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Lemonada. Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast where we talk about cutting edge science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from pop culture, and our own experiences in how to be happier.
This week we'll talk about why you might want to put your money where your mouth is but do it carefully.
And we share delightful answers from listeners about the surprising things they do for fun.
I'm Gretchen Rubin, a writer who studies happiness, good habits, secrets of adulthood, human nature.
I'm in my little home office in New York City and joining me today from Los Angeles is my sister Elizabeth Kraft. who finds something to be fun that I think is very surprising.
It's a very surprising thing about her particularly, but all will be revealed.
That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer living in L.A.
And Gretchen, I love that intriguing teaser about my fun thing.
Your fun thing. But first, before we jump in, a few updates.
Yes, Melissa says, I wanted to share a whimsical hack I've been implementing for two months now.
Thank you for watching. I noticed that I was tired and full of decision fatigue so I was defaulting to wearing a uniform even though it was not my intention.
This summer, I wanted to be intentional about wearing all my clothes.
In late May, I typed up a list of all my summer clothing items and put them into the wheel of names. a digital spin the wheel, which is wheelofnames.com.
Every morning I spin the wheel and wear whatever it says this has felt very whimsical and fun first thing in the morning and entirely eliminated my decision fatigue when getting dressed.
Once I've worn all my items, I just restart with the full original list.
This simple wheel is making me much happier.
I love this idea. It's no decision fatigue.
It's whimsy. It's using all your clothes.
It feels good to use everything that we have and not have things kind of languishing.
Yes. I think this is such a great solution.
So fun. And then Paula writes, you mentioned incorporating another facet into a longer reading retreat.
I have a good friend and fellow reader, and we make an effort to get tickets to book tour events or readings with authors that we enjoy.
We have traveled to different cities in North Carolina where we live, as well as Atlanta and DC for these events.
We've also been trying to find a good time to visit Ann Patchett's bookstore in Nashville.
That's the very famous Parnassus bookstore.
All that to say, an author event, a unique or significant bookstore, author landmarks such as a historic home or park, or setting for a shared book obsession, I had a friend visit Prince Edward Island, mostly from her love of Anne of Green Gables.
That could be a fun tie-in for a reading retreat.
Elizabeth, as a part of our reading retreat, we went to Godmother's Bookstore.
That was super fun. Yes. I love this idea.
Well, and as an author myself, I love it when people come to my events.
So that's something that would be fun for you and very much appreciated by the authors too.
That's a great idea. And we have been wanting to go to Parnassus, which is Ann Patchett's bookstore in Nashville.
So maybe we plan around that. I was just in Nashville and they have an outpost in the airport, but my flight was so early that I couldn't go in to it, but I looked at it and it looked great.
But of course, it's not the same as actually going to the bookstore.
So yes, that's a bucket list thing. This week, our Try This at Home suggestion is to put your money where your mouth is.
So what do you mean by this? Okay. So now this is tricky.
Okay. This can be very powerful, but it can also lead you astray.
So you have to be very careful in putting your money where your mouth is.
Now, it is the case that sometimes for some people it can be very, very powerful and to signal commitment or intention by putting their money where their mouth is, by buying a book, by signing up for a class, by purchasing a piece of equipment, that sometimes by doing that, by making that affirmative step, laying out some money,
You get the machinery going. Yes, that makes sense, Gretch.
I would say for underbuyers or maybe just regular buyers, I would think...
Overbuyers may want to skip this one. Well, overbuyers, just generally, it is a good note that this can be tricky. because it is sometimes the case, and I think we've all experienced this or seen somebody do it, where our desire to purchase the stuff outstrips our desire to actually use the stuff.
And I remember this because I had a roommate right after I graduated from college.
And she went out and she bought everything for rollerblading.
The cute outfit, the pads, the rollerblades.
Like, she got all this stuff. And then she only went rollerblading, like, one time.
Clearly her desire to have the fun of buying this stuff because over buyers enjoy or get satisfaction out of that buying.
