Gretchen Rubin on Secrets of Adulthood, Happiness, Habits, and Her Deep Love of Reading

Today I am chatting with one of my absolute favorite writers, the one and only Gretchen Rubin, about her forthcoming book Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives, which comes out April 1. Gretchen writes here about the lessons she’s learned to making life more meaningful and satisfying, covering areas as wide ranging as self-improvement, adventure, the challenge of love, friendship, work, creativity, procrastination, tough decisions, pain, desire, getting it wrong, and consequences. The book teaches us, or reteaches us, about aphorisms, which Gretchen explains in today’s episode; we also talk about happiness, which is one of Gretchen’s chief topics she writes about, and she writes in the book that as to there being a so-called “secret to happiness” that “there’s no one best way—we each have to figure it out for ourselves.” In addition to happiness, much of Gretchen’s work centers around human nature and habits; we talk about her latest book but also some of her past work, too, as well as her #Read25in25 challenge, which I love. In addition to being a prolific writer, Gretchen is also an avid reader, and I hope by now she’s read the book I recommended to her on the show. You are probably already deeply familiar with her work—she’s written New York Times bestsellers like The Happiness Project, The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, Outer Order Inner Calm, and Life in Five Senses, for starters—and she’s also a podcaster, hosting the top-ranked and award-winning “Happier with Gretchen Rubin.” Gretchen is one of the most forefront thought leaders out there today, and her books have sold a whopping 3.5 million copies worldwide and have been translated to more than 30 languages. Interestingly, Gretchen started her career in law, and realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for none other than Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. I can't wait for you to hear what Gretchen has to say.

Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin