Ep. 564: Revealing…the Annual Challenge for 2026! Plus a Report on Read 25 in 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Episode 564: Revealing…the Annual Challenge for 2026! Plus a Report on Read 25 in 2025
Release Date: December 10, 2025
Hosts: Gretchen Rubin & Elizabeth Craft
Network: The Onward Project / Lemonada Media

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Main Theme

This episode focuses on the annual “Happier” podcast tradition: announcing the new challenge for the upcoming year as part of designing your year more intentionally. The hosts reflect on the success of the "Read 25 in 2025" challenge, share listener stories, and reveal the 2026 challenge—"Move 26 in 26." The episode also covers listener feedback, the value of habit pairing, and how movement can contribute to happiness, energy, and creativity.

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Key Sections & Discussion Points

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[01:55] – Personal Updates & Listener Letters

• Personal Context: Both hosts are recording together from Kansas City while visiting their ailing father. They express comfort in keeping the podcast going during a difficult time.

  • “Our father is super interested in our podcast...so we’re gonna keep going.” – Gretchen Rubin [02:34]

• Listener Letter – Pairing Habits for Recovery:

  • Darcy shares how she returned to self-care post-divorce by pairing daily walks with only listening to the Happier podcast.
    • “That’s pairing…you both made me feel inspired and motivated, gave me some great tips, gave me some chuckles, and overall just made my life happier.” – Darcy, read by Gretchen [03:15]

• Listener Letter – Party Planning Courage:

  • Taylor describes overcoming “hostess neurosis” after hearing episode 559, hosting a party for kindergarten moms, and cultivating new friendships.
    • “Once one person gets it going, then other people find it easier to follow.” – Gretchen Rubin [05:28]

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[05:48] – Try This at Home: Annual Challenge Tradition

The Three Elements of Designing Your Year:

1. Annual List (e.g., 25 for 2025)
2. One Word Theme
3. Annual Challenge (linked to the year’s number)

• Recap of 2025’s Challenge:
  Read 25 in 2025 became a standout success. Both Gretchen and Elizabeth joined a family “War and Peace” slow-read, inspired by their mother.

  • “We talk about War and Peace in our family as if it were like a sitcom.” – Gretchen Rubin [06:59]
  • The benefits of book groups and slow reads are highlighted as great ways to connect.

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[08:40] – Innovations: Reading Retreats and Decluttering

• Reading Retreat Insight:

  • Hosts share their positive experience going to Los Olivos for a book retreat based on listener suggestions.
    • “We went and just had the most wonderful two days…eating and then just going back to the room and reading.” – Elizabeth [08:49]
  • Listener Amanda recommends the literary-themed Hotel Sylvia in Oregon for a reading retreat, describing themed rooms and cozy settings. [09:32]

• Dealing with Book Clutter:

  • Listener Stephanie, a financial therapist, combines her reading challenge with decluttering by giving away 100+ books.
    • “Letting go of books has become a no brainer.” – Stephanie [12:47]
  • Gretchen and Elizabeth emphasize the library as a communal “storage space” for books and the joy of physically visiting one. [13:19]

• Wider Impact:
  The reading challenge spurred huge engagement through the Happier app and bookshop.org, showing a renewed collective enthusiasm for reading. [14:17]

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[19:00] – Annual Challenge Reveal: Move 26 in 26!

The Big Reveal [19:00]

• 2026 Challenge: Move 26 Minutes a Day
  • “Drumroll…All right, Gretchen, it is…Move 26 for 26. We are going to move 26 minutes a day in 2026!” – Elizabeth [19:00]

Rationale & Flexibility:

• Inspired by past movement challenges and feedback, this one is broader than "Outdoor 23 in 23," making movement more customizable.
• Any form of movement counts—walking, yoga, dancing, stretching, swimming, etc.
  • “There is no one right way. It’s just moving your body. You could do it all at once, you can break it up…” – Gretchen Rubin [19:37]

Tracking Progress:

• Suggestions include photo logs, “Don’t Break the Chain” trackers, and, new for this year, a seasonal bingo card in the Happier app.
• Bingo card adds playfulness and variety: “If you get blackout, you will get a special gift. This is actually something that will be mailed to you.” – Gretchen [20:00]
• Bonus paired audio content will be released to make moving more fun. [21:12]

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[21:12] – Hosts’ Movement Plans

• Gretchen:

  • Will incorporate mini-sets of squats throughout the day: “I found that 12 squats is challenging but it’s something that I can do quickly and feel like I get something that invigorates my body.” [21:17]
  • Plans to add purposeful walking during visits to the Met museum, aiming to cover new areas on each visit. [22:03]

