Gretchen Rubin’s Blog

I just finished First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. I’d heard about it for years, but I didn’t actually pick up a copy until a smart friend told me to read it.

The authors did a study with the Gallup Organization to find a way, among other things, to…

I realized that I’ve never done a post about my Four Splendid Truths, although I think about them all the time.

I named these realizations the “Four Splendid Truths” because I was reading a lot about Buddhism when I started to come up with the list.

I get a…

Feeling as though you’re always running twenty minutes behind schedule is an unhappy feeling. Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive…it’s no fun.

If you find yourself chronically late, what steps can you take to be more prompt?…

Eight excellent tips for living my parents gave me.

My mother: --“Stay calm.” My mother probably reminds of this three or four times each time I see her. I really need this advice. Every day. --“The things that go wrong often make the best memories.” My…

Feeling as though you’re always running twenty minutes behind schedule is an unhappy feeling. Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive…it’s no fun.

If you find yourself chronically late, what steps can you take to be more prompt?…

When feeling low, a lot of us get the urge to give ourselves a treat (I usually pick something candy-ish). But does giving yourself a treat actually boost your happiness?

It depends on what you choose. Treating yourself to a long walk in the park, say, is a good idea – but the things we…

Oh, how I crave gold stars. One of my worst qualities is my insatiable need for credit; I always want the recognition, the praise, the gold star stuck on my homework. I struggle to master my need for gold stars, because it makes me a resentful score-keeper.

Several of my resolutions are…