The Happiness Project | Gretchen Rubin [Skip to content](#content) [  ](https://staging.gretchenrubin.com)
# The Happiness Project
#### Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
#### New York Times Bestseller
One rainy afternoon, while riding a city bus, Gretchen Rubin asked herself, “What do I want from life, anyway?” She answered, “I want to be happy”—yet she spent no time thinking about her happiness. In a flash, she decided to dedicate a year to a happiness project. The result? One of the most thoughtful and engaging works on happiness to have emerged from the recent explosion of interest in the subject.
[ GET IT TODAY ](#)
get it today [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062888749/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0062888749&linkCode=as2&tag=thehappproj-20&linkId=e576f62390c3eb4c707c0ab53075f493) [-Select-](https://bookshop.org/books/the-happiness-project-tenth-anniversary-edition-or-why-i-spent-a-year-trying-to-sing-in-the-morning-clean-my-closets-fight-right-read-aristotle/9780062888747) [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/happiness-project-gretchen-craft-rubin/1101357622?ean=9780062888747&st=AFF&2sid=HarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC_7252169_NA&sourceId=AFFHarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC) [-Select-](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-happiness-project-tenth-anniversary-edition/id1378929745?ign-mpt=uo%3D4)
See more about book
*The Happiness Project* synthesizes the wisdom of the ages with current scientific research, as Rubin brings readers along on her year to greater happiness.
In fact, Rubin’s “happiness project” no longer describes just a book or a blog; it’s a movement. Happiness Project groups, where people meet to discuss their happiness projects, have sprung up across the country—and across the world. Hundreds of book groups have discussed the book; professors, teachers, psychiatrists, and clergy assign it.
*The Happiness Project* has appeared in *Fantasy Island*, *Big Little Lies, Orange is the New Black, The Night Agent*, and it was even an answer on the game-show *Jeopardy*!
#### REVIEWS & BUZZ
“Rubin writes with keen senses of self and narrative, balancing the personal and the universal with a light touch.” “Rubin’s project makes curiously compulsive reading, which is enough to make any reader happy.”
—*Publishers Weekly*, starred review
“Aided by her formidable intelligence and willingness to try anything, she spent a year road-testing every theory about happiness she could get her hands on, using her own life as the road.”
—*TIME*
“Rubin masterfully interweaves touching and often funny personal anecdotes into the analysis of her progress, resulting in a friendly, approachable and compulsively readable narrative that will not only make you want to start your own Happiness Project, but will also make you want to invite Rubin out for a cup of coffee and a cruller.”
—*San Diego Union-Tribune*
“Before I even finished the book, I had already preordered multiple copies of Gretchen Rubin’s latest title, *The Happiness Project*. Which means if you’re looking for an enlightening, laugh-aloud read, get the book and forget the rest of this review.”
—*Christian Science Monitor*
“For those who generally loathe the self-help genre, Rubin’s book is a breath of peppermint-scented air. Well-researched and sharply written, she sprinkles her text with observations on happiness from Aristotle and Plutarch, Samuel Johnson and Martin Seligman, The Dalai Lama and Oprah.”
—*Cleveland Plain Dealer*
# The Happiness Project Companion Guide \[PDF Download\]
Want to start your own Happiness Project? This 34-page guide is designed to help you apply the ideas from Gretchen Rubin’s bestselling book to your own life.
[ Shop Now ](https://the-happiness-project.com/collections/all/products/the-happiness-project-companion-guide-pdf-download?utm_campaign=book-page&utm_source=gr&utm_medium=web)
# Sample Chapter
Read the first chapter of *The Happiness Project*.
[ Download ](https://staging.gretchenrubin.com/resource/the-happiness-project-sample-chapter/)
# Discussion Guide
A one page discussion guide for book groups or other discussion groups.
[ DOWNLOAD ](https://staging.gretchenrubin.com/resource/the-happiness-project-discussion-guide/)
# *The Happiness Project* on TV
[  ](https://www.netflix.com/title/70242311)
[  ](https://www.jeopardy.com/)
[  ](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13784584/)
[  ](https://www.hbomax.com/shows/big-little-lies/1fbc488d-c7b5-4d38-aad4-f60dcbd85d23)
#### MORE RESOURCES
[Getting Started: Happiness](https://staging.gretchenrubin.com/getting-started-happiness/)
[What’s Changed in My Life Since “The Happiness Project” Was Published?](https://staging.gretchenrubin.com/articles/whats-changed-in-my-life-since-the-happiness-project-was-published/)
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