• Elizabeth:

  • Plans to use the challenge as an Obliger to get back on her treadmill desk, boost her health, and walk her dogs more often.
    • “I know that this challenge will get me back on the treadmill desk because as an Obliger, I feel very obligated and accountable to these types of things.” [23:01]
  • Notes benefits for her blood sugar as a type 1 diabetic. [23:53]

• Both highlight that “movement” can be anything: yoga, Pilates, hiking, dancing, etc. [24:45–25:16]

• They discuss movement’s benefits for health (physical, mental, emotional, creative):

  • “A lot of people say that they exercise for sanity, not vanity.” – Gretchen Rubin [25:36]
  • Host tip: Doing 10 jumping jacks for a quick mood boost. [26:25]

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[26:33] – Listener Involvement & Community Accountability

• Listeners are encouraged to share their approach to the Move 26 in 26 challenge and to use social media or email to stay connected and inspired.
  • “We’re always really intrigued by how creatively people approach these challenges…” – Gretchen [26:33]
  • Show notes: happiercast.com/564

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[31:31] – Science-Based Happiness Hack: Soothe an Itch (Not by Scratching!)

• Citing research from the Washington Post, Gretchen explains that rubbing or brushing an itchy spot (even near the area) is more effective and less damaging than scratching. [31:31–33:08]
  • “You don’t even need to touch the precise spot that’s itchy…that’s especially helpful if there’s kind of a sore spot that you want to avoid making worse.” – Gretchen [32:49]

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[33:08] – Demerit & Gold Star Section

• Elizabeth’s Demerit: Repeatedly letting clutter pile up on her treadmill desk, thus blocking her from using it. She commits to clearing it off for the new challenge. [33:14]

  • “I have to clean off my treadmill desk so that I can get back on it for Move 26.” – Elizabeth Craft [33:45]

• Gretchen’s Reflection: Habits can disappear or reappear quickly—reminds listeners not to be discouraged by setbacks. [34:42]

• Gold Star: Both hosts give heartfelt thanks to the nurses caring for their father, noting their kindness and skill. [35:24]

  • “We’ve had a lot of questions, we’ve had a lot of fear, and they’ve just been this constant presence that’s so reassuring…” – Gretchen [35:57]

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[36:13] – Resource & Reading Update

• Resource: Design your Year Guide workbook (limited supplies), available for those who like to write out their intentions and organize the upcoming year. [36:13]

• Reading: Both are finishing "War and Peace" (as part of their family slow-read tradition).
  Gretchen is reading "Mothering Sunday" by Graham Swift. [37:01]

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[37:08] – Closing & Call to Action

• Reminder: Try the Move 26 in 26 challenge and share your experiences.
• End with their traditional sign-off:
  • “Onward and upward.” – Gretchen Rubin & Elizabeth Craft [37:48]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the power of starting now:
  “You’re never behind. You can always jump in where you are.” – Gretchen Rubin [12:47]
• On friendship and initiative:
  “Once one person gets it going, then other people find it easier to follow.” – Gretchen Rubin [05:28]
• On exercise and energy:
  “Moving around tends to energize you… it really helps manage the mind and the body in a healthful, constructive way.” – Gretchen Rubin [26:25]
• On community:
  “We can all learn from each other, so if you have a great idea, let us know.” – Gretchen Rubin [26:33]
• On gratitude for caregivers:
  “They’ve just been this constant presence that’s so reassuring to us, and it’s so important to us that we feel like our father is surrounded by tender care.” – Gretchen Rubin [35:57]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:55 – Personal context: Visiting their father; show must go on
• 03:15 – Listener stories on pairing, recovery, and building community
• 05:48 – Annual challenge tradition: Recap of Read 25 in 2025
• 08:40 – Innovation: Reading retreats and tackling book clutter
• 13:19 – Decluttering and libraries
• 14:17 – Broader impact: How the 2025 challenge spread
• 19:00 – Big reveal: Move 26 in 26 challenge
• 21:12 – How Gretchen & Elizabeth plan to “move 26”
• 24:45 – Expanding what “movement” means
• 31:31 – Happiness hack: How to soothe an itch, science-based
• 33:14 – Demerit: Cluttered treadmill—the reality of sticking to habits
• 35:24 – Gold star: Thanks and praise for nurses
• 36:13 – Resource: Design Your Year workbook
• 37:08 – Reading updates and closing

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Takeaways for New Listeners

This episode delivers both warmth and practical encouragement. It offers fun, manageable ways to foster happiness and self-improvement and models how reflection on habits, community, and self-care can help you thrive—even during life’s hard seasons. The annual challenge, Move 26 in 26, invites everyone into mindful, joyful movement and highlights the Happier podcast’s signature emphasis on flexibility, accountability, and connection.