It was way beyond what she actually meant to use all the equipment.
But it is true that it can be a very effective first step.
Yes, I can see that. I remember I had a friend who was in a difficult marriage, and she told me how...
Finally, one day, she very surreptitiously bought a book about divorce.
And for her, this was a critical moment because she said this was the moment where through her actions, she acknowledged to herself.
I am very seriously contemplating a divorce.
And before that, she hadn't let herself... articulated that clearly.
And it was something that in the end, she was very, very happy that she did.
And she said that looking back, it was that moment that was really the true moment where she set out to change her life in a very big way.
Yeah, so it's not the $12 she spent. It's the act of spending that money indicates an intention.
Yeah. And then an intention that you then obviously need to follow through on. that you just need to follow.
Right. It's not enough. It has to be that it is the first step for many steps.
And there's also aspects to it as well, because I, I'm watercoloring every day or sort of I'm trying to watercolor every day in 2025.
But before this, I signed up for a watercolor class. which ended up not working out.
But the reason that I did it is I was like, okay, I want a clear time to watercolor to practice and for me because i am such a holder if i signed up for the class i would go to the class and i was like by buying the class I am actually buying the experience of watercoloring for a certain amount of time each week, in addition to gaining skills and all that.
It's a way to open up my calendar and say, okay, I'm really going to dedicate time and energy to this thing.
Beyond just making up my mind by putting my money where my mouth is, I felt like, okay, I'm really doing this watercolor thing.
Well, and Gretchen, I definitely did this with Orange Theory Fitness.
So I said I was going to try it, and then I tried it, and I decided I wanted to do it.
And rather than, I think at first I bought maybe a 10 pack of 10 classes, But then I decided, okay, I really wanna do this.
I wanna incorporate it into my life. And so I made the decision to, to get the monthly pack where I could go twice a week rather than the 10-pack because it is cheap. cheaper if you actually go to a store.
That's the crucial part. And so by doing that, I definitely... encourage myself to do that.
And I think had I not done that, I don't know if I'd be as dedicated as I am.
Well, this is a good example of knowing what kind of putting your money where your mouth is works for you.
Because sometimes for people, it's just the expenditure.
Sometimes a class where there is the accountability of going to the class, maybe you have a teacher, You want to think about what kind of thing is going to make you more likely to follow through Another thing I think a lot of people do is get a journal.
And sometimes even if you don't keep the journal, the journal is sort of a symbolic gesture of... we're beginning our renovation or I'm planning a garden.
And that is kind of like, okay, now I'm starting to write down my thoughts So that can be I feel like for me, a lot of times I've started journals as a way to indicate that some big project is starting, even if I don't end up keeping up the journal.
Yeah, it's interesting. It's like spending that money can almost be like jumping off a cliff.
Yes. where you're like, okay, I'm just gonna do this.
I mean, in a good way, jumping off a cliff.
I'm just going to take this step, even though maybe it feels scary or overwhelming.
But if I do it, then I know that my being will follow.
Yeah, and again, the problem is that sometimes it works and sometimes...
I just have had things where it was really like the fantasy self or thinking like, if I make this purchase, of course I will have to do it.
There was a period in my life as a writer where I thought that I had to like do interviews, right?
So many people who do journalism or write nonfiction do interviews as part of their process.
And a lot of times people assume that I do interviews, but I don't really do interviews.
Not the way a journalist does an interview.
There was a period where I felt like, oh gosh, I really have to do that.
I can't be a writer and not do that. And so what I did is I bought a digital recorder.
I asked a friend of mine who did that, I was like, okay, what do you get?
And I thought, okay, if I get this thing, then I will feel like I can do it.
And that will make me do it. But I hadn't worked on myself, which is that I had no desire to do those interviews.
And it felt like it wasn't something I wanted to do at all.
And of course, if I didn't want to do it at all, buying the digital recorder is not going to solve that problem.
So I did the wrong thing, which is hoping that the mere purchase would drive my behavior instead of saying, okay, I'm going to make a purchase that's going to help me with the behavior, like make it more convenient or easier or cheaper or whatever.
