Surrounding yourself with happy people is the best way to be happy! Seems simple right? I’m excited to start an amazing series about the some of the happiest people who have inspired me to greatness. I know they will do the same for you. We’ll start with one amazing lady whose story will inspire you to your own success, Gretchen Rubin.
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Who is Gretchen Rubin?
I want to live in happiness. Finding the right people to be around me and to follow is paramount because if they’re negative, that negativity can rub off on me. I don’t want that! So I am on a constant quest to find happy, positive people. There is one influencer that has really caught my attention because of her dedication to living in and speaking about happiness. This influencer is Gretchen Rubin.
She is an inspiration behind much of what I do with my Happiness Matters initiative because she motivates me to pursue happiness and to share it with others. Reading The Happiness Project prompted me to collect all of the Nancy Drew books again. And now they proudly sit on the shelves of my library even though some people may consider them out of place. And reading this book marked the very scary but very definitive start of my happiness journey. I have read all Gretchen’s books and have found many profound truths in them.
Following Her Dreams
Better Than Before is about habits and happiness which is right up my alley since I have Masters degree in Computer Science (artificial intelligence), Mathematics and Psychology. Neural networks and how the brain works are very much the basis of what I am teaching with habits and happiness.
Gretchen was on the path of being an attorney and even was interning for Sandra Day O’Conner when she decided she wanted to become a writer and has since became a speaker and a powerful influencer as well.
Gretchen Rubin chose to pursue happiness and to do what made her feel fulfilled and happy.
Instead of giving in to what she was good at, she decided to grow her passion of reading and writing, and sharing it with all of us. I think that if more girls followed their hearts, rather than go down the path of what they are good at, we’d all be much happier.
Reading Her Books and Materials
Gretchen’s books are winners. I am pretty sure I have multiple copies of all of them, and often give them away as gifts. You will find inspiration, motivation, and a way to control your habits instead of them controlling you.
She has written several amazing books:
- A New York Times bestseller, Better than Before
- The Happiness Project
- Happier at Home
- The Four Tendencies (now taking pre-orders!)
I love listening to her podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, which is coming up very soon on 2 years old! I truly believe that everyone could benefit from a little more reading, a little more motivation and definitely a little more happiness. Follow Gretchen Rubin on her website.
Challenging Fun Brings the Most Happiness
Do you wonder what happy people like Gretchen Rubin do to kick back and relax? I remember reading (a long time back) how Gretchen described 3 types of fun: challenging, accommodating and relaxing fun. She tells us that while we get more out of challenging fun and accommodating fun, we also must put more into it.
“Many of the activities that bring the most happiness also require a lot of energy, time, and planning. But in the end, they bring more happiness.”
When I read this, I vowed to start doing more challenging and fun activities.
One of which was to start my own book club. I was inspired by Gretchen. I love reading the book recommendations that Gretchen gives each month. She’s a lover of children’s book and still is involved in more than 1 book club.
She has discovered that finding and following passions without strings attached brings the most happiness. She will read and research about something that she’s passionate about and many times it will spark an idea for her work and writing a new book about it, but it doesn’t always drive her passion. And that is true happiness…When you can just follow your passion for something until you’re done with it. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?
I love your theme around Happiness, Marie. It appears we all are striving for this one thing in life which doesn’t seem as easy to achieve in this busy world. Gretchen certainly took up the challenge by actually leaving her career and starting one that made her happy. Thanks for the inspiration.