Transcript

[Elizabeth Craft]

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[Gretchen Rubin]

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[Elizabeth Craft]

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[Gretchen Rubin]

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[Elizabeth Craft]

Lemonada.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast where we talk about ways to be happier. This week we'll talk about the annual challenge, which is one of the three parts of the Design youn Year. I'm Gretchen Rubin, a writer who studies happiness, good habits and human nature. Usually I'm in New York City, but today I am in Kansas City. And joining me today from Kansas City is my sister, Elizabeth Craft.

[Elizabeth Craft]

That's me, Elizabeth Craft, TV writer and producer living in la. And yes, Gretch. We're in Kansas City. Our dad is not doing well, so we're here to be with him. But we are planning to compartmentalize what's going on and do this episode.

[Gretchen Rubin]

We find it comforting to take a break with work. Our father is super interested in our podcast. He loved to talk shop. He loved to talk about what was going on in the world of Hollywood and book publishing and podcasting. And so we're gonna keep going. But it's really nice, Elizabeth, to know that you're just one room away.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yes, I am in the bunny room.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Yes. But first, a few updates. This one came from Darcy. She said, I listened to your podcast regularly until about three years ago. @ that time I was going through a divorce after being married for 10 years. As you can imagine, my whole world flipped upside down and for about two years I was very much in survival mode. I stopped taking care of myself and my good habits that I had held for years all went out the window. Eventually I finally started to feel a little more settled in my new life and I realized I needed to start taking care of myself properly again. One of the things decided to do was to go on a daily walk, but I also wanted to feed my mind and spirit at the same time. So I decided I'd only listen to your podcast on my walks. That's pairing. So for the last year I went back and listened to all the episodes I missed. During those two years, I looked forward to my walks and happier time every day. You both made me feel inspired and motivated, gave me some great tips, gave me some chuckles, and overall just made my life happier. I'm proud and happy to say that as of yesterday, I'm now fully caught up on the podcast. I've stayed consistent with taking care of myself for the last year and I have both of you to thank for that. Well, that is so lovely, Darcy. That is really great to hear that. We helped you in a tough time. We're in a tough time now ourselves, so it's great to hear that pairing worked for you, taking care of yourself in that.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Transition. That's great. And then Taylor said, I am such a huge fan of the show and I've been a loyal listener since the beginning. I have listened to every episode, including Happier in Hollywood as well. Upholder much. I also find I share in the hostess neurosis and and I've always felt insecure about hosting a party. What if my house was a mess? What if I invite people and no one shows up? These do not seem like thoughts of a fabulous and effortless host. However, I decided to take your advice and live in an atmosphere of growth after listening to episode 559. My oldest son is 5 and just started kindergarten. I have enjoyed getting to know other moms in this class when one day I thought, wouldn't it be fun to get all the kindergarten moms together for a happy hour? And it hit me. I should host a party. I created a cute digital invitation, sent it to all the moms I knew, and told them to spread the word. This past Friday, I had over 25 moms at my house for an incredible happy hour that went on late into the night. I even have several Moms who have volunteered to host the next party. This event brought me so much joy, and I look forward to cultivating these relationships for years to come as our kids grow up together. Thank you for all of your practical try this at home and party planning.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Tips. Well, I love this. This is also Raise youe Hand where she just decided, I wish everybody would get together. I guess I'm the one that needs to have everybody get together. And then it creates other people wanting to step forward, too. Sometimes once one person gets it going, then other people find it easier to follow.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Along. Yeah. So gold star to tailor for.

[Gretchen Rubin]

That. Excellent. And this week, our Try this at Home suggestion is to join our annual challenge. So, in Design youn Year, we have list, like the 25 for 25 list. We have the one word theme, and we have the annual challenge, which is to do something for an amount of time tied to the year, just to be whimsical. So this year's challenge, of course, was to read 25 and 25. And Elizabeth, this is a hard one to top. We loved reading 25 and.

[Elizabeth Craft]

25. Absolutely loved it. As part of that Gretchen, we both joined the War and Peace slow read, which our mother had done last year and recommended to us. And we joined and dad joined and mom did it again. So we have loved reading a chapter every day of War and Peace. It's been a fun thing just for our.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Family. Yeah. And that's Simon Haysell. He has a substack called Footnotes and Tangents. And if you like the idea of a slow read, he does it with War and Peace, but he does it with many other books as well. And it's really fun. It reminded me of one of the theories of book groups is a really great way to connect with other people is to talk about a book. And we talk about War and Peace in our family as if it were like a sitcom. We're like, oh, this reminds me of when Pierre did blah, blah, blah.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Blah.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Yes. War and Peace became part of just our conversation. This is why a lot of people like to get together in book groups. Reading together is a great way to connect with.

