Do Your Best

Mar 20, 2019

Explore the wisdom of habits and happiness with Gretchen Rubin as she shares insights from her new book on achieving inner calm. The conversation emphasizes focusing on actions rather than outcomes, a principle rooted in Stoic philosophy. Discover how to navigate chaos and uncertainty while cultivating tranquility by prioritizing the present. It's a refreshing reminder to invest in our best efforts today and let go of the distractions that clutter our minds.

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ADVICE

Focus on Actions

Focus on actions, not outcomes, to maintain inner calm.
Concentrate on what you can control, like your effort, not external results.

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ADVICE

Do Your Best Today

Do the right things right now, putting your best effort into today's tasks.
Detach from outcomes and avoid worrying about the future or others' opinions.

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Focusing on Action for Inner Calm

In 'Happier at Home', Gretchen Rubin builds on the lessons from her previous book, 'The Happiness Project', by undertaking a new project to make her home a happier place. Starting in September and continuing through May, Rubin dedicates each month to a different theme, such as possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood. She experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions to boost her happiness and that of her family. The book combines memoir, science, philosophy, and experimentation, offering practical tips and insights to help readers find more happiness in their own lives.

The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin

In 'The Happiness Project', Gretchen Rubin chronicles her year-long journey to enhance her happiness. Despite having a fulfilling life, Rubin realized she wasn’t focusing enough on her own happiness. She divided her project into twelve months, each with a different area of focus and specific goals. From boosting energy and improving her marriage to enhancing her work life and leisure activities, Rubin tested various strategies, including those from Epicurus, Thoreau, and modern scientists. The book combines historical wisdom, scientific research, and personal anecdotes to provide practical advice on how to make life happier and more fulfilling.

Outer Order, Inner Calm

Gretchen Rubin

In 'Outer Order, Inner Calm', Gretchen Rubin argues that an organized space significantly contributes to inner calm and overall happiness. The book offers over a hundred practical strategies for decluttering and organizing, divided into sections such as 'Make Choices', 'Create Order', 'Know Yourself–and Others', 'Cultivate Helpful Habits', and 'Add Beauty'. Rubin emphasizes the importance of understanding personal habits and emotional attachments to possessions, and provides manageable steps to create a serene and orderly environment. By getting rid of unnecessary items, readers can free their minds and shelves for what they truly value, leading to a more controlled, calm, and energetic life.

Gretchen Rubin is one of the most thought-provoking and influential experts on habits and happiness. She has written several New York Times best sellers, which have sold millions of copies, including The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She also hosts the award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin. In short, Gretchen Rubin has thought a lot about what it means to live a happy life.

Her new book Outer Order, Inner Calm is a playbook that helps readers discover ways to make more room for happiness in their lives. This is something the Stoics were often writing about—finding stillness and tranquility, ridding of nonessentials that clutter our lives, learning to stay calm and sane amid life’s chaos and craziness.

In our interview with Gretchen, we asked how she maintains that inner calm with something so hectic and uncertain like a book launch,

I think about actions, not outcomes. That way, I stay focused on the things I can control (more or less). So I don’t think about “making the book a success,” but “writing the best book I possibly can.”

That’s a good rule for all of us—doing the right things, right now. Putting our best efforts into the tasks in front of us today. Taking care of the inputs and detaching from the outcomes. Not worrying about what might happen later, or the results, or the whole picture, or the opinions of others.

“The tranquility that comes when you stop caring what they say. Or think, or do,” Marcus said. “Only what you do.” Today and always, find clarity and tranquility in the simplicity of focusing on doing the best you possibly can in everything you do.

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