Gretchen Rubin on Reframing: How We Can Shape Others' Perspectives by the Way We Speak

Gretchen Rubin’s “Happier” Podcast is one of my favorites. Gretchen, an author, writer, speaker, and producer who studies happiness and the ways we can make our lives better and more joyful, hosts chats with her sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV producer and writer living in Los Angeles. The podcast allows the listener to gain a glimpse into the sweet sisterhood of these two—you can almost imagine how they’re across the table, sipping on vanilla macchiatos and just sharing tips and tricks that they’ve discovered at work and at home.

In between these weekly episodes, Gretchen releases a 2-5 minute biweekly nugget “A Little Happier” where she takes a look at a piece of art, article, song, or novel and unpacks a big idea into a short and sweet takeaway—to make our lives just “a little happier.”

On February 11th, 2019, Gretchen Rubin released this nugget she affectionately dubs “The Juice Story.” A sweet reminder on how reframing a situation and conversation can have lasting, positive results in the lives of our students. Gretchen unpacks one of her favorite vignettes in Chapter 5 of the parenting book “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and How to Listen So Kids Will Talk” by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. Take 5 minutes today and listen to this takeaway (seriously, the episode is 5:42). Her example compares the morning routine of two sons and two mothers—and how just a few little tweaks shape perspective. You can access the link directly here.

In the frenzy of school applications and decisions, we could all use this little reminder. If you want to read the book in full (highly recommend), check it out here.