[Elizabeth Craft]

People. Yes. Now, Gretch, many people like to count the number of books they read. You and I haven't done that. I keep meaning to do it, and I never do it every year. I know some people keep lists on Goodreads or other places, but you and I have not done that. But I think we read a lot in.

[Gretchen Rubin]

2025. We sure read a lot. Yeah. And audiobooks count. You're a big audiobook fan, of course. But yeah. And I think for some people, it's really fun. They may be like, I'm gonna read 25 novels or 25 memoirs or 25 books, or the counting of it is very satisfying for some people. But here's one thing I learned. Elizabeth and I haven't done this, but the idea of it is helpful to me. You know how we often say it's so hard to put down a book you don't enjoy, even though you know you should, because if you put down a book you don't enjoy, you have more to read the books you do enjoy. And yet it's weirdly hard to put down a book, which, as an author, I should probably think that's a good thing. But as a reader, I wish that I'm always trying to get myself to be better about that. And somebody said she kept a list of books that she didn't finish, so that way she felt like she got credit for them either way. And I thought that was very.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Ingenious. Yes, I thought that was a great.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Idea. And then there was the silent read for 25 minutes on June 25, where people at indie bookstores all across the country did silent reading for 25 minutes. That was super fun. I did my silent reading at P Knitwear, which is a super chic bookstore in the Lower east side of Manhattan. But then, of course, a lot of people did their silent read at.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Home. Yes, absolutely. You can read silently at home. That's the easiest place to do.

[Gretchen Rubin]

It. Yeah. Well, listen, I think our biggest innovation was the reading.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Retreat. Yes. And I don't even remember exactly how that came to be, but you and I both put on our 25 for 25 list. Go on a reading retreat with each.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Other.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yeah. We asked listeners for suggestions about places to go. And I think, in fact, one of our listeners suggested where we ended up going, which was Los Olivos near Santa Barbara. And we went and just had the most wonderful two days. Now we did wish we'd made it three nights. We did reading and walking to town and eating and then just going back to the room and reading. We didn't even go to the pool to read. We just laid on our.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Beds. No. And many listeners said that they were distressed that we didn't use the pool and that we should just go and read next to the pool. And you love to read poolside, so I don't know why that didn't occur to us, but it.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Did. I was just too content where I was I never had the need to leave that.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Room. Yeah. And we got a great email from Amanda. She said, I have to tell you about my reading retreat last weekend. As soon as I heard you and Liz discuss the idea of doing a reading retreat, I remembered a trip to the Oregon coast I took with my mom many years ago. Back then, I happened upon a reading themed hotel in Newport, Oregon and booked us a room to stay. We stayed in the Emily Dickinson room and enjoyed our visit. Fast forward to this past weekend. My son is 17 and wanted to visit Oregon to look at colleges. He was on board with doing a one day reading retreat at this hotel. After his visits were done, we stayed in the Agatha Christie room this time. The hotel has been remodeled since I visited with my mom, but the reading theme was the same. We got a bookmark when we checked in with our room number audit. Our room was decorated with photos of Agatha Christie, framed book covers and furnished with her books and even some items that are referenced in her books. We loved the cozy reading spaces, provided fireplaces and cozy chairs, the full time hot beverage service, and even had the editors scramble for breakfast. The hotel sits right on the beach with amazing windows overlooking the ocean. The name of the hotel is the Hotel Sylvia if you want to look at the website. My son is so busy with his senior year of high school, he enjoyed a one day respite at this beautiful spot. If you're looking for another spot to visit for a retreat, I highly recommend this one. And maybe there are others like it. I love that, Elizabeth. We really have to put that on our list of places to.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Go. We do in a multiverse. Gretchen, I see you as a front desk lady at Hotel.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Sylvia. Oh my gosh, that would be.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Bliss. Reading behind the.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Desk. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Now, something we didn't consider was the clutter. Sometimes that can come with books because if you love books, they can really take over a space. This is something that bibliophiles really talk about a lot, which is just how do you manage your books? How do you decide what to keep? How do you decide how to organize them? Then we got an interesting letter from.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Stephanie. Yeah, she said I'm a busy financial therapist. Yes, it's a thing in private practice and I've been listening to your podcast weekly for a number of years. I wanted to share with you and your listeners how I combined a couple of your ideas, which made me happier. I've been diligently working on my 25 things to do in 2025, including reading for 25 minutes a day. I didn't start in January, but when I did, it really took off sometime late spring. I decided to pair it with my decluttering goals. Yes, I've read Gretchen's Outer Order intercom twice and set a target to get rid of 100 books by the end of the summer. I used to get lots of new books for free in my previous career. What began with me reading for enjoyment 25 minutes a day has become so much bigger. I'm happy to report I reached my goal by Labor Day, having given away 100 books by reading several a week, as well as giving away duplicates books I already read and those I no longer needed to read. It's rekindled my love of reading and helped me create more space in my small Brooklyn apartment. As a result, I decided to end the year by reading and giving away 25 more books between September and New Year's Eve. I'm in the middle of my 18th book, so seven more to go with about 10 weeks to get there. The funny thing is, I live three blocks away from the main branch of the public library, which is effectively a huge storage space for books. So letting go of books has become a no.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Brainer. Well, I love that there's so many things happening there that are great. And also what I love about Stephanie is that she didn't start in January, but then when she did, it really took off. And that's the thing is sometimes people feel like, well, if I miss the moment, then I have to wait till next year. But you're never behind. You can always jump in where you are. It's great that this helped reconnect her with the love of reading. And I love the idea of one of the things I say to people who love to buy things, you can store it in the store. You don't have to get it. You can store it in the store until you need it. And this is the thing about the books. You can store it in the.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Library. Yes. And it's a good reminder, if you don't have a library card, get a library.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Card.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yes. Our dad has gone to the library all the time for many, many years. And our parents are big believers in getting the hardbacks from the.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Library. Yes. They live within walking distance of the library. So that's bliss, right? To live within walking distance of a library. And it seems to us that reading really is having a moment that a lot of people are really reconnect with their love of reading. One of the things we did is we partnered with bookshop.org, which is the online marketplace that supports indie bookstores. For this challenge to read 25 minutes in 2025. And there were so many people who participated. There were so many book recommendations that came out of it. In the Happier app, tens of thousands of people logged entries. It was really exciting to see how much people love reading. We love reading. We come from a big reading family and so it's wonderful to think that other people are joining in this love of reading with.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Us. It really is. Okay, Gretch. Coming up, we are going to reveal our yearly challenge for 2026. But first, this break.

