, Bookshop)
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Heartburn by Nora Ephron (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim (Amazon, Bookshop)
• The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Strangers by Belle Burden (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Different Seasons by Stephen King (Amazon, Bookshop)
• A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout (Amazon, Bookshop)
• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Piranesi by Susanna Clark (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Amazon, Bookshop)
• A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (Amazon, Bookshop)
• A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Elizabeth is reading: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Random Harvest by James Hilton (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.

A famous quip illustrates an important point: Small debts burden the borrower; big debts burden the lender.

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 the power of reframing—specifically, reframing the meaning of a siren. We also talk about a passage from the novel “Little Women” that illuminates our experience of our father’s death.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Secrets of Adulthood newsletter on Substack
• Happier in Hollywood newsletter on Substack 
• Find tips and hacks for No-Spend February here

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.

In honor of No-Spend February, we talk about why it’s a good time to turn in your coins and to use up your gift cards. We also talk about the juggler vs. aerialist distinction, and how the Four Tendencies framework can illuminate an experience of family estrangement. 

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Coinstar
• Wall Street Journal article by therapist Rachel Glik
• Elizabeth is reading: Strangers by Belle Burden (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov (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.

The traditional Russian practice of “sitting on suitcases” is an excellent ritual for anyone setting off on a trip.

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.

Why is it so hard getting yourself to do what you want to do? This overview of the Four Tendencies explains why motivation works differently for different people and how understanding how you respond to expectations can make follow-through easier.

 

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Four Tendencies Framework 
• Take the Four Tendencies quiz here 
• Order The Four Tendencies here

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 share our plans for our next “No-Spend February”—our rules, our exceptions, and what we hope to learn.   We also share a more elegant term for “squats” and discuss an interesting self-knowledge question related to the makeshift.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Join us for No-Spend February
• Shop the sale in The Happiness Project Shop
• Listen to Episode 466 here 
• Listen to Episode 475 here 
• Elizabeth is reading: Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is rereading: Gray Divorce: What We Lose and Gain from Mid-Life Splits by Jocelyn Elise Crowley (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.

A modern fable is an excellent illustration of a very popular loophole used to justify breaking good habits.

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 the impulse to save things, such as stationery or fine china, even when it makes no sense. And we also talk about the puzzling popularity of coffee-table books.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Check out my new LinkedIn Learning course on the Four Tendencies
• How to Write Your Own Personal Commandments 
• Join the "Move 26 in '26" challenge
• Electric throw blanket

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.

In this episode, we talk about the recent death of our beloved father, Jack Craft—what we’ve experienced, what we’ve learned. We also share many tender, practical suggestions from listeners about how to manage this kind of a profound loss. 

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Raymond Carver’s last book, A New Path to the Waterfall (Amazon, Bookshop)
• One last reminder to sign up for The Happiness Project Revisited course
• I Want You to Know: My Portrait of You 
• Obituary of John Charles Craft
• Elizabeth is reading: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is rereading: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (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.