We explore the surprising benefits of swearing—from pain tolerance to social bonding—while also discussing why cutting back on cussing might still improve conversation quality and emotional climate. We share a listener hack for making a long, frequent car trip easier. We also consider a Know-Yourself- Better question about possessions, and we tackle a poignant listener question about maintaining family connections with adult children who seem to be creating unexpected distance after marriage.

Resources & links related to this episode:
Order your copy of Secrets of Adulthood
Join me on book tour starting April 1, 2025
Profane Waste by Gretchen Rubin and Dana Hoey (Amazon, Bookshop)
Four Tendencies quiz
Sign-up for my newsletter
Elizabeth is reading: Ready for Absolutely Nothing by Susannah Constantine (Amazon, Bookshop)
Gretchen is reading: How It Feels When a Parent Dies by Jill Krementz (Amazon, Bookshop)


Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

We explore the surprising benefits of swearing&mdash;from pain tolerance to social bonding&mdash;while also discussing why cutting back on cussing might still improve conversation quality and emotional climate. We share a listener hack for making a long, frequent car trip easier. We also consider a Know-Yourself- Better question about possessions, and we tackle a poignant listener question about maintaining family connections with adult children who seem to be creating unexpected distance after marriage.
Resources &amp; links related to this episode:
<ul>
<li>Order your copy of <a href="http://happiercast.com/secrets">Secrets of Adulthood</a></li>
<li><a href="http://happiercast.com/secrets">Join me on book tour</a> starting April 1, 2025</li>
<li>Profane Waste by Gretchen Rubin and Dana Hoey (<a href="https://amzn.to/4lmlFQR">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15926/9780974364834">Bookshop</a>)</li>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/quiz/the-four-tendencies-quiz/">Four Tendencies quiz</a></li>
<li><a href="http://happiercast.com/newsletter">Sign-up for my newsletter</a></li>
<li>Elizabeth is reading: Ready for Absolutely Nothing by Susannah Constantine (<a href="https://amzn.to/4bZpvuM">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15926/9780306831898">Bookshop</a>)</li>
<li>Gretchen is reading: How It Feels When a Parent Dies by Jill Krementz (<a href="https://amzn.to/4iCaPEh">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15926/9780394758541">Bookshop</a>)</li>
</ul>
 Get in touch: <a href="mailto:podcast@gretchenrubin.com">podcast@gretchenrubin.com</a>
Visit<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/">&nbsp;Gretchen's website</a>&nbsp;to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the&nbsp;Happier&nbsp;app.
Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.&nbsp;

Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen’s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully. 

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/  

Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen&rsquo;s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully.&nbsp;
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

How to Build Happier Habits into Your Daily Life

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Ep. 529: Cutting Back on Cussing, Easier Traveling & Do Possessions Have Feelings?

I learned something surprising in law school: To a great extent, we can’t be forced to follow the law; we must decide to follow the law.

Resources & links related to this episode:



Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

I learned something surprising in law school: To a great extent, we can&rsquo;t be forced to follow the law; we must decide to follow the law.
Resources &amp; links related to this episode:
<ul>
<li></li>
</ul>
 Get in touch: <a href="mailto:podcast@gretchenrubin.com">podcast@gretchenrubin.com</a>
Visit<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/">&nbsp;Gretchen's website</a>&nbsp;to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the&nbsp;Happier&nbsp;app.
Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.&nbsp;

A Little Happier: A Very Surprising Truth that I Learned in Law School

For many people, money is a source of anxiety and guilt. In this Roundtable conversation, we explore why the subject of money is so challenging, and also the small, realistic changes that can make money management feel easier.

Resources & links related to this episode:
Mrs. Dow Jones
Reema Khrais


Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

 

For many people, money is a source of anxiety and guilt. In this Roundtable conversation, we explore why the subject of money is so challenging, and also the small, realistic changes that can make money management feel easier.
Resources &amp; links related to this episode:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.mrsdowjones.com/">Mrs. Dow Jones</a></li>
<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-uncomfortable/id1466681015">Reema Khrais</a></li>
</ul>
 Get in touch: <a href="mailto:podcast@gretchenrubin.com">podcast@gretchenrubin.com</a>
Visit<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/">&nbsp;Gretchen's website</a>&nbsp;to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the&nbsp;Happier&nbsp;app.
Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

More Happier: Does Money Stress You Out? Mrs. Dow Jones & Reema Khrais on What Helps

We talk about how we’re using Determination Day (February 28) to reengage with our “26 for ’26” list. We also share listeners’ excellent suggestions for “Move 26 in ’26,” as well as an example of how understanding someone’s Tendency reduces conflict in a marriage.

Resources & links related to this episode:
Are you a Lark or an Owl? 
Strategy of Distinctions
Strategy of Pairing
Strategy of Accountability
21 Strategies for Habit Change
Download the free Determination Day PDF here
Lady Gaga singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Give yourself permission to lower the bar. 
Elizabeth is reading: Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe by Brooke Nevils (Amazon, Bookshop) 
Gretchen is reading: The School of Night by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Amazon, Bookshop) 


Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

We talk about how we&rsquo;re using Determination Day (February 28) to reengage with our &ldquo;26 for &rsquo;26&rdquo; list. We also share listeners&rsquo; excellent suggestions for &ldquo;Move 26 in &rsquo;26,&rdquo; as well as an example of how understanding someone&rsquo;s Tendency reduces conflict in a marriage.
Resources &amp; links related to this episode:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2021/09/are-you-a-lark-or-an-owl">Are you a Lark or an Owl?</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2016/12/want-to-keep-a-new-years-resolution-how-to-make-it-right-for-you">Strategy of Distinctions</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2014/11/video-try-pairing-one-of-the-easiest-ways-to-strengthen-habits">Strategy of Pairing</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2009/10/tips-to-hold-yourself-accountable-for-keeping-your-resolutions">Strategy of Accountability</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2014/07/my-new-book-about-habit-formation-as-distilled-in-21-sentences">21 Strategies for Habit Change</a></li>
<li><a href="http://happiercast.com/resource">Download the free Determination Day PDF here</a></li>
<li>Lady Gaga singing "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3o5FIXoK84">Won't You Be My Neighbor?</a>"</li>
<li>Give yourself permission to <a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/podcast-episode/podcast-29-why-elizabeth-and-i-lower-the-bar-use-the-clean-slate-to-change-habits-and-try-to-stop-wasting-food/">lower the bar</a>.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Elizabeth is reading: Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe by Brooke Nevils&nbsp;(<a href="https://amzn.to/4kpMnbo">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15926/9781984880185">Bookshop</a>)&nbsp;</li>
<li>Gretchen is reading: The School of Night by Karl Ove Knausgaard&nbsp;(<a href="https://amzn.to/3MsGfSZ">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15926/9780593832806">Bookshop</a>)&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
 Get in touch: <a href="mailto:podcast@gretchenrubin.com">podcast@gretchenrubin.com</a>
Visit<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/">&nbsp;Gretchen's website</a>&nbsp;to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the&nbsp;Happier&nbsp;app.
Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.&nbsp;

Ep. 529: Cutting Back on Cussing, Easier Traveling & Do Possessions Have Feelings?

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