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[Gretchen Rubin]

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[Elizabeth Craft]

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[Elizabeth Craft]

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[Gretchen Rubin]

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[Elizabeth Craft]

25. Drumroll all right, Gretchen, it is move 26 for 26. We are going to move 26 minutes a day in.

[Gretchen Rubin]

2026. Yes. So we did go outside 23 and 23 and for a lot of people they said that depending on the weather, that didn't work for them. Like some people say, there's no bad weather, just bad clothing decisions. But for some people, that just didn't work as well. So we wanted to make it broader. And also so there's more ways you can change it up and try what works for you in 2026. There is no one right way. It's just moving your body. You could do it all at once. You can break it up. You can do whatever you.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Want. Yes, Gretch, I know. I feel better when I move. That is for.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Sure. Well. And you also use it to spark creativity. And I learned that from you. That if you feel stuck creatively, you and Sarah know that if you go for a walk, that often unlocks new.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Ideas. Almost always that.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Works. Yeah. So it's good for your body and good for your brain in every way. So join us. It's move 26 and 26. And you can keep track of your progress with any tool that you want. If you want to use the Happier app, there's a photo log. There's a Don't break the chain tracker. You can track your total minutes moved all in the Happier app. And what's fun to remember is that if you move 26 minutes a day for a year, that's 9,490 minutes. That's a lot of.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Minutes. It really.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Is. And also on the Happier app, there's an update where if you're not into logging your progress daily, which some people are not, another thing to do is there's going to be a bingo card in the app, and there'll be one a season. The winner one is live. And the bingo card is meant to give you creative ways to change and have different move ideas for 26 minutes. Some people really like an element of playfulness and unpredictability and variety, and this is really aimed for you. And if you get bingo, you get a badge in the app. And if you get a blackout, you will get a special gift. This is actually something that will be mailed to you. And another new update is that to make it even more fun to do the move, we're gonna be doing different bonus audio throughout the year for pairing. Cause it's back to this idea of, like, it's really fun to pair something that's great to listen to to whatever you're doing while you move. So that will be coming in.

[Elizabeth Craft]

January. And Gretch, what are you gonna do for move 26 and 26? Have you thought about.

[Gretchen Rubin]

It? Yeah. One thing I'm gonna do is whenever I think of it, so I wanna do it several times throughout the day, is to do 12 squats. Squats are so good for you. And I found that 12 squats is challenging, but it's something that I can do quickly and feel like I get something that invigorates my body, and I can just work it into, like, I'm waiting for my tea kettle to boil. I'm waiting for the elevator to come, or something like that. I wouldn't do 12 squats if I was, like, in the lobby of an office building. But if I'm just in my apartment building, I could do 12.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Squats. Of course, my first thought was imagining some stranger coming upon you. Like, squatting in front of the elev. I like picturing.

