Eva Blechova
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tvořivě sebevědomý blog
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the happiness project

10/6/2014

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Picture
 Cornwall, October 6th, 2014

“Happiness project” by Gretchen Rubin is a book I came across in various airports and bookshops in the past year or two, leafed through it and left it there. I only bought it in Boston airport few weeks ago - and I am glad I did. I finished reading it yesterday and in many ways, this is an inspiring book for me at this point of my “journey” with the creativity “project”. 

Gretchen is an ex-lawyer and has written books on Winston Churchill and J.F.Kennedy before, but her “Happiness project” became a bestseller - as the colorful cover says: one million copies sold. 

What made it an "acceptable" self-help book for myself, is a clever mix of research, inspirational quotes and personal experience. The main heroine (Gretchen) undertakes a journey to improve her happiness in one year, by concentrating on one aspect each month (January - clutter, February - marriage, March - lighten up). What works in that wild mix? A heroine who one can identify with, a journey limited in time, the chapters. Unfortunately, the book does not include links to the research (some of it is well-known, some of it is new to me), and the first part is better than the second one, but overall, an enjoyable read with few inspiring things to remember ... 

For myself, it provided encouragement - here is someone who was not an “expert on happiness”, and yet, managed over a reasonable period of time (maybe it took her more than a year) to write something which had impact for myself and for thousands, well, maybe even a million of other people. 

On the more technical aspects, maybe I can be inspired by
  • do not be shy to be the main “heroine” of this journey
  • make some chapters/structure to provide a sense of a “journey”
  • do not be afraid to mix research references and “autoethnography” 
  • the list of “12 commandements” starting with “Be Gretchen” as something to refer to as well as “4 splendid truths” - people like lists ... (I am sure there is a list on why people like lists somewhere on the internet)
  • do not be afraid to share my doubts (Gretchen’s main doubt seems to be - who am I to write about happiness when I am living a comfortable life in New York with my family, only someone like Nelson Mandela or people who overcame severe depression should be “allowed” to write about happiness) 

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    AUTOR/Author

    Eva Blechová facilituje, koučuje, napsala několik rozhlasových her a jednu disertaci. V současné době zkoumá tvořivost a tvořivé sebevědomí. Před tím vším vedla týmy jako Ředitelka kabinetu na Ministerstvu zahraničí a byla strategický konzultant v McKinsey & Co. 

    Eva Blechová coaches, facilitates workshops, wrote several radio plays and one PhD dissertation. Currently exploring the topic of creativity and creative confidence. Before all that she led teams as Chef de Cabinet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a strategic consultant at McKinsey & Co.

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    o blogu/about the blog

    Původně (v roce 2014) jsem psala blog (anglicky) jako sebe-povzbuzení pro psaní disertace. Teď (2017) píšu jako sebe-povzbuzení pro  eventuální přetvoření disertace na knihu/pamflet/kurz/něco. 

    The old posts (in 2014, in English, were written as a way to encourage me to finish my dissertation. Now, there are new posts in Czech  (for the moment) to encourage me to make a book/pamphlet/course/something out of the dissertation.

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