It’s time for the next installment of “Happier with Gretchen Rubin.”
Our live show! Boy, Elizabeth and I had a great time.
Hear us live, at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. It was such a treat for us to get to record an episode in front of actual live listeners.
Usually, we do a Very Special Episode for every tenth episode. This is episode 49, but hey, close enough.
I mention one of my favorite episodes, episode 10, when we cleaned Elizabeth’s closet. Want to hear it? Listen here.
Try This at Home
Interview
Nir Eyal. Nir has founded and sold two technology companies, and he writes for a bunch of different places, teaches at places like Stanford, and consults to startups, venture capital firms, and incubators about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. He has a great blog, Nir and Far, and he wrote Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. And he talks about being a Rebel. Fascinating. (Note: Henry had a little fun choosing Nir’s theme music.)
Nir’s Try This at Home
Burn or burn. A very Rebel Try This at Home.
Happiness Stumbling Block
Public speaking.
If you want to watch my interview with Matt Lauer (which I can’t bear to watch myself), you can see the whole thing here.
I mention Kelly McGonigal’s fascinating book, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get at It.
Interview
Jake Knapp. Jake is a designer and facilitator here in SF. While working at Google, he created a “design sprint” — a five-day process to help teams answer big questions in just five days — used in the development of everything from Gmail to Chrome. Now Jake’s a design partner at Google Ventures, where he’s run more than 100 sprints with GV portfolio companies. He’s written Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days to explain how to do a sprint.
Jake’s Try This at Home: “Turn off the internet.”
Elizabeth mentions one of our very favorite podcasts, Start Up. If you want to listen to the episode where Jake and his team do a sprint with Gimlet, it’s #13, “Fake It Til You Make It.”
New Year’s Resolutions Booster for Two Audience Members
Erin: Her New Year’s resolutions are to slow down, focus on family, and not sweat the small stuff.
Lauren: Her New Year’s resolution is to spend more time with her friends.
Elizabeth’s Demerit
Elizabeth used the loophole “I’m out of town!” to indulge in some bad eating habits.
Gretchen’s Gold Star
I give a gold star to my husband’s liver doctor, Dr. Leona Kim-Schluger. Such a brilliant, caring doctor. If you want to give yourself a gold star, and if you support organ donation, sign the organ-donor registry here or use the hashtag #organdonor on social media.
Thanks to the audience, for being so terrific. We had so much fun. If you enjoyed the podcast, please tell your friends and give us a rating or review. Click here to tell your friends on Twitter or share the image below on Pinterest.