Kind of along the same lines, I know somebody who played a ton of tennis when he was younger, and then as an adult, he stopped playing.
And he really wanted to get back into it.
He worked all the time and he thought, okay, I need to start playing tennis again.
So he bought a really expensive racket, but he didn't play. because buying the racket wasn't enough.
So he might've done better to buy like a package of lessons the thing that he bought represented actually playing tennis because the object just sat in his closet.
So part of it is figuring out how to spend your money.
Like if you're going to put your money where your mouth is, how do you spend it?
If you want to write, are you better off spending money on a night at a hotel than you are on a new computer where you're a night at a hotel where you're going to be alone.
It's like, how do you spend money to have this thing happen that you want to happen?
Right, exactly, because how do you do it so that it's the most compelling?
Just to take sort of an exercise example, Maybe it's the question of should I invest in a stationary bike or should I invest in a spin class?
And for one person, there's no one right answer, but you might think it through to yourself and be like, which one is more likely to be the first step toward a regular practice, toward my aim?
And which one do I think that I might just ignore?
Because I think some people might be more likely to ignore the class.
They'd be like, oh, I just don't have time.
I'm so pressed for time. But if it was just... sitting in some back hallway, they'd be like, okay, I don't have any excuse not to do it.
It's just sitting right here. And for other people, it would be exactly the opposite.
Yeah. So yes, you're right. Put your money where your mouth is, but think carefully about how you do it.
Yes. Well, let us know if you do try this at home and how you've put your money where your mouth is and what form did that take?
I think that this... question of how to spend it in the right way so that it does help you achieve your aims is tricky.
I think it'd be very interesting to hear how people have done this.
So let us know on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook.
Drop us an email at podcast at GretchenRubin.com.
Or as always, go to the show notes. This is happiercast.com slash 548.
Coming up, inspired by taffy, we have a puppy hack.
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Okay, Gretch, we are back with this week's happiness hack, which is inspired by your new puppy, Taffy.
Yes. Okay. So Tappy needs to be house trained, of course, or apartment trained.
And I thought that when we started, I was like, get out a little piece of paper or notebook and we'll note when she went out.
And because, you know, when they're really really little puppies, you have to really watch it.
And it's like, okay, she drank water, half an hour, we got to go out.
We sort of were really on top of it. And I was just going to do it on a piece of paper.
And then my daughter, Eliza, is like, no, no, no.
There are these apps that let you track it.
And I thought, oh, we don't need another app.
I hate going into my phone and click, click, click.
It just seemed easier to do it by paper.
But oh my goodness, no, it is much easier to do it with an app. because it's eat, drink, pee, poop.
And the one that we use is Puppy Potty Log.
Which is just, I told Eliza, you figure out which one we should do.
And so we just did that one. There's clearly many that let you do this.
So you could find the one that is more closely with your features.
But here's a couple reasons why it's great.
One is, it's Jamie, Eleanor, and me all doing this.
And so sometimes I come home and nobody's home and I'm like, when was the last time she went out?
And instead of having to text, I can just say like, oh, I see that she must have been outside at such and such a time.
And so it just makes communication easier.
And then also now she's not really having accidents, but when she was having accidents, it was easier to see patterns because of just the way that it's all laid out.
And here's the other thing. It will send you notifications.
And they were really accurate. It was like, hey, Taffy needs to pee in 10 minutes.
Oh wow, that's useful. Yes, so it was really useful partly because it was predicting, and it wasn't always when we were predicting, But then also sometimes you're sort of vaguely aware, oh, we should take her out.
But then getting the notification, the whole process was easier.
And now she's doing really, really well.
But of course, it's never the dog's fault.
It's us. Were we being consistent in how we took her out?
Because we can't just open the back door and be like... put on her leash and take her down in the elevator and walk through the lobby and take her outside.
So it's a whole thing. But anyway, using an app to track it, I think was a big help.
That's great. There you go. And now for a know yourself better question.
