From fitness routines to mental resilience, navigating personal goals to tackling burnout.
We all need a little help being human.
That's what the life kit podcast from npr is here to do.
If you're looking to move with more intention or just need thoughtful guidance on living better, life kit delivers strategies to help you make meaningful, sustainable change.
Life doesn't come with a manual, but every day you're making choices, some big, some small that shape the direction of your life.
Life Kit offers real stories, relevant insights and clear takeaways to help you meet those decision-making moments with confidence and clarity.
The thing about Life Kit is, I feel like so often the episodes are specifically what I need at the moment.
Like they recently did a one about dealing with neck pain.
When I was dealing with neck pain.
The timing was so perfect to give me those practical tips that I needed.
With Life Kit, you get help tackling common issues like relationships finances, parenting and your career.
Then you walk away with a game plan you can implement right away.
Life Kit isn't just another podcast about self-improvement.
It's about understanding how to live a little better, starting now.
Listen now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR.
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I'm Gretchen Rubin, and this is A Little Happier.
There's a question I have about an aspect of my childhood that I reflect on often.
I don't think it has an answer, but I think it's a valuable question for me to ponder, because it raises an issue that remains quite relevant to my life, even to this day.
When I was in grade school and high school, I was one of those kids who always did the extra credit and signed up for extracurriculars.
For that reason, even though I have absolutely no athletic skill, I have zero eye-hand coordination.
I am not athletic and I do not like games.
Nevertheless, I thought it was important to be on a team.
So I played on my school's field hockey team.
My small school was the kind of school where everyone who tried out got to be on the team.
I hated field hockey practice and games.
I liked aspects of being on a team well enough, like spending time with other kids and traveling to other schools, but I passionately disliked the actual field hockey of it all.
There's one moment that I recall often.
I'll never forget it.
I was in my 10th grade chemistry class and a student stuck her head in the door to announce the sprinklers accidentally got left on overnight and the field hockey field is soaked.
Practice is canceled because if people play on it, they'll rip up the grass.
I was so happy.
I was jubilant.
My joy and relief was so intense at the news of this.
Respite that, this moment is one of my very clearest and happiest memories of my childhood.
Which is kind of sad to admit, but it's true.
So here is my question.
Given the situation, was it a good idea for me to be on the field hockey team?
I go round and round in my thinking.
On the one hand, it's great to be on a team.
It's great to have a reason to connect with other kids.
It's great to be outside and get exercise.
It's great to push yourself to learn even when a skill doesn't come easily.
Maybe it's good to have to do something you're bad at to develop humility and empathy.
On the other hand, I really disliked playing.
It was a drain on my soul to keep doing something that I was just so bad at and disliked so much.
And there's also the opportunity cost.
That is, I spent very considerable time and energy on field hockey that I might have spent on something else.
I will never know what that something else might have been.
Was it good for me to make myself do something that I really didn't want to do?
To persist against my inclinations and aptitudes?
Or would I have been better off doing something that came more naturally to me, pursuing some activity that I would have enjoyed and could have done well?
I don't know.
What do you think?
I'm Gretchen Rubin, and I hope this makes your week a little happier.
From the Onward Project.
If you've been keeping up with the podcast, you know that last month, Elizabeth and I went on our first ever reading retreat, which was amazing.
It was so fun just eating, reading, and sleeping all day every day.
No sightseeing, no scheduling, no stress.
And it got us thinking that you could really turn anything into a themed retreat.
You could go biking.
You could go hiking.
You could do a board game retreat with friends or a binge-watching retreat.
Whatever you're into, it's all about blocking out time and dedicating yourself to something you love.
And while you're away, why not host your home on Airbnb?
It's an easy, flexible way to take in some extra cash and make the most of your space.
And who knows, that cozy reading nook that you enjoy in your house day to day could be the site of someone else's first annual reading retreat.
Your home might be worth more than you think.
Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.
