Gretchen Rubin Quotes

If I pretend to myself that I'm different from the way I truly am, I'm going to make choices that won't make me happy.

Enthusiasm is a form of social courage.

It's easy to be heavy; hard to be light.

The days are long, but the years are short.

Focus not on doing less or doing more but on doing what you value.

Often, if there's something that I want to do, but somehow can't get myself to do, it's because I don't have clarity. This lack of clarity often arises from a feeling of ambivalence - I want to do something, but I don't want to do it; or I want one thing, but I also want something else that conflicts with it.

I can DO ANYTHING I want, but I can't DO EVERYTHING I want.

Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life.

Do good, feel good; feel good, do good.

Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they’re big, flashing signs that something needs to change.

It's about living in the moment and appreciating the smallest things. Surrounding yourself with the things that inspire you and letting go of the obsessions that want to take over your mind. It is a daily struggle sometimes and hard work but happiness begins with your own attitude and how you look at the world.

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.

Turns out that people who try new things, go new places, learn new skills, etc. are happier. This can be tough, because novelty and challenge also bring frustration and irritation - but if you can push through that, novelty and challenge can bring enormous happiness rewards.

Self-awareness is a key to self-mastery

When I thought about why I was sometimes reluctant to push myself, I realized that it was because I was afraid of failure - but in order to have more success, I needed to be willing to accept more failure.

Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but every day is a clean slate and a fresh opportunity.

Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability.

Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have.

Knowing what you admire in others is a wonderful mirror into your deepest, as yet unborn, self.

[S]tudies show that one of the best ways to lift your mood is to engineer an easy success, such as tackling a long-delayed chore.

I am living my real life, this is it. Now is now, and if I waited to be happier, waited to have fun, waited to do the things that I know I ought to do, I might never get the chance.

To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory.

The things that go wrong often make the best memories.

Focus Not on Having Less or Having More, But on Wanting What You Have.

Feelings follow actions. If I'm feeling low, I deliberately act cheery, and I find myself actually feeling happier. If I'm feeling angry at someone, I do something thoughtful for her and my feelings toward her soften. This strategy is uncannily effective.