Quote

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Lower the bar. Actually spending ten minutes clearing off one shelf is better than fantasizing about spending a weekend cleaning out the basement.

Gretchen Rubin

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Gretchen Rubin
Age: 58
Born: 1965
Born: December 14
Author
Blogger
Motivational Speaker
Kansas City
Missouri
Gretchen Craft Rubin
Better
Lower
Fantasizing
Good
Bars
Basement
Ten
Basements
Spending
Clearing
Minutes
Shelf
Enemy
Shelves
Actually
Cleaning
Perfect
Weekend

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The 20-minute walk I take is better than the 3-mile run I never start. Having people over for take-out is better than never having people to an elegant dinner party.
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Your unhappiness doesn't help anyone else - and in fact, as I mentioned in another answer, happy people are more altruistically inclined. So happiness is not a selfish goal.
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Focus not on doing less or doing more but on doing what you value.
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Writing makes me happy.
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Being taken for granted is an unpleasant but sincere form of praise. Ironically, the more reliable you are and the less you complain, the more likely you are to be taken for granted.
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Say “no” only when it really matters. Wear a bright red shirt with bright orange shorts? Sure. Put water in the toy tea set? Okay. Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed? Fine. Samuel Johnson said, “All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.
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Get enough exercise and sleep: Sounds trivial, but it's not. You may have the urge to work 24/7, to skip the gym and to stay up late to get a few more things done. That's short-sighted. Exercise and sleep are critical to having the physical and mental energy necessary to meet a challenge.
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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.
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In general, religious people seem to be happier than non-religious people - under various definitions of religiosity, such as church attendance or professed spiritual beliefs.
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I always had the uncomfortable feeling that if I wasn't sitting in front of a computer typing, I was wasting my time - but I pushed myself to take a wider view of what was productive. Time spent with my family and friends was never wasted.
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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.
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You really have to begin by figuring out what kind of person you are. The tip is to really take a look at yourself.
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One of the great joys of falling in love is the feeling that the most extraordinary person in the entire world has chosen you.
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I've found that I snack less and concentrate better when I chew on a plastic stirrer - the kind that you get to stir your to-go coffee. I picked up this habit from my husband, who loves to chew on things. His favorite chew-toy is a plastic pen top, and gnawed pen tops and little bits of plastic litter our apartment.
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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.
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One of my Secrets of Adulthood is: Most decisions don't require extensive research.
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I needed to change the lens through which I viewed everything familiar.
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Happiness is hard because it's very subjective. I know the people that seem happiest to me, but whether they are actually - what they're really like inside is really hard to say.
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Forbearance is a form of generosity.
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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.
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