I am almost finished reading this book. The woman who wrote it spent a year doing different things to achieve a higher level of happiness. I think there is something to her idea of consciously trying to be happier. It's like that old saying attributed to Lincoln that people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Gretchen Rubin is an author and former practicing attorney. She wrote books on JFK and Churchill, and is not a professional self help author other than this book. I wasn't familiar with her work before this book. In the middle of the book she makes an offhand comment that she had just been elected to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It really has nothing to do with the book, but I think she mentioned it for those of us who are familiar with conspiracy theories about the CFR. Basically that it is one of the groups running the world. Did she mention it to let the reader know she is one of the elite and knows what she is talking about? That's my guess. Anyway it is a good read.