Getting Started
How to use the
Happier app
The Happier app offers a range of personalized, practical strategies to support your aims and put happiness within reach. Research suggests that we repeat about 40% of our behavior almost daily, so if we change our habits, we can change our lives—starting today. The Happier app is packed with features designed to support your Happiness Project, whether you’re on Day 1 or Day 100. An atmosphere of growth is one of the keys to happiness, so check your homescreen daily to see what’s new.
Set up your aims
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1 | Select an aim category
Start a new aim from your Home screen or Toolkit. Choose an area where you’d like to make progress. Not sure where to start? Foundational habits like sleeping, moving, and decluttering can make a big difference in your happiness, and they make other habits easier to maintain. Note: Most aims can fit in several categories, so don’t worry about slotting your aim into the “correct” category. Find more aim ideas here.
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2 | Write your aim
Craft your aim as a concrete, measurable action. For example, if your “Energy” aim is to get better sleep, resolve to “Go to bed at 10 pm every night” or “Turn off my phone one hour before bed,” not “Get more sleep.” It’s ok to start small, even small steps make a big difference when they’re taken consistently over time. Get more tips for writing effective aims.
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3 | Select the frequency and habit-tracking tool
Choose whether you want to track your aim daily, weekly, or monthly. Turn on notifications to get helpful reminders. We’ll recommend the most effective tool for you based on your Tendency. Or, if another tool works better for you or your aim, you can select it from the menu.
Find the tools that
work for you
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to building habits and becoming happier—different tools work for different people. Gretchen Rubin’s research and observations have shown that people can change their habits, but only when they go about it in the way that’s right for them.
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One-Sentence Journal
Write one sentence daily so you can record your thoughts or progress over time.
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Accountability Partners
Report to a partner or a group about your progress, or share on social media.
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Don’t Break the Chain
Check off every day, week, or month you accomplish your aim, and keep up your streak.
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Numbers Tracker
Track numbers related to your aim, such as pages, steps, time, or health data.
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The Photo Log
Log your activity and create a visual record of your progress.
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Track Your Total
Measure numbers that add up over time, like miles, minutes, or words.
The Four Tendencies
The Happier app uses Gretchen Rubin’s “Four Tendencies” personality framework to suggest habit-tracking tools for each individual’s Tendency. By identifying whether you are an Obliger, Questioner, Upholder, or Rebel based on how you respond to inner and outer expectations, the app is able to make tailored recommendations from its menu of tools. You can also use multiple tools to support the same aim, or change it up if it’s not working.
Obligers excel at outer expectations but struggle with expectations they put on themselves
Upholders rely on structure to hit their goals
Rebels resist expectations so they need some reframing when they want to accomplish an aim
Questioners want to know the why from outside expectations before being able to achieve their aim
Whether you’re an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel, you can learn to harness the strengths and counterbalance the negative aspects of your Tendency to achieve your aims.
Earn badges by making progress
When pursuing an aim, feelings of recognition and accomplishment help us to continue to strive. You can earn badges for a variety of activities and milestones in the Happier app. These badges are designed to give you a boost to keep up your aims, and will appear in your Toolkit.
Monthly Badges
Earn Monthly Badges by completing 10 entries in your Know Yourself Better Journal (subscribers only), marking all seven Jump-Start challenges complete, and marking 30 Spin the Wheel challenges complete.
Aims Badges
Earn Aims Badges for reaching milestones by adding entries to your aims. You will receive badges for activity you’ve already logged, so you won’t lose your progress.
Special Badges
Earn a Special Badge by joining the #Write24in24 Challenge.