The familiar fable of “The Tortoise and the Hare” offers many possible lessons, and the most common moral—“Slow and steady wins the race”--actually isn’t the most apt.

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Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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There are 100 days left until the end of the year, so if something needs to get

done, start the countdown! We also read a listener’s suggestion for another

reason to visit your local library, and we take a deep dive into listeners’ responses

to two listener questions related to Rebels and school: How to help a Rebel child

with ADHD, and how to help a Rebel child succeed when starting college.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

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@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/448

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our attitude toward a habit or an activity can be dramatically changed by the words we use to describe it. I love the idea of a “happiness project,” but to some people, that sounds too much like homework.

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Follow on social media:

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Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Case of Obliger-Rebellion, Advice About Waking Up a Child, and Do Spoilers Spoil Stories?

We talk about Elizabeth’s rare episode of Obliger-rebellion (spoiler: it involved a box of chocolates) and about advice for helping children get themselves out of bed in the morning. Speaking of spoilers, we discuss surprising research, and our own views, about whether spoilers spoil stories.

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Follow on social media:

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Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why we should pay someone a meaningful complement, and we

share many wonderful, moving compliments received by listeners. We also

highlight a quick, easy hack that can protect your digital privacy and discuss an

amusing (and also enlightening) know-yourself-better question.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/447

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New terms allow us to understand the world in a deeper way. Opportunity cost, abstainers vs. moderators, finishers vs. openers—sometimes, having the right vocabulary helps us see more clearly.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin on Instagram

@GretchenRubin on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why it’s a good idea to re-examine our personal, work, and family

routines to look for opportunities to improve. We also discuss how Obligers can

recognize when they’re entering the state of Obliger-rebellion, and we answer a

listener question about our reading habits.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/446

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the covid period, my daughter Eliza returned to live on campus for her final semester of college. She was told to pack lightly, and as an Upholder, I took that to mean that she should pack very, very lightly. But an Obliger friend had a wiser approach.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin on Instagram

@GretchenRubin on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about the eleventh anniversary of “Happier at Home,” which is Elizabeth’s favorite book written by Gretchen. We also discuss a lesson in standing up for yourself, and about the energy that comes from getting rid of clutter.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We reflect on two questions that can help us make our work lives happier, more

productive, and more creative. We also talk about why it’s a good idea to

nominate people for awards, and how to manage the breakdown of the line

between work time and leisure time.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Follow on social media:

@GretchenRubin on YouTube

@GretchenRubin on TikTok

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Instagram

@GretchenRubin & @LizCraft on Threads

Get the podcast show notes by email every week: happiercast.com/shownotes

Get the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/445

Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest book Life in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available - order here.

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

Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts— Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.