Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Craft Rubin is an American author, blogger and speaker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
activity elements love truly
One of the most important elements of my identity is my identity as a reader. I love to read - really, if I'm honest with myself, it's practically the only activity that I truly love to do.
exactly time
I read a lot, all the time, but often I read books for research, or because they're interesting to me in some way, even if they aren't exactly 'pleasurable.'
happiness pet several subjects talk unless winston
Like most people, I have several pet subjects - that may or may not be interesting to other people. Don't get me started on happiness, or habits, or children's literature, or Winston Churchill, unless you really want to talk about it.
advantage barely consult few law memory remember school terrible though
I have a terrible memory of my own past. I can barely remember my childhood. I have few memories from college and law school - though once I got married, I got the advantage of being able to consult my husband's memory.
choose consequences embrace feelings good lasts loss negative pleasure treats wary
I embrace treats, but I'm also very wary of treats. Treats help us feel energized, appreciated, and enthusiastic - but very often, the things we choose as 'treats' aren't good for us. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt, loss of control, and other negative consequences just deepen the lousiness of the day.
books helps kept lose might notes odd organize related seeing stimulate whether wondered worry
For notes related to books I'm writing, I've wondered whether I should organize my notes better, but I do find that the action or scrolling through them and seeing odd juxtapositions of ideas helps to stimulate my own ideas and creativity. I worry that if I kept the notes in a highly-structured way, I might lose some of these benefits.
although assume pushing
Although we often assume that feelings inspire actions, in fact, actions also inspire feelings. By pushing myself to act happier, I make myself feel happier.
figure trying ways
I'm always trying to figure out ways to keep hold of memories. My one-sentence journal, for instance.
believe challenge happiness learned major obstacle within
One major challenge within happiness is loneliness. The more I've learned about happiness, the more I've come to believe that loneliness is a terrible, common, and important obstacle to consider.
kind look-at-yourself
You really have to begin by figuring out what kind of person you are. The tip is to really take a look at yourself.
make-me-happy
Self-knowledge makes me happy.
reading writing thinking
The thing that inspires me most is reading and just observing the people around me. I think those are the two things that make me want to write.
reading make-me-happy
Reading makes me happy.
morning thinking giving
I think the big myth about habits, and happiness too, is that there's somehow a magic "one size fits all" solution. That, "If it works for you it's going to work for me," and it's just a matter of figuring out what that habit would be, whether that's do it first thing in the morning, or start small, or do it for thirty days, or give yourself a cheat day.