[Gretchen Rubin]

That. Can I just say, squat is not a nice word. I wish there were a more elegant word. It's like egg. I love.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Eggs. It's like.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Moist. Nothing is more beautiful than eggs, but it's just not a good word. But the other thing, this is more poetic, maybe, is walking around the Met. So when I go to the Met, I just sort of. Because I go every day. I still go every day. I just wander around, I amble, I look around. But I think I want to add some walk time because the Met is really big. I could just walk up one length and down, or I could lengthen my route. So I'm gonna aim to do 10 minutes of purposeful walking in the Met. And one thing I like about this is I like to feel that I've walked through everything fairly recently, that I'm not letting certain parts of it stagnate or go unchecked for a while. But there's kind of like nooks and crannies. And so this way it'll combine my desire to do 10 minutes of walking in the Met on top of my looking. And also, okay, I wanna visit that mezzanine floor or, oh, I haven't been to Visible storage for a while. Let me go walk around it. So I think that'll. That'll be, like, double benefit for.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Me.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Yes. How about you, Elizabeth? How are you thinking about.

[Elizabeth Craft]

It? Well, Gretch, I have to say this is the perfect challenge for me for 2026, because I have not been walking on my treadmill desk now, you know, for years and years, I walked every day, often 10,000 steps a day on the treadmill desk. I have made numerous declarations that I'm going to get back on the treadmill desk every day or five days a week, the work week. And I haven't. So I know that this challenge will get me back on the treadmill desk because as an obliger, I feel very obligated and accountable to these types of things. So I am so glad this is what we're doing this year, and it'll just add it into all of my other things. I do my Orange Theory, my Trimon Canyon walking, and I think it'll be great for me and for my blood sugar, because, of course, I'm a type 1 diabetic, and moving throughout the day is great for blood.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Sugar. Yeah. I remember the last time I came over and we cleared your office, which, of course, is one of my top five things to do in the whole world. And we specifically cleared off your treadmill desk first, because you're like, I really want to get back to my treadmill desk, but now it's such a place to put stuff. Yes, but, yeah, got to get cleared off again. But it's funny because you and your writing partner Sarah. Sarah also has a treadmill desk, and you even have a segment on the Happier in Hollywood podcast called Run the Treadmill Desk. So maybe every time you say those words, that can be part of your accountability.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Too. Yes. And then the other thing I want to do with move in 26 is walk our dogs more. We have our two corgis, and I do walk them, but a lot of times I'll sort of hope that Adam will walk them without me. And so what I'm going to try to do is use this as motivation to get out there. And the truth is, they would benefit from more than one walk a day. So even if they have been walked, I can show you, you'd still walk them.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Again. Well, when we did walk 20 and 20, so many people said that how much their dogs loved it, because so many people did more dog walking. And the dogs were so happy. We were talking a lot about walking, but you could do yoga. You can do stretching, you can do hiking, you can do ambling, you can do biking. There's so many different ways to move your.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Body.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Yoga. Yeah, Yoga. Oh, yeah. Yoga, Pilates. And then there's new exercise classes every day. It seems like new. Boxing, skating, all kinds of.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Things. Swimming.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Dancing. Dancing. Oh, my gosh. Dancing. Just dancing for a lot of people. And it's all just tapping into this idea that just moving our bodies is really good for us. I mean, we talked about this briefly, but it's good for our immune function. It's good for our digestion. You said it's good for blood.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Sugar. It's good for creativity and mental.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Health. Mental health. A lot of people say that they exercise for sanity, not vanity. So they do it because it makes, if you're really stressed out, it helps calm you down, down. If you're feeling really jittery, it helps you feel more serene. If you're feeling sluggish, it makes you feel more energetic. And that's something that a lot of people don't understand, which is they think of exercise as something that will tend to tire them out. But in fact, unless you're really exercising at the extreme level, moving around tends to energize you. And so in fact, one thing I often do, and I'll do this when people are feeling really upset about something too. Eliza and Eleanor are often the target of this happiness bullying suggestion, which is to do 10 jumping jacks. Just there's something about getting up and moving that just really helps manage the mind and the body in a healthful, constructive.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Way. And in case anyone is wondering, yes, you really do do this. I see you do this when I'm with you quite often and you'll get me to do it.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Too. Yeah. Well, we are very, very excited about this annual challenge and we're really interested to hear from listeners. What are you doing with this? How are you planning to work it into your schedule? Are you gonna do the same thing? Are you gonn up? We're always really intrigued by how creatively people approach these challenges and how they take it in all different directions. We can all learn from each other, so if you have like a great idea, let us know. We hope that everybody will join us for move 26 and 26. Let us know on Instagram, threads, TikTok, Facebook. Drop us an [e-mail] or as always, you can go to the show notes. This is happiercast.com564 for everything related to this.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Episode. Coming up, we have a science based happiness hack. But first, this.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Break.