This is so fun. Yes, I love this. What's the most surprising thing you do for fun?
I think they were surprising in that they didn't sound fun to most people, but people found them fun.
Yes. What did you find fun? So Gretchen, I find ironing fun, which I...
I think would surprise people, especially coming from me, since I'm not known for picking up and cleaning a lot.
Mm-hmm. But I do enjoy ironing. And why is that?
Well, I enjoy one. Now that I've realized I can iron things that I'm on the border if they need to go to the dry cleaner or not.
But if I iron them, I can wash them instead of sending them to the dry cleaner. which is much cheaper.
So I have fun saving money. I have fun. I feel it's connects me to the past because I have such memories of mom ironing.
She always had this huge basket filled with ironing and she would stand and watch TV and iron.
I have fun because sometimes when I'm ironing, I'll pair it with something I love, like Vanderpump Rules, and then I'm double fun there.
Also, it's sort of for me like play acting.
I'm almost play acting like I'm a real mom and wife. who does these things because I still don't feel grown up in that way.
Yes. So this really gives me that thrill of being a mom and a wife.
Being a grownup. Well, speaking of like ironing when we were young, so I would iron dad's handkerchiefs.
I would too. Yeah. And what I like about ironing is that it's so satisfying in that something's all wrinkly and rumpled and then you just do it and it's smoothed out and there's something about the and the weight and just seeing that effect, it feels very effective.
Satisfying. There's a lot of sensory pleasure in ironing that you might not think.
Oh, that's interesting, Elizabeth. That's a great source of fun.
What do you do for fun? I like to clear clutter.
And I especially like to clear other people's clutter.
I find it incredibly... Energizing, just seeing the space open out and like sorting through things.
Giving things away feels good because I'm like, okay, these objects are going to go and live a long and happy life with somebody else in a place where they'll be more appreciated.
I feel like they have their little personalities and they feel like they're all excited to go on a new adventure.
And just seeing the space open up. And so sometimes if I'm feeling blue, I'll just think, oh, is there a place in my apartment?
Should I go fishing under a bed somewhere? or in some corner because it just makes me feel calmer to like organize things.
But it is interesting with you having witnessed it.
It's not just that it makes you feel calm.
It's that you do actually find it fun, actively fun. which you just don't understand how that's possible.
I don't. Every time you say you want to clear clutter, I have to rewrap my head around the idea that you actually want to do this and you're not just being a martyr.
No, I just like putting things away and like this can go.
And why do you have these magazines? Maybe we should put this in the garage.
And do you actually wear this? And like, if this is your...
Nice pair of favorite jeans. I mean, I remember, you know, I'm constantly trying to happiness bully my friends into letting me come over. and clean out their clutter.
And I mean, I had a friend who, I mean, she just had 30 pairs of jeans.
And I'm like, when do you wear your 29th favorite pair of jeans?
You just don't. She's like, well, they're all good.
I like them all. I'm like, but you really don't, do you?
And she had them stacked in like a completely vertical pile.
So I'm like, you just physically almost even can't get to the bottom ones.
It took us 30 minutes. to dig under there because, you know, jeans are heavy and they were crammed into the space.
That's why I wrote Outer Order, Inner Calm.
I just find it fun to think about it. I don't know why, but I really do.
Yes, you and I are a good pair. We're like Jack Spratt, could eat no fat and his wife could eat no lean because you have a lot of clutter and I love to clear it.
So that's fun. So, Gretchen, let's hear what some listeners find fun.
Kelly said, I like making something useful out of items that would otherwise be tossed out.
Well that's interesting. That's unique. This one I love.
Mandy says, I like going to the busy Walmart by me and getting all the errant shopping carts from around the parking lot and putting them in the corral.
I only do it a couple of times a year when I'm really stressed about work.
LOL. But it helps. I just love that. That is hilarious.
Hilarious. Allison said I do factor trees and pencil going up to higher and higher numbers.
Well, this is interesting because I've also heard people talk about liking to diagram sentences.
