The Happiness Project

Learning to be Happy

http://happinessprojecttoolbox.com/

Almost everyone wants to be happy or is searching/pursuing something that gives their life happiness, satisfaction, meaning, purpose or direction. Sometimes we know what would make us happy. Sometimes we don’t know. Sometimes we know what would make us happy, but don’t set clear goals to achieve it.

The Happiness Project Toolbox is a resource where one can learn about what makes them happy and how they can achieve their happiness goals. It’s free and users can participate in individual projects, group projects, blogs, inspiration boards, journals and more.

The Happiness Project Toolbox website is by Gretchen Rubin, author of the book The Happiness Project. This site cleverly expands on her book and lets participants create their own “happiness project” using different elements in the sites “toolbox”. Participant’s projects help them identify changes they’d like to make in their lives and clarify specific goals and measurable action item steps to boost their happiness.

Attention The site does a good job in stimulating and sustaining the participant’s attention. First it arouses curiosity – what’s it about? How can it help me be happy? This toolbox approach maybe new to many people and their curiosity is aroused by finding out how this can help them. People want to learn more about themselves. In Keller’s book, he sites Maw and Maw’s description of curiosity “…curiosity is manifested when a person… exhibits a need or a desire to know more about himself…”

This website captures attention with its ease of use and site maneuverability and readability, along with the novel approach and use of variation by letting users participate individually or with a group, publically or privately, and offering tools such as journals, inspirational boards and blogs. Since people differ, different tactics are supplied.

Increased curiosity is displayed in the sections where there are exploration questions that the users can investigate. There are challenges where the users set concrete and measurable goals in the resolutions toolbox section. This also helps them be both focused and interested in the process.

The use of blog entries with interesting, concrete and at times emotional posts retains participants’ interest. The Inspiration Board tool uses metaphors, analogies, and famous quotations to arouse users and to make ideas more concrete.

Relevance The author has a clear understanding of the importance of the content, creating relevance for the learner. The site clearly answers the key question for relevance – “in what ways will this learning experience be valuable for my students?” – since the site has a major focus on setting and obtaining learner defined goals. It provides users personal achievement opportunities and positive role models via the “secrets of adulthood” tool and “inspiration board” tool.

Confidence Does the site give tools for the users to succeed and does it help them in their ability to control their successes? Does it assist in building a positive expectation for success? The requirements for success and the evaluative criteria are explained on the site, stating there is no wrong or right way to use the tools. Users are allowed to go at their own pace and are offered a variety of environments – work on their own or with other people. The site projects a positive attitude and engenders trust. The personal commandment toolbox page gives participants opportunities to identify principles to guide their lives, which can help them feel in control of their successes. The resolutions tool gives them an area to chart their success on a weekly basis, providing feedback; however, unless the users initiates more challenging resolutions.

The site provides varied and challenging experiences that increase learning success. There is a “2011 Happiness Challenge” with monthly themes and weekly resolution videos featuring the author (see photo at right) and follow up questions. Also the inspiration boards, along with the author’s blogs, function as a confidence booster.

Satisfaction The site can help users feel good about their experience and even create a desire to continue learning, since they get feedback on their progress which is recorded on weekly resolution page that the user self-initiates. A check in a daily box creates a % average score. Since some goals are rated monthly instead of daily (put $300 in 401K each month), this seems to be a faulty scoring system. There isn’t any personal feedback or information given individually to participants by an instructor that would further reinforce positive feelings for their effort and accomplishments. Also, there isn’t any earning of points or symbol type of rewards. There is a Happiness Hacks toolbox section which gives users the opportunity to teach others by providing their tips for success.