Happiness Project Toolbox

The Book

The book The Happiness Project is an account of the year I spent testing the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.

A few years ago, I had an epiphany. One day, riding a bus, I asked myself, "What do I want from life, anyway?" I answered, "I want to be happy"—yet, I realized, I spent no time thinking about happiness or whether I could be happier. In that moment, I grasped two things: I wasn't as happy as I could be, and my life wasn't going to change unless I made it change. I decided to dedicate a year to happiness.

On January 1, I started my happiness project, and each month, I pursued a different set of resolutions: to get more sleep, clean my closets, quit complaining, sing in the morning to my two daughters, read Aristotle, start a blog, remember friends' birthdays, imitate a spiritual master, keep a one-sentence journal.

The book The Happiness Project weaves together philosophy, scientific research, analysis, and real-life experiences as I explain what worked for me—and what didn't.