I think it's the same creating order out of things.
Linda said, I have found the art of, quote, junk journals and I can't get enough of it.
A junk journal is a handmade book created from many types of paper, often recycled materials like patterned paper, sheet music, envelopes, paper bags, maps, brochures, and more.
The covers are often created from old book covers or cardboard or chipboard bases covered with paper, fabric, or paint.
So this is a craft where, again, it's recycling things that would otherwise maybe be tossed out.
Nancy said, polishing silverware, the improvement is quick and very satisfying.
That's sort of like ironing, I'd say. Yes, I get it.
Robin said, I love to make fun decor. We celebrate everything we possibly can.
This allows me to make banners, table runners, tiered tray decor, etc. for work. the major holidays, as well as back to school birthdays, the dog's birthday, last day of school, and our special family yearly holiday.
It gives me such joy to add to them every year.
Oh, that's so festive. Becky said, I'd say it's more meditative than fun.
I like to hand wash dishes. I've heard that too.
There's something about the cleaning and the soapy water.
Amora said, a lot of people find it hard work, which it is, but I really love the process of making silver jewelry.
I found myself collecting books, going to talks, and watching videos to learn the intricacies of making hinges.
The more I learn, the more curious I become.
It's fun, so I'm a jeweler now. Love it.
Fancy. Christina says, unloading the groceries and getting our fridge and pantry all stocked up.
I look forward to it every week. You know what this makes me think of is for my Empty Nest Open Door project is how I identified the love of provisioning.
Yes. People who like to stock up and then like have their supplies.
That's somebody who likes to provision. David said, I like to steam.
It's like ironing but only the cool kids do it.
I love it. I like steaming better than ironing but they're both good.
I've found that I like ironing better. That's a good distinction, Alyssa.
We're always like, are you an abstainer or a moderator?
Are you a night person or a morning person?
Are you a steamer or an ironer? Wendy said, making lists, even if I never look at them again, I just love making them and embellishing them with stickers brings it to another level.
Okay, you want to know one of the secrets of adulthood that did not make it into my secrets of adulthood book because I decided it was just too silly?
My secret of adulthood was I love making lists.
In fact, when I'm not making a list, I feel listless.
Oh, that's hysterical. I just got the biggest kick out of that, but it was like, okay, no, not the tone for the book.
Paula said, pulling weeds. It gives me an excuse to be outside and be somewhat productive.
Wonderful. Teresa says, nothing makes me feel more like a mom than pressing a garment as a special favor for my teen daughter who's prepping for something special.
So Teresa and I- Share that. Yeah, that's interesting.
Elin said, vacuuming my cat. I bathe my cats once every two months and brush their fur at least once a week.
But after I mop the floor, I like to give my cats a good once over with the handhold vacuum to reduce the amount of fur they shed onto my freshly mopped floor.
It's fun and therapeutic for both parties.
Okay, I've never heard of that. Okay. Never.
My dogs would not abide a vacuum sound by their...
Interesting. Kathy said, I shred papers at the office when I feel the need to move so I can do something that's not in front of a computer.
I can see enjoying shredding. documents.
I think in the TV show The Office, Pam talks about how she likes shredding.
Or maybe some kids are visiting and somebody from the office says, come on, let's go shred because it is fun to shred.
Lisa said, untying knots. Ooh, I wish somebody in my life liked to untie knots.
Meg says, sharpen pencils. I'm a teacher, so she must sharpen a lot of pencils.
Yeah. Joah said, not anymore, but when I was a child, I used to read the dictionary and memorize words in alphabetical order for fun.
Wow, that's very enriching. Yeah. And finally, Lisa says, kicking the accumulation of snow out of my wheel wells.
I've taught my daughter the joy as well.
Passing the fun down generation to generation.
That's great. Well, these are so fun. It makes me see things differently, like polishing silver and hand washing dishes and ironing and steaming.
Just because something is fun for you doesn't mean it's fun for someone else and vice versa.
