Happier with Gretchen Rubin

 I have a tremendous insight that springs from my love of Norton Juster’s novel “The Phantom Tollbooth” and my longstanding fascinating with Zen koans.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubinGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors.Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why it’s helpful to remember that the things that go wrong often make the best memories—for example, I passed out on live TV! Plus a hack about holding hands, and we ask the know-yourself-better question, “Are you in an age of expansion, or an age of concentration?”Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/327Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsorsHappier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two characters from two very different kinds of stories—Sesame Street’s Grover and Game of Thrones’s Arya—illustrate the important reminder that sometimes, when we feel trapped, we can remember that we may have more choices than we think.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubinGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors.Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We discuss why you might want to write a Tastes Timeline; share a listener’s hack for getting easier, quicker service; discuss more terrific proverbs from teachers; and pose a crucial question about Obliger-rebellion.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/326Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsorsHappier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The poet Donald Hall wrote a beautiful memoir of the childhood summers he spent with his grandparents on their New Hampshire farm. In his account, he conveys the safety and orderliness of that country life.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubinGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors.Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have our annual discussion about why and how we plan to design our summers, I explain why I splurged on some colorful felt-tip pens, and we talk to award-winning actor Julianna Margulies about her terrific memoir “Sunshine Girl.”Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/325Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsorsHappier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode sponsored by Dell Technologies, we explore how small-business owners and entrepreneurs can use the “Four Tendencies” personality profiles to know themselves and others better. This framework can improve communication, end procrastination, reduce conflict, and help people work more effectively with clients, customers, co-workers—and themselves.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsorsHappier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dolly Parton is such an admirable person. Her statement to the Tennessee legislature—to ask that they withdraw legislation proposing to erect a statue of her on the Capitol grounds—was gracious, humble, appropriate to the moment, in her own voice, and a tribute to her enduring love for her home state.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubinGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors.Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We review some terrific lessons we’ve learned from teachers, discuss an email hack that makes it easier to ask someone for help, and Anna Sale discusses her new book, “Let’s Talk About Hard Things.”Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterGet the resources and all links related to this episode here: http://happiercast.com/324Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsorsHappier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m a big fan of the work of childhood expert Michael Thompson, and his answer to a reader’s question reminds me of the importance of remaining open to an entirely different view of a problem.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubinGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comLeave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors.Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.