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[Elizabeth Craft]

Year. Yeah. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, having served over 5 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10% [e-mail] GretchenRubin that's betterhelp.com GretchenRubin Gretchen it is the season of gifts. And you know I love personalized gifts. Yes, and you have been using Shutterfly many times a year for many years. And I am planning this year to make Make Adam a Shutterfly book of just pictures of him and Jack through the years. Shutterfly lets you easily create meaningful gifts from photos you already have. Whether it's a photo book, which is what I'm going to do, a blanket, or even an ornament. It's such a thoughtful way to connect with people you love during the.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Holidays. Yes, I often find myself making mugs, custom mugs. But there's so many things you can make. You can make something that means something. This holiday shop shutterfly.com happier for gifts like custom mugs, photo books, calendars, blankets and tabletop prints. Right now you'll get free shipping on your order with promo code. Happier this promo can be stacked with any other offer. Details are on the.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Site. The holidays are such a joyful time, but let's be honest, they can also be a lot. There's so much to cook, so much to clean, and unfortunately, so much food.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Waste. You know, we're always thinking about the small things we can do that make an impact not just for our own happiness, but for the planet too. And that's why I'm such a big fan of my Mill food recycler. Mill is odorless and fully automated, eliminating all the pain points associated with old fashioned compost pails and smelly garbage cans. It makes keeping food out of the trash as easy as dropping it in. It can be hectic in my home around the holidays, but Mill keeps me keeping my cool when I'm hosting. With all the food prep and guests Arriving, I never have to stress about the trash. Plus, it looks super cool and modern in my.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Kitchen. Add mill to your wish list or gift one. Now get up to $200 off during their biggest sale of the season. Thursday, November 20th through Monday, December 1st. Miss the sale, you can still get $75 off with code happy. Visit mill.comhappy that's mill.com ha. P p. Yes. Okay, Gretchen, we are back with this week's happiness hack. And this is science based, which I always find.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Interesting. Yes, this is about soothing an itch in a way that's better than scratching. And this comes from an article that was in the Washington Post. I'll post a link to it in the show Notes about how to stop itchy skin. And it's about how to get rid of an itch rather than scratching. And this really caught my attention because I'm really a bad scratcher. I will scratch and scratch like in a mosquito bite until it leaves a semi permanent mark. So this is something I really have thought, okay, I should figure out a better way to handle itchiness. And it turns out that if you scratch an itch, not only do you damage your skin, as I found, but it can often make it even worse. And so what works better is to rub the spot or brush it with a soft makeup brush, which is interesting. And you don't even need to touch the precise spot that's itchy. Scientists have found that you can use those techniques around the and so that's especially helpful if there's kind of a sore spot that you want to avoid making worse. What they found is that the stroking sends a counter signal that inhibits the itchiness, so it stops the itchiness from reaching the brain. There's something called the itch scratch cycle, which is once you start scratching, you can't stop. That's what I have, and that's just not good. So if you rub it or use a makeup brush, that works.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Better. Just discussing this is making me itch different places. I just scratched my.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Arm. Right. I mean, it's true. But if you rub it, not even rubbing the exact spot, but you rub around it, it tricks the body into getting rid of the itchy spot. So anyway, for anybody like me who's really is a scratcher, try.

[Elizabeth Craft]

That.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Okay. Okay, it's time for demerits and gold stars. And this week, Elizabeth, it's your turn to talk about a.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Demerit. Yes. Well, Gretchen, this has already come up in this episode. Our challenge is move 26 and 26 and as part of that, I want to get back on the treadmill desk. And as you noted, you and I made this beautiful, clear desk of my treadmill desk. We had it all beautiful. And I have once again piled it with items like scripts and random picture frames that aren't being used and paper clips and sweatshirts and all sorts of.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Things. Things that need to be returned was a category that I noted.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yeah. Yes. So I have to clean off my treadmill desk so that I can get back on it for move.