And this is a great example. Yes, some of these things seem more fun to me now that other people find them fun.
I'm going to try to find them fun, too. Exactly.
All right, Gretch, coming up, I give myself a demerit that actually is sort of connected to what you find fun.
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Okay, it's time for Demerits and Gold Stars, and this is an even-numbered episode, which means, Elizabeth, it's your turn to talk about a demerit.
Yeah, so Gretchen, speaking of your love of clutter clearing, you were here a few months ago and helped me... clear the clutter in my office and get my office all cleaned up.
So then last time you helped me with my bedroom closet, but the time before that it was about the office.
Yes. And I have to confess, I let my office get messy again after you were so helpful and it was so nice and wonderful. wonderful.
Now I feel like I'm not exactly back where I started, but I'm pretty close.
So here's my question. It seems like the most important thing is your treadmill desk.
Yes. Have you been using your treadmill desk?
Because one of the reasons that you weren't using your treadmill desk is it had just become covered with stuff.
So we did get it cleared off. Yeah. Have you been using your treadmill desk?
Not as much as I swore I was going to. No, I get on it, but not every day.
And my intention was absolutely to do it every day.
Let's see if I look over at it right now.
Now it's definitely nowhere near as cluttered as it was.
Mm hmm. But it does have stuff on it, like it has a sweater on it that needs to go back to the closet.
It has a microphone that I have to give back to Chuck on it.
It has... It's a stack of manuscript pages on it.
It's definitely a bit cluttered. Is it usable?
Could you use it as a treadmill desk or would you have to clear it off if you were going to use it as a desk?
I could use it, yes. I can use it, but maybe it's not so pleasant.
So I need to get that at least. cleared.
But the point is, I just, I don't know. I mean, I'm saying this as a demerit so that hopefully... Mm-hmm.
I will get in gear because I was thinking if I just literally five minutes a day worked on this.
Yes. Yes. I could do it. It's not even hard.
A closet is hard because you have to organize-
You have to figure out where things go. There are so many questions.
My office is actually a lot easier to clean than Because it's much clearer what needs to happen.
Yeah, and things have places. Here's my desire.
Okay. We're always pressed for time. We're always like jamming it in.
I'm always like, oh my gosh, we've got two hours, let's do it.
And we really have never had a whole day where we could really go into that next level and And get everything really, you know, the harder things where it's like, Do you even really want to keep this where you have to think it through?
So we're always kind of on the surface of it.
And I think that's one of the reasons that it comes creeping back.
The thing that's nice about your office is that you have a lot of space.
You have a lot of counter space. You have a lot of shelf space.
You have a lot of drawer space. So you do have room to put things away.
Well, one thing that's challenging about that Gretchen is that would involve both Adam and me because.
We share this office in theory, although I've taken it over for myself.
It has much of his stuff in it. So partly it's not just my stuff, it's his stuff.
So that does make the. full thing you're talking about more challenging because he would have to be here for that.
I could not do that without him. You'd have to take your relationship to another level to confront him about certain items.
Well, could they move potentially to the garage or something?
I mean, that would be the kind of thing.
But yeah, maybe it's like some people do not appreciate my full happiness bully mode.
I have come to accept that. It looks like you are very tolerant of my happiness bullying mode and really see the positive in it.
Not everybody is willing to make themselves available for it.
We'll ponder that, but meanwhile, I'm hoping I'll at least fold my throw blanket and...
Do the easy things because there are many of them.
You often do have easy things. I mean, one thing that works really well for me is just at the end of every day, take 10 minutes to just do the most basic. tidying like pens and pen cups and dirty dishes to the kitchen and clothes and books on bookshelves or, oh, this book is a library book and now I'm done with it.
Or, you know, just like the very obvious things.
Yeah. So I will do that. Okay. All right, Gretch, what is your gold star?
Well, I want to give a gold star to all the teachers and professors out there.
You know, we're in the back to school season where people are focusing on school and their classes and their learning.
And it always just makes me think, even though I'm not in school now myself, of how much Teachers and professors have added to my life.
