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  • The Happiness Project

  • Written by: Gretchen Rubin
  • Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
  • Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (145 ratings)

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The Happiness Project

Written by: Gretchen Rubin
Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
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Publisher's Summary

#1 New York Times Bestseller

“An enlightening, laugh-aloud read. . . . Filled with open, honest glimpses into [Rubin’s] real life, woven together with constant doses of humor.”—Christian Science Monitor

Gretchen Rubin’s year-long experiment to discover how to create true happiness. Drawing on cutting-edge science, classical philosophy, and real-world examples, Rubin delivers an engaging, eminently relatable chronicle of transformation.

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.

As an added bonus, this recording includes a sampling of Gretchen’s podcast, Happier With Gretchen Rubin. In this episode, "Choose the Bigger Life," Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth Craft, discuss happiness, good habits, and whether Gretchen is going to get a dog.

©2009 Gretchen Rubin (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

What the critics say

"Packed with fascinating facts about the science of happiness and rich examples of how she improves her life through changes small and big. The Happiness Project made me happier by just reading it." (Bookpage.com)

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What listeners say about The Happiness Project

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Six
  • 2020-01-26

Pragmatic and Delightful

100% worth your time. Found myself making notes while listening. One of my fave takeaways: "anything worth doing is worth failing at."
I'm inspired and more importantly, have identified a more concrete path to self improvement through Gretchen's honest accounts and found wisdom.

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A book that makes you think

Gretchen did a great job by sticking to a year long happiness journey. It made me think about what I could do to contribute to my happiness. Also made me realize that if something used to make me happy but now is more like a chore then it’s okay to stop doing it and find something else.

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I choose happy

I was not disappointed when I listened to this book.I liked the easy flow of how the information was presented as Gretchen presented her happiness project. Lots of great practical tips to lead a happier life. It really highlights how little changes can have a big effect on your daily happiness. #Audible1

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Fantastic!!

Loves this book from start to finish.
Comprehensive and interesting. It’s a wonderful place to look if you’re looking to add more happiness to your life.

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My first but definitely not my last

PROS: the author/narrator has a fantastic sense of humor; the audiobook was easy to listen to, even when I sped it up a bit; it includes simple times and tricks to boost one’s happiness that I have already begun to incorporate into my lifestyle; and facts have been backed up by research that is presented in an easy-to-understand manner.

CON: some sections of the audiobook aren’t as gripping as others and I have been known to doze off.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT TO A FRIEND? Absolutely! There is something for everyone in this audiobook, regardless of if you are looking to do a major life-overhaul, or are just looking for ways to bring a bit more joy to your life.

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Book that made me happy

A great easy listen. Author sets on a mission to be more happy. While she is an accomplished professional with great family and no money problems, I urge you to not write her off so fast. Its hard to be happy. Rich people can hate their life,while low income family can be extreme happy. Life has choices all over the place and being happy is a choice. Being happy is not a movie perfect moment that falls on you. You work on being happy, you put yourself in situation that could be uncomfortable, you take yourself out of comfort zone, you work on your relationships and you exercise your body and mind to do better. The author explores various ways she can gain more happiness and with a little imagination you can apply all these lessons to your life as well.

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Wonderful book

Loved this book, finished it in one weekend and i feel so motivated. It changed the way I look at how I organize my life and has motivated me to make goals for myself that are not directed at productivity. Performance was lovely, but definetly reccomend playing it at 1.25x speed

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Finding Happiness Through Monthly Themes

I enjoyed the discoveries the author made on her quest to become happier as she incorporated different themes throughout each month to help her with her goal.

The book talks about her experiences & her observations which helped me examine my own life & incorporate some small ways to become a little happier myself!

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Very Inspiring

Loving this book! Gretchen is so authentic, real, and shares in such an honest way how she learned to see where her attitude could’ve been better, where her life could be less cluttered, and where SHE could choose to see things differently. Very inspired to do my own happiness project. #Audible1

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One of the best

Gretchen Rubin is an amazing human being. She is one of the best writers I have listened to. I have known her in a podcast called “don’t keep your day job” and I loved her personality. I felt pretty much attached to her way of thinking. An excellent book with a lot of useful ideas. I love how the book is organized by each month resolutions. It is easy to go back to a specific point that I see it worth reading again.

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