[Gretchen Rubin]

26. But so my question is, why aren't you using the treadmill desk, do you.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Think? I really don't know. And I get inertia. You know, I started just sitting down on the couch, and I just keep doing it, and I even just forget about getting on the treadmill desk, which is why I'm glad we're doing it as the actual challenge. And I have a really good reason to, because I will tell you, the more I. I sit on the couch in one position, I absolutely have physical effects from that. I'll even get, like, numb feet from that. So I need to, on many different levels, be moving on the treadmill desk. So I'm hoping that now that I've stated this, when I go home, I will clean off that treadmill desk, which will probably only take me about five minutes, let's be.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Honest. Yeah. This is just a good reminder of the fact that you can be doing something very, very consistently where you feel like it's a rock solid hab and then something will happen, and sometimes you don't even notice that something has happened and something changes and you fall out of a habit overnight. I think it's really surprising sometimes to people how easy it is to fall out of a habit or into a habit. But then once you're in the habit of it again, it might just spring right back and you would slip right back into it. Because for years, you did use the treadmill.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Desk. So that's what I'm.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Hoping.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yeah. So I'll keep you posted as that.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Unfolds. Yes, Keep me.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Posted. Give us a gold star. And I want to jump in with you on this gold star.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Too. Yeah. This is a gold star to all the nurses. Our father's in the hospital, and the nurses have just been so great. They're so considerate, they're so thoughtful, they're so gentle, they're so informative. They're so patient. We've had a lot of questions, We've had a lot of. Of fear, and they've just been this constant presence that's so reassuring to us and it's so important to us that we feel like our father is surrounded by tender care. And we've really felt.

[Elizabeth Craft]

That. Yes. So thank you to all the nurses. I feel like we spend a lot of time thanking.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Teachers.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Yes. But sometimes we don't give as much credit to the nurses. So glad to take a minute to say thank you to all the nurses and and especially the ones who've been taking care of.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Dad. Yes. The resource for this week, there is a Design youn Year Guide. If you want more tools for designing your year, the Design youn Year Guide. It brings together all the things that we talked about in one place, like the 26 for 26 list, which we'll be talking about coming up. The one word theme, the annual challenge. And this is an actual workbook that you can flip through and write in. A lot of people we know really still like physical books and writing by hand to map out and plan the year to come. Now, it did sell out pretty quickly last year. So if this is something that's interesting to you, just know that there's kind of limited supplies. And it's also a good gift, obviously. If you want to check that out, it'[e-mail] shop and Elizabeth, what are we reading? What are you.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Reading? We are coming to the end of War and Peace. So I am just trying to keep up with.

[Gretchen Rubin]

That. And I am reading Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift.

And that's it for this episode of Happier. Remember to try this at home. Join Our annual challenge move 26 in 26. Let us know if you're planning to join us and if it's going to work for you. And also let us know about how read 25 for 25 worked for you. That's super fun.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Too. Thanks to our executive producer, Chuck Reed and everyone at Lemonada. If you have you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now is the perfect time. Because guess what? You can listen completely ad free. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or head to lemonadapremium.com and.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Here is your rhyming reminder. If you liked what you heard.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Spread the word until next week. I'm Elizabeth.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Craft. And I'm Gretchen Rubin. Thanks for joining us. Onward and upward.

Elizabeth. It's so odd to be talking to you in the usual way to do the podcast, but instead of being three hours behind me and on a different coast, you are two rooms.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Away. I know it feels like you're in a whole other realm. But really, you're just across the.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Hall. I know. I think I'm to be startled when you emerge behind the door.

From the Onward.

[Elizabeth Craft]

Project.

Hi Gretchen, Craig Robinson and my little sister Michelle here. We host a new podcast called IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. We know you're the queen of giving advice, so we wanted to get a few tips from you. You know, Gretchen, a lot of our listeners are going through some major life changes. What advice do you have for folks who are trying to stay grounded in the midst of major life.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Transitions? Craig and Michelle, I am so happy to be talking to you. Here are a few questions that might help us gain perspective. So consider questions like this. What activities take up my time but are not particularly useful or stimulating for me? Do I spend a lot of time on something that's important to someone else but is not very important to me? If I could magically change one habit in my life, what would I choose? And here's a question. Would I like to have more time in solitude, restorative solitude, or would I like to have more time with friends? You know, just thinking about questions like this can help us start to figure out how we might make our lives happier. With greater self knowledge, we're better able to make hard decisions that reflect ourselves, our own nature, our own interests, our own values. In my own case, I have found that the more my life reflects my nature, the happier I get and the more grounded I feel when I'm going through a period of major change or transition. For more great advice, search for IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. Wherever you get podcasts, you can listen to Issa Rae on letting go of certain friendships. Keke Palmer on why disappointment is actually the key to career success. Seth and Lauren Rogan on caring for aging parents and so many more.