What a huge difference. They've made, Alyssa, at our school, we had such great teachers.
We talk about it all the time. What an amazing education we got.
And it's very strange because I love reading memoirs.
One of the things that is really striking to me, and at one point I was starting to think I should make a list, is how often someone...
We'll talk about a moment where a teacher said something, and sometimes it was even almost an offhand comment, and it changed their life.
For instance, in one of my Little Happiers, I tell the story of how Steve Carell, who is this huge Hollywood actor, he's Michael Scott in the office, my very favorite TV show.
He talked about this very, very tiny moment that changed his life.
I think he said, I don't remember, but he was young.
He was like maybe in second grade or fifth grade.
They were like doing acting and So they were pretending to paddle in a canoe.
And the teacher said, oh, everyone look at Steve because you see how he's switching sides. the way you do if you're paddling a canoe.
He really looks like he's paddling. And he was so full of pride.
He said it was the first time that anyone had pointed out that he was doing something well.
And you just think this one moment. And so I just feel like teachers and professors are just in this place in our lives where They have an enormous influence and a lot of work, a lot, a lot, a lot of work.
So it's good to take a moment and say. Thank you to the teachers.
Gold stars to the teachers. They put gold stars in other people's homework.
They deserve gold stars themselves. Yes, they do.
The resource for this week. If you are not getting my five things newsletter, Why aren't you getting it?
You should get it. It is so fun. I love it.
It's a huge thing that I enjoy and look forward to every week.
In it, I share insights like why a sour hour can be useful, how to gamify decluttering.
I write about... research that I've read that's interesting or funny words that I've learned and just anything that really genuinely made me happy. more than a million people subscribe to this, which I find to be bonkers.
It's so fun. You can sign up at happiercast.com slash newsletter.
It's free and it's weekly and it's not very long, but it's super fun.
I read it every Friday. Oh, what a good sister.
Melissa, what are we reading in addition to the newsletter?
Yeah. I am reading Full House by Janet Ivanovich.
And I'm reading Living With Wisdom, A Life of Thomas Merton by Jim Forrest.
And that's it for this episode of Happier.
Remember to try this at home. Put your money where your mouth is, But do it carefully.
Let us know if you tried it and if it worked for you.
And how did you put your money where your mouth is?
And have you made mistakes with this? We can all learn from each other.
Thank you to our executive producer, Chuck Reed, and everyone at Lemonada.
Remember to subscribe to Lemonada Premium.
You can listen completely ad-free. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or you can go to LemonadaPremium.com to subscribe on any other app.
And here's your rhyming reminder. If you liked what you heard, spread the word.
We say it often, but we really do mean it.
Until next week, I'm Elizabeth Kraft. And I'm Gretchen Rubin.
Thanks for joining us Onward and Upward.
So, Elizabeth, what do you think gives you more satisfaction, having a clutter-cleared closet or a clutter-cleared office?
Probably The Closet. Really? Because... I think the closet really bothers Adam when he walks by it.
We each have our own closet, but they don't have doors.
So he sees it. So it makes me happy to know that he's not having that bad feeling whenever he walks by my closet.
Gotcha. Gotcha. From the Onward Project.
Every year on the Happier podcast, Elizabeth and I invite our listeners to join us on an annual challenge.
This year, we brought back the listener favorite, and it is Read 25 in 25 to read 25 minutes every day in 2025.
To take our reading challenge to the next level, Liz and I went on our first ever sister's reading retreat with no distraction, just stacks of books.
Gretch, I now want to do a reading retreat with Adam and Jack, but while we're away, our house would just be sitting there.
What would be an even better move? Hosting our space on Airbnb.
Our house could be bringing in extra income I could put toward our next vacation or more books.
Whether it's a spare room, a backyard cottage, or your whole home while you're traveling, Airbnb makes it easy to turn your space into extra cash.
You decide when to host and how much you charge.
Plus, Airbnb offers tools to help you set up and support if you need it.
Your home might be worth more than you think.
Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.
