Secrets of Adulthood

After penning her Twelve Commandments, Gretchen Rubin, whose book (The Happiness Project) we've been discussing, came up with her Secrets of Adulthood. These were the lessons she'd "learned with some difficulty" as she'd grown up (p. 11) and included profound points like

• Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
• What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while

and more practical knowledge like

• Turning the computer on and off a few times often fixes a glitch
• Bring a sweater

How do these "secrets" contribute to our happiness? Well, they tell us what we ought to do in a situation - how we ought to behave. When we do what we know we ought to do, we feel better about ourselves because our behaviour is consistent with who we want to be (people whose actions match our values) and what we want to be (reliable, responsible, good, etc.).

I've only just started thinking about what secrets I know - actually, I'll call them truisms. Here are a couple from me, for free:

• You can't rewrite the past, but you can write the next chapter, starting on a fresh page
• If you want something, ask - nicely

What has your life taught you?