The Happiness Project

“Happy people don’t need to have fun,” but in fact, studies show that the absence of feeling bad isn’t enough to make you happy; you must strive to find sources of feeling good.

Act the way I want to feel.

tackling a long-delayed chore

I started to apply the “one-minute rule” I didn’t postpone any task that could be done in less than one minute.

“Try a ‘virtual move,’” another friend added. “I just did it myself. Walk around your apartment and ask yourself—if I were moving, would I pack this or get rid of it?”

Junk attracts more junk.

Do what ought to be done.

Apparently, other people, like me, believe that their physical surroundings influence their spiritual happiness.

“Hawthorne effect,” in which people being studied improve their performance, simply because of the extra attention they’re getting.

One of my worst qualities is my insatiable need for credit; I always want the gold star, the recognition. One night when I was in high school, I came home late from a party and decided to surprise my mother by cleaning up our messy kitchen. She came downstairs the next morning and said, “What wonderful fairy came in the night and did all this work?” and looked so pleased. More than twenty years later, I still remember that gold star, and I still want more of them.