We talk about why the familiar advice “use it or lose it” has an additional useful meaning. We also share many imaginative ideas for one-word themes from listeners, as well as some further thoughts on our own one-word themes (“Bounce” and “Door.”) Plus we discuss an easy way to make everyday life more festive.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• Habits for Happiness course
• Design Your Year
• Elizabeth is reading: Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon by Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: The English Understand Wool by Helen Dewitt (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.

From circus performers to doctors to writers to social workers, we can experience a "call"—an irresistible pull toward certain work that can feel both like a gift and a burden. While a calling provides clarity and fulfillment, it can also leave little room for choice, demanding sacrifice and persistence regardless of success.

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 review the list of “24 things that please me” that Gretchen created as one item in her “24 for 24” list. We discuss why those things are pleasing—and why making this kind of list can help us feel more gratitude, optimism, and happiness.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• Read 25 in 25

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 the “Design Your Year” tools, we reveal our “25 for ‘25” lists of the twenty-five things we want to accomplish in 2025. Some are fun, some are demanding; some quick, some complicated; some new, some repeats.

Resources and Links related to this episode:

• Design Your Year
• 25 for 2025 list resources
• Happier in Hollywood free newsletter: [email protected]
• Happier app: the-happier-app.com
• Elizabeth is reading: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen: Same!

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 concept from Japanese culture reframes what seems like pure misfortune—the loss of a beloved engagement ring—into an act of invisible grace and protection.

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 a preview of the new 2025 “Habits for Happiness” course. Each month, course participants will be able to ask questions about designing, tracking, and sticking with their habits for the year. These will become exclusive call in episodes for our participants, but this first episode is available here to everyone. 

Resources and links related to this episode:

• Habits for Happiness Course 2025 - Get personalized support from Gretchen and her team to make 2025 the year you finally make your habits stick with this new course. 

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 discuss how to make hosting more fun and less work by reflecting and making notes after each gathering; we include specific tips from our own experiences as well as creative suggestions from listeners. We also answer frequently asked questions about the "Read 25 in 25" challenge to help us all make reading a daily habit in the new year. Plus, we share terrific holiday hosting hacks from listeners. 

Resources and links related to this episode:

• "Habits for Happiness" course
• Read25in25
• Design Your Year
• Rolling cart
• Elizabeth is rereading: Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York Maitre D' by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: North Woods by Daniel Mason (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 Fleetwood Mac song “Songbird” illustrates the truth that with a great artwork, its power often lies not in expressing a single emotion, but in speaking to various, and sometimes even seemingly opposite, human experiences.

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 holiday gift to listeners, I’m reading aloud “The Snow Queen,” one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most famous fairy tales. Last week was Part One; this week is Part Two.

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 year we announce an annual challenge based on the year—a habit that will help us and listeners to be come happier. We review our experience with last year’s “Write 24 in ‘24” challenge and reveal the challenge for 2025. Plus we discuss some of the tools and strategies we’ll use to help ourselves stick to this excellent challenge.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• "Habits for Happiness" course
• #Write24in24
• #Read25in25
• One-Sentence Journal
• bookshop.org
• Happier™ app
• 2025 "War and Peace" Slow Read
• Four Tendencies Quiz
• Don't Break the Chain tracker
• "What's Your Neglected Sense?" 
• Elizabeth is rereading: Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York Maitre D' by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Was She Pretty? by Leanne